JR

woodworkingboy

woodworkingboy

TreeHouser
Joined
Aug 16, 2008
Messages
31,007
Location
Nippon
Stands for Japan Railroad, a huge company here that manages the railroads, I guess it's everything except for some other company owned subways in large cities. A friend of mine works for some people that JR contracts with to do arborist work along the lines and around stations, keep potential hazards from trees and whatever might be within that category to a minimum, and also to keep things tidy. A huge and constantly going on job throughout the entire country. My friend asked if I would fill in for him for a few days. I'd seen guys working the lines when I was traveling, and it interested me.

I showed up to find a three man crew plus two guys from the parent company whose job it is to oversee the operation, particularly safety, not really there to direct the tree work, but to oversee the operation in some official capacity should some question arise within their responsibility. The work goes smooth, the guys are pros, and real pleasant people to associate with, everyone busting A and quite courteous. What really got my attention was the lengths the company goes to so as to ensure safety. There's a checklist that they go through every morning, covering PPE and an array of cautionaries and procedures pertaining to the trains coming through. Aside from having the train schedules on paper, the safety guys have some special gear on their waist that catches some kind of signal when a train is a certain distance away and it sends a warning. Upon which they alert the crew and all activity has to stop and the crew raise their arm to acknowledge and you keep it up until the train passes, or if near a station platform where there is a stop, at least until the train quits moving and then acknowledge again when it gets going again. If the work is where the signal can't reach, a call comes in from a station on the line monitoring the train's location. Certain people are well informed of what is taking place along the line, their duty to attend to it. All the same instructions are gone through every morning, the same as the day before with the same crew, plus any special circumstances. What got me though, is that it's also recorded for verification, should there be some circumstance that calls into question whether if there was a proper announcement or not.

At the end of the day, another meeting to briefly discuss the work if needed, and any commentary by anyone is welcomed. Also making sure everyone that is supposed to be there still is. :lol: If there is some physical problem, it's the time to say. Tomorrow's work might be briefly discussed as well.

The whole thing seems a no brainer for the crew, I mean going through the same defined routine everyday as is mandated with every crew wherever they are. JR has an excellent safety record with the crews working the lines, and that's a lot of people, especially this time of year. To some extent all these procedures are a cultural thing, how the people grow up to think and what to expect in a work environment, but it occurred to me that some part of that approach might have some use in other places too, I guess I mean by making safety consciousness a routine. I know that the people in the house generally don't have to worry about local and high speed trains come rocking trough their job sites, but I just thought that there might be some value in mentioning the situation. Anyway, for me it was interesting to observe, the manner of the approach where the thinking is that you can't be too safe where hazards are reoccurring. At least one guy full time is on the lookout. :/:
 
I've only done a very short stint on "utility Arb" in the UK but full time lookouts were standard afaik.

Safety is taken very seriously on the railway crews.
 
That was how it went when I did some work for the railroad as well. Every morning was a meeting between us, the traffic control, our track officer, and the big shot from the RR. Our track officer carried a radio and the engineers would alert him when they were 20 minutes out. If he didn't respond the train was to stop. He always responded though giving us plenty of time and the train dropped down to 20 mph. It was a good experience.
I also worked with a company named Arcadis doing an environmental clean up for GoodYear. 3 safety meetings a day. I can't say they were "to safe" , but since they were unfamiliar with our industry I had to spend a lot of time explaining our safety standards. They also tried to make me wear tyvek under my chaps while I was climbing. I presented that it was more dangerous than me possibly take no poison ivy residue home with me.
 
Interesting Jay. Duke Energy had similar work practices. Daily safety meetings, preflight checklists, pre, mid and post job briefings with all present signing a list to make sure they understood what was going on. It all takes time but accidents frequency has went down. I don't know if it's because of all the meetings or if they just don't do a lot of work because of all the meetings.;)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8
One day we were working around a main station in a larger town, pretty much both the "supervisors" were only on the lookout and monitoring the signals. Trains passing through were frequent. The expresses don't slow down when going through a station where there is no stop, they're flying through. It seems a wonder those suckers can stay on the rails. In the rural area with fewer trains, one of those people was helping out with the cleanup. He worked quite hard I saw, so his job isn't just standing around. I think I'd hate to be doing that part where you are just standing there all day. He didn't look bored though, and very particular to attend to his duties when the times came.
 
I'm with you on the standing around stuff. We had to do our own traffic control for years with the power company and I'd rather be in rubber gloves working hot primary any day than standing on the side of the road holding a sign.
 
Jay, thanks for sharing that, very interesting. Seems like our safety meetings cover the same topics over and over again, but well worth the time.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12
Thanks, V. At first I was dubious of the same routine each day, I mean the need for it, but I came to see that it's all part of the big picture and when in Rome.... One catastrophe is certainly one time too much.

There's a requirement to wear safety toe boots, but the ones I have are spiked and I find them uncomfortable after awhile. I changed to my regular work boots, but nobody got in my face about it. Its not like the world is going to fall apart if there is some minor diversion from the rules. Rules go best with experience and common sense.
 
I have a buddy that never would wear a helmet in the tree. Last year something happened with the rigging on a crane job he was helping a friend with and he got hit in the head by a falling log. He was unconscious for 30 minutes, lost hearing, movement, and feeling on the left side of his head. Very lucky to be alive after that. He went out and bought the most expensive helmet he could find.

Safety usually is only a big deal after you know that you know that you need it, then it's non-negotiable.

What amazes me is not that safety is a non-negotiable, big deal to some people, but that most people won't learn how big a deal it is from someone else's experience, even thought that someone else does the same thing they do every day.
 
I have only worked with a crane a couple of times. But the first time when the operator swung the hook over to me and the big ball almost took off my head it got me to thinking. That was when I started wearing a helmet...I started wearing my kayaking/rock climbing helmet, no specialized tree climbing helmets available then...probably mid 80's. I've worn a helmet ever since.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16
A pretty remarkable safety record considering the number of trains running day in and day out from morning until late at night. The Tokyo metro is really something, running both above and below ground. Pushing the envelope too in developing high speed trains. They have one in the works now that rides above the rails on magnets. I haven't heard of people working the lines in a maintenance capacity, including arborists, being involved in accidents, but there have been some grissly scenes from driver negligence, like from going too fast on curves. You don't see that happening with the high speed ones, the drivers in those are an elite class that have worked up to their positions.

There was a particularly bad local commuter wreck in Osaka a few years back, the train flying off the rails at a curve and slamming into an apartment complex. They determined the rate of speed was well over the rule, a young driver at the controls. Those local lines must be boring to drive up and back all day, wanting a little excitement might get on your mind. Still, it's rare. Then there are the suicides, people wanting out and throwing themselves in front of a speeding bullet, not uncommon at all and not much anyone can do about that. After one of those they now charge the family of the jumper for the cleanup and delay, it might of at least helped to get some thinking. Running to schedules are like orders from God, and the officials don't take favorably to causes for delays, no matter what it is. Earthquakes make them shut down though, I think it happens automatic.
 
Pretty interesting spiel on JP, Jay. Thanks. Seems that's where its all heading. Having come from the old school I wouldn't adapt comfortably to it. Mindless ants. Nonetheless I can see the benefit of it, and if I grew up in that work environment...I wouldn't know otherwise and be happy as a clam in chowder.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #18
Good and bad for sure, Jer, it's kinda complicated. Personal, family, company, even country, it's all mixed in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

chris_girard
Got it Bad? Think About JR
Replies
6
Views
1K
tophopper
tophopper
Husabud
90's Super Jr
Replies
19
Views
3K
thattreeguy
thattreeguy
Back
Top