The Dominion. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1908. THE HUMAN FACTOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 182, 27 April 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1908. THE HUMAN FACTOR.

. i In railway management/that degree of perfection which- will obviate the possibility of accident is beybnd'hdpe . _6f■ att&iiiifteiit. Even with the most perfect, mechanical, devices and the soundest discipline there must still remain the varying and uncertain ■-human factor. The management may provide all manner of safety devices, issue and enforce the most comprehensive regulations, but do wliat it will it cannot prevent the . fatal error, of the signalman, the ni'qmentary aberration of the engine-driver, or whatever it may be, tliftt.sends the flier crashing to deStkiction. Everj'ohe's mind plays him tricks at times i despite his best efforts the average man is, if not indeed all men are, liable to those moments of inattention, those periods of what the trench call distraction and the Germans zerstreuth.it, in which the mind becomes for tlie ilidiiient a blank, except for, ;a : vague.consciousness that' one ouglit to-be getting on.with the matter in liand. : Pal'timtlai'ly is this the case, with those who'are'fen g&ged in lon g,continued routine In nine hundred, and i ninety-nine c&ses out .bf a thousand the moment passes, and there is an end of it, but in the thousandth sonie necessary connection ;i& missed, and disaster, sinall or great as it may be, ensues. . - f The study of the errancies of the miiid forms an interesting bralicli of psychology, and many curious instatices are oil .recOi'd 6f' tlie W&y the mental train will sometimes leave the rails. Most of us have heard of the very, absent-minded man who went to dress for dinner, and, aftel 1 taking one gafiiieut and another off, finally gdt | into bed. That was the habitual issue of the first few movements- when per-' formed at a later hour, and the lower centres of the brain had taken up their accustomed loutiue, while the higher Jenti'es had for the oiice gone to sleep. Though it requires a very absentminded person to do such things as tliiSi most of us have, perhaps, t&keii off our waistcoats in the daytime'alid proceeded to wind our watches up, felt for our latch keys oil arriving at the doorstep Of a friend, or have at any rate dipped oiir pens in the gum-pot. It is remarkable how many actions we

daily perform without any conscious attention. Few men, can tell which sock or which trous'er leg they put on first, or describe the order, in which tlicy brush their hair or their teeth, and yet it is likely that the order is a pretty fixed one in all of us. The first act in an habitual series once unconsciously performed, and nothing is easier than, absent-mindedly, to slip on to a second and a third. Though the absentminded man may be judiciously weeded out of a railway service, no system of weeding will ever make absent-minded-ness a negligible quantity. The_ whole tendency of modern life, with its demand for speed and "hustle," its heavily-laden trains aiid steamers travelling with ever-increasing momentum, is, in fact, steadily to increase the possibility of, appalling disaster. It means that the fatal moment of aberration, guarded against though it may lie in every conceivable way, must bring ill its train ever and ever more -tremendous consequences. There are, however, other and quite preventable causes of disaster, and the recent railway accidents that have shocked the public make oiie wonder to what extent the safety of railway travelling is needlessly imperilled'. _ In one of the leading American magazines there have lately been appearing a series of articles entitled " Confessions of a 'Railway Sitflialiiiail," wliicih give mucli food for thought. . The writer deals purely with American railway management, which is vastly ent from that prevailing- on this side of the world, but at bottom the problem of the efficient'and safe working of trains is probably much the same everywhere. , In : " Railway Signalmail's "view it is not a problem of rules and safety devices, but: of personal conduct and habits of thought. " In, everyday life," he says, "when a man fails' to make, a satisfactory score with a first-class rifle we do not place the blame on. the weapon. If we desire greater efficiency in mai'ksmanship we' direct our attention to the'ttan. But in the railroad business such; commonplace logic doesn't seem to apply. When a man violates an unmistakable rule,, or rims k signal wjth disastrous results, there -immediately arises on all sides a peremptory demand for a different kind of rule or an improved signal. . Public opinion, with -little understanding of the issues at stake, has a constant tendency,to blame systems and. managements." '.The writer goes on to state that there is a constant tendency/among railwayinen to observe : rules at one place and disregard them at another. "The flagman protects his train to the; very letter of the rule when it is.-manifestly necessary, but when, in his opinion, it-is not he takes chances; -In this way he uses his own judgment .in regard to a positive rule. Sooner or later 1 this means a preventable accident." 'Many instances" are quoted by the writer, particularly in connection With' the non-observance of, " caution " signals by American iehgine-drivers, who, 'he says, in most cases observe them alid rush by at full speed, trusting'to pull-up should they come on a sudde.fi " stop]" signal, 01' see ,the tail lights of a ti-aih ahead. When a smash comes it, is treated.as an isolated breach, and everything goes-oli a,s..before.;..' ~To ensure the .scrupulous.', observance-' of safety ■ rules 'alid. regulations, aiid to permit 110 taking of chalices'.by individual employees, is, no doubt, one of the greatest problems of railway man-: agement, aiid one that calls for a high Standard of : pei l sonal .conduct, among railwaymeh,' and incessant vigilance on the;,pai't ,of'the maliagement.''," New iZealand railways have, on the whole, had :a h&ppy,freedom from'.serious accidents, 'nevertheless catastrophes such a§ those which have been chronicled of Jate contain lessons that we should do well to take to heart.