Working outside in the dark presents many hazards, but working outside in the dark and around rail equipment increases the hazard risk level significantly.

It is important that rail yards are safely lit, and designs include consideration for both the workers in and around the tracks and the train conductors.

Analysis factors include glare, height of fixtures, illumination levels, and shadows cast by buildings and trains. Industry standard light level calculations only consider the height of fixtures, shadows, and illumination levels. Glare is left out of the analysis as it is not part of Canadian standards, resulting in a safety oversight.

When considering lighting coverage and safety in a rail yard, March Consulting looks not only at industry best practice and Canadian standards, but we ensure that international standards and their potential safety improvements are considered. In the case of rail yard lighting, European standards and government research have investigated glare and in turn developed a series of equations and safe levels to ensure that train conductors can safely operate during night conditions by utilizing high intensity LED lighting.

These standards are analyzed and incorporated along with Canadian standards to produce an overall safer design, calculation, and analysis. Reducing glare on both the train conductor and workers walking in and around the train yard permits us to propose a safer and more effective system, that ensures employee safety meets or exceeds standards. March works to help clients ensure their employees safely return home at the end of their shift.