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[quote user="blownout cylinder"]<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_Monitoring_System">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_Monitoring_System</a> Was what jpwoodruff was posting about.[/quote] That is exactly the type of system that I believe will be the ultimate solution to the shift work sleep disorder problem for railroaders.  <o:p></o:p> However, at this point, it is clear that the NTSB and FRA want to solve the problem by a different method.  They want to test all employees doing safety-sensitive work to see if they have sleep disorders.  The employees who have the sleep disorders will be removed from service and treated.  If they can be successfully treated, they will be returned to service.    <o:p></o:p> The only problem with this approach is that testing and treatment are both uncertain in outcome.  I believe that this is indicated by this item from the NTSB in their report on the Iowa crash:  <o:p></o:p> “7.  Because biomathematical models of fatigue are relatively new to the railroad industry, the use of this technology should be evaluated for its effectiveness within the context of the railroads’ fatigue management plans through independent scientific peer review.”  <o:p></o:p> Does that sound like a road that leads to a clear, reliable, and accurate outcome?  <o:p></o:p> So, while it is logical to discover sleep disorders as a medical condition, and then screen for them and treat them, I don’t think it will lead to consistently objective conclusions.  It will lead to some, but some sleep disorders will still go undetected and cause accidents.  Some accidents will happen with sleep disorders as being suspected, but not proven.  And I also suspect that sleep disorders will be diagnosed when they do not actually exist.  Maybe some day this screening and treatment will be as airtight as drug testing or vision testing, but I doubt that it will be any time soon.  <o:p></o:p> Therefore, as the intent to solve the sleep disorder problem becomes set in place, I believe this diagnose-and-treat approach will fall by the wayside as being too unreliable and way too costly.  A different approach to solving the problem will be needed.  <o:p></o:p> As I mentioned in the locked thread on this topic, I believe that preferred solution will be a personal monitoring system as others have mentioned above.   It will fight the battle right where the employee falls asleep on the job.  It would be like a personal dead man control.  It would not prevent people from falling asleep, but it will prevent them from getting hurt or killed if they do fall asleep.  <o:p></o:p> This is the obvious solution to the problem.  The technology is here now.  It will be a small electronic unit that is carried around by the employee.  It may seem a little far-fetched, but it not nearly as far-fetched as testing and treating sleep disorders in the context of shifting scientific peer review.  That is the far-fetched approach.     <o:p></o:p> In the circus, they use a net to protect people who might fall from the high wire.  They don’t send their high wire people off to be evaluated medically and psychologically to see how likely they are to lose their balance.  This personal sleep monitor would be the net, so to speak.  If an engineer running a train falls asleep, the monitor stops the train.
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