Page 3 - August 2022 Track N Times

FEATURE STORY

By Bradley Goettsch, Manager Rail Grinding

This year has been a very trying year for all of us at Loram

with the first incident being reported on January 6th. We have en-
countered thefts, vandalism, property damage, machine handling incidents, machine fires and multiple injuries. A
number of these incidents being the result of human error or people not being aware of their surroundings.
Situational awareness is a term most often heard around military and law enforcement training centers. It
is, being aware of everything around you while paying attention to what looks right and what doesn’t. For the mili-
tary this translates into being alert to places where an enemy might ambush the unit, or plant IEDs, as well as being
vigilant when on guard. For law enforcement this would be paying attention to people and activities that are abnor-
mal or questionable, leading to investigation for possible criminal actions.

For us, situational Awareness is being aware of what is happening around you in terms of where you are,
where you are supposed to be, and whether anyone or anything around you is a threat to your health and safety.
Our knowledge, experience and education enables us to understand what is going on around us and helps us to de-
termine if it is safe. This means that everyone’s perception of the situation has the potential to be or will be differ-
ent.
They say that people operate on five different levels of Awareness. We can refer to those as “tuned out,”
“relaxed awareness,” “focused awareness,” “high alert” and “comatose.” In order to define these levels we can com-
pare them to different degrees of attention required while driving a vehicle.
The first level, tuned out, is similar to when you are driving in a very familiar environment or are en-
grossed in thought, a daydream or a song on the radio. If you have arrived at a destination and never thought about
the drive, you have experienced tuned out.
The second level, relaxed awareness, this is when you are relaxed but are also watching the other cars on
the road and are looking at the road ahead for potential hazards.

The third level, focused awareness, is like driving in hazardous road conditions such as icy roads or bliz-
zard conditions. The level of concentration required for this type of driving makes it extremely tiring and stressful.
The fourth level, high alert, this is the level that induces an adrenaline rush, a prayer and a gasp for air all
at the same time. This is what happens when that car you are watching at the intersection ahead doesn't stop at the
stop sign and pulls out right in front of you.
The last level of awareness, comatose, this is what happens when you literally freeze at the wheel and can-
not respond to stimuli, because you are petrified. The comatose level is where you go into shock, your brain ceases
to process information and you simply cannot react to the reality of the situation.
So of the five levels the one in which we should be operating is the relaxed awareness. In this level we are

alert and ready to respond in a controlled yet expeditious manner but it is not to a point that we cannot maintain it

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