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Psychological aptitude tests, which are highly suitable for securing the currently required levels of safety, contribute to the establishment of a safer railway environment. We carried out four new tests on 1,484 train operation staff (aged 18 - 63) and analyzed the correlation between the results of the current/new tests and staff members' history of causing railway accidents or transport disorder. A new set of tests was proposed based on the results of this analysis.

Psychological aptitude tests have been carried out on train operation staff in an attempt to improve safety. We searched for a test that would enable us to predict the human errors that are most likely to occur under current working conditions. First, we interviewed railway company experts to identify those errors. Next, we carried out personal computer experiments to simulate occurrences of these errors then applied 20 kinds of tests to 79 subjects. Consequently, we found a correlation between the error occurrence tendencies in the experiments and the actual test results. Based on these results, we have proposed effective tests according to the type of tasks undertaken. Language: en

Since the war, railway accidents have frequently been caused by human errors. As a countermeasure against this tendency, a system of aptitude tests was formulated in 1949. In about 50 years since the aptitude tests were introduced into railways, railway facilities and safety installations have considerably improved, whereas the system of aptitude test remains almost unchanged. As the railway technology has progressed in line with the modernization of vehicle technology, the aptitude and the level demanded for employees has changed together with the tasks of train running. We study the validity of intelligence test, one of the common psychological aptitude tests for employees who are engaged in train running of Shinkansen and narrow-gauge lines. The criterion for pass or failure of the test is different depending on job categories. In testing the employees engaged in the maintenance of track and electrical facilities, the criterion is higher for Shinkansen lines than for narrow-gauge lines. To discuss the validity of the criterion, this paper compares the maintenance work of track and electrical facilities of Shinkansen and those of narrow-gauge lines from the two viewpoints of validity for job contents and criterion-related validity with regard to the correlation between the test result and safety indices. The present results suggest that the criterion for Shinkansen need not be higher than that for narrow-gauge lines.