As a result of this occurrence, Sydney Trains advised that the following safety actions have been implemented:
- Consider the deployment of Network Operations personnel to oversee the implementation of any required worksite protection controlled by Morisset.
- Review the current ergonomics of the signal box and station facilities to minimise the potential for distraction of the signaller, from a Human Factors perspective.
- Consider the possibility of relocating the signalling operations currently carried out at Morisset to a dedicated signal complex.
- Consider the possibilities of providing a program of maintenance activities to Network Operations to facilitate the deployment of Network Operations personnel to oversee the implementation of any required worksite protection controlled by Morisset.
Concurrently, the ASB rule is also undergoing a complete re-write to improve its readability and application.
While the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is satisfied that the ‘Coded Absolute Signal Blocking (ASB) process’ will improve the identification of completed steps in the process and the accuracy of information exchanged between parties when granting ASB, these improvements will only be fully realised if the process is fully implemented across the network. Accordingly therefore, the ATSB issues the following safety recommendation: