Disaster Preventions in the Time of Emergency and the Social Role and

Responsibility of the Railway Workers

1

East Japan Railway Workers Union Planning Director Akinori Yanagi

2

Damages by the Great East Japan Earthquake (Coastlines)

3

Damages by the Great East Japan Earthquake (Buildings)

4

14:46 March 11th 2011 Magnitude 9.0 Earthquake hits

【 Damages in JR East Company Areas 】Dead JR East Company 5 persons Affiliated Companies 7 personsStill Missing 2 personsMore than 1,100 cases of total or partial destruction and washed out houses

Victims approximately 19,000 Fukushima accident still continues

5

Tohoku Shinkansen Sendai-Furukawa

Damages of Railways (Shinkansen)

6

Tohoku ShinkansenFurukawa-Kurikoma Kogen

Damages of Railways (Shinkansen)

7

Ishinomaki Line near Onagawa Station

Damages of Railways 7 local lines nearly total collapse

Ishinomaki Line

8

Yamada Line Rikuchuyamada

Damages of Railways 7 local lines nearly total collapse

Yamada Line

9

Ofunato LineRikuzenyahagi-Takekoma

Damages of Railways 7 local lines nearly total collapse

Ofutona Line

10

Senseki Line Nobiru

Damages of Railways 7 local lines nearly total collapse

Senseki Line

11

Damages of Railways

7 local lines and Shinkanse nearly total collapse

No victims on train in service, this is “Miracle”

Surveys to collect experiences from union members

Miracle was not made accidentally, it was made inevitally

Preparation in both software and hardware (education, training and manuals)

There were many situations beyond expectations of education, training and manuals

⇒ JR workers made appropriate decisions on sites

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Why did they make such decisions?

Why did they make such decisions?

We need to pass on the lessons learned from the disaster to the next generations. It is important to establish the philosophy of

railway safety.We carried out a survey to the union members who experienced the earthquake.

Method: Survey 25% of total union members　　　　　　　　　・・・ 11,827 distributed and 11,207 returned 94.8%　　　　　 Tape recorded ・・・ 54 members were tape recorded　　　　　 Free writing ・・・ Opinions from about 500 members

This Presentation talks about anti-disaster measures, education and training for JR East workers who answered in the survey.

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1. After the Earthquake, it was difficult to secure a way of communication with the control centre

14

After the earthquake, communication with the control centre was difficult

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

設備職場

運転職場

営業職場 60.7

16.5

6.4

8.2

6.0

2.2

50.1

24.5

8.9

11.0

1.

8 3.

7

38.1

24.8

12.6

13.2

3.5

7.9

Imm

ediately W

ithin 1 to 2 hours

Within 12

hours

Not on the day

Not 2 to

3 days

Others

Sales

(Station, etc)

Drivers

Facility （ Railway

and electricity etc ）

◇ To secure a way of communication with the control centre

With the damages beyond expectations, it was impossible to give orders and know the damages at every worksites by the centre.

Communication had been down for more than 1 day. The important key is how to secure the communication and to give a priority for decisions on site.

The numbers were too low given the fact that the control centre is responsible for the train in service and for evacuation.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

After the earthquake, communication with the control centre was difficult

◇ Ways of obtaining information about earthquake and tsunami on the day of earthquake

７７．

９

２８．

３ ２５．

２ ２３．

９２．４ ５．５

TV

Com

pany Info

Radio

Internet

Wireless

info from

the local govt

Others

Company info was not enough, workers obtained info on their own way

It is important of how to obtain information reflecting modern information society

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2. Manuals were useless at all

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

2. Manuals were useless at all ◇ Do you have “the manuals for a large scale earthquake”?

Alw

ays keep them

at hands

Have m

anuals at hom

e

Received the

manuals but

unsure w

hereabouts

Manuals w

ere not distributed

Others

24.5

44.7

23.7

6.2

0.9

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

3.1 29.2

49.4

6.7

1.3

10.3

Fully used

Used

Did not use

them m

uch

Did not use

them at all

Did not know

them

at all

Others

◇ How did you use the manuals when an earthquake hits?

More than 70% do not have manuals at hands

More than 80% do not use the manuals

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Education on earthquake manuals

Had lessons

and understood the content clearly

Had lessons

but understanding is not enough

Lessons were

provided but did not attend them

There w

as no education

Others

19.6

42.1

7.6

29.2

1.5

More than 80% do not understand the content of education

2. Manuals were useless at all

・ Had education 60%

Education has become a mere formality

・ No education 40%

No time for education on emergency

To guarantee time for education

To nurture a teaching professional

Education and training

Had education and understood 20%

Busy worksites cannot have education

Review of manualsEasy to

understandEasy to seeUseful manuals

Listen to workers on site

Incredible cases occurPractical education is necessary to cope with emergency

Talks needed to point out

problems and find out causes

Practical drills anticipating all possible situations

Driver

Facility

Sales

Trainings for fire, earthquake, tsunami are necessary in cooperation with a local government

Making hazard maps of each area

Manuals were useless in time of emergency

Training to think independently

Training to know special conditions of each line

Impossible to know all dangerous areas when a natural disaster occursTraining on how to use emergency telephone

Ladder using evacuation drills

Communication with partner companies

In practice

2. Manuals were useless at all

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Review of manuals, they were useless but they are necessary

In Practice

Making manuals reflecting opinions of workers on site

Experience and thinking power, long experiences on field

Useless manuals

Not carrying manuals

Don’t know the content of manuals

No education doneEducation has become a mere

formality

Manuals for rebuilding, not for saving one’s life

Unexpected situations can occur

In ca

se o

f em

erg

en

cy with

no

com

mu

nica

tion

reg

ard

ing

on

e’s life

Driver

Facility

Sales

Broadcasting to passengers

Gathering information

Evacuate to a high ground when tsunami warning is issued

Not stopping in tunnel nor on bridge

Gathering information

A system

giving priority for decisions on site

A system

does not impose responsibility on individuals even if the decision turns out w

rong

Important

When tsunamiwarning issued

Run to a high ground

Not stopping in tunnel

nor on bridge

No individuals forced to be

imposed responsibilit

y

2. Manuals were useless at all

Evacuate to a high ground when tsunami warning is issued

Gathering information

Evacuate to a high ground when tsunami warning is issued

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3. When a disaster occurs, evacuation procedures and

routes were not used

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

3. Evacuation procedures and sites when a disaster occurs◇ Evacuation procedures from a worksite when a disaster occurs

Procedures

were clear

Procedures

were not clear

enough

Procedures

were unclear

Don’t know

the procedures

Others

26.2

32.4

22.0

18.6

0.8

32.9

19.7

21.4

0.8

25.2

Clear

enough

Not clear

enough

Unclear

Don’t know

Others

◇ Evacuation sites from worksite when a disaster occurs

More than 70% do not understand the evacuation procedures

Nearly 70% were unsure about evacuation sites

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

18.0

2.2 59.8

7.0

13.0

Evacuated

by order

Evacuate

d on my

own

Did not

evacuate even after orders

Did not

evacuate because there w

ere no orders

No answ

ers◇ Did you evacuate to an evacuation site from your worksite?

Workers at head office and branches were able to evacuate in group. Workers on site show lower tendency of actual evacuation 　　　

◇ Places like stations, there are many customers, we cannot guide them to evacuate

◇ We cannot evacuate first, leaving others behind 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

◇ Some workers do not understand the evacuation sites 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

◇ Tsunami hit evacuation sites so some sites were inappropriate for evacuation 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

◇ When a train stops, in many cases, a driver does not know the local situations and it is important of how to overcome the limitations of education

3. Evacuation procedures and sites when a disaster occurs

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4. Actual voices that made “Miracle” leading to Zero

victims 　　　　　

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○Info from the city about huge tsunami warning ○Local people were evacuating to a high ground crossing the railway

Ofunato Ichinoseki

Train stopped when earthquake occured

Order to st

op

Evacu

ation order to

Ofunato elementary school

Con

trol

Cen

tre

Driver started to make passengers prepare for evacuation

Driver told them to evacuate Ofunato elementary school

A local said Ofunato Junior high was on a higher ground and safer

Driver thought elementary school was on lower ground and close to the sea, they evacuated Ofunato Junior High

Ofunato Elementar

y

Ofunato Junior High

4. A voice that made zero victims (A case at Ofunato)

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Control centre ordered,Ofunato elementary

school

Followed an opinion of a local, evacuated to the

junior high

On siteControl centre

This violates the order of the control centre

【 Lesson learned 】・ Control centre has limitations. Decisions on site are very important

This case resulted in success, but the opposite case could occur

◇ The driver did not follow the order of control centre, so he might be charged for ignoring the order

Even if it turns out a wrong decision, a system should be established not to charge the responsibility of decisions on site

4. A voice that made zero victims (A case at Ofuna)

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Shinchi station

Stopped at Shinchi, then a huge shock came

2 policemen on the train offered to help passengers

The driver returned to the station, but nobody was there

Policemen said tsunami warning was issued and passengers were guided to a city office

Driver and conductor stayed and watched the train500 meter away from the sea, never thought tsunami would come

Then, tsunami came, no time to run away

Ran to bridge

Trains were washed awayLesson: Close doors

Stayed until morning on the bridge, no communication with anyone listening to a radio all night

Shinchi City Hall

40 passengers were guided by policemen

No communicatio

n

with th

e control

centre

Con

trol

Cen

tre

4. A voice that made zero victims (A case at Shinchi)

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29

30

Hisanohama

Yotsukura

RoadDangerous area

Train stopped with emergency brake by driver

Tsunami w

arning

Evacuatio

n order

Con

trol

cen

tre

Passengers were panic

Driver saw huge tsunami warning on a display on the road, this is not a normal situation

No time to get passengers off from the train, all doors opened and chairs were removed to use them as ladders. Elders were carried out with hands on

Driver confirmed nobody left behindTsunami came in front of the road

Ladders in the train were not strong enough to support passengers

3 policemen working on the road, helped passengers off the train

Getting everyone off the train completed in 10 to 15 mins

A local guided passengers to a high ground, they wentto junior high, instead of Hisanohama station

Huge Tsunami warning

4. A voice that made zero victims (Hisanohama)

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Hisanohama

Yotsukura

RoadDangerous area

Instructed to wear protecting gloves, Decided to carry out first aidsFire in front of station, many injured people were carried into Hisanohama station

Tsunami came in front of the road

Going to Hisanohama⇒ Confirmed passengers are on high ground.The city was destroyed and they helped injured people with firefighters

Emergency medical staff requested to carry out first aids with gauze

As long as I wear uniform of JR East, I cannot run away

When I think of that moment now, I still wonder what should I do?

Huge tsunami warning

4. A voice that made zero victims (Hisanohama)

1. Situations beyond expectations can occurIt is important to train workers who can decide on their own and act independently

Control centre has limitationsTo establish a system giving priority to decisions on site

3. Education and training are necessary Practical education using real equipment on site

Education aiming to nurture thinking power

A system needed not imposing responsibility on individuals even if the decisions turns out wrong

4. To sharpen a sense of lessening damages On site power

Incredible power can be exercised

Researching all possible situations, practical education and training. Then what do you do?

5. Summary

“ Conquering worries and fears, I was able to act calmly”

“ With limited information, I acted with a strong sense of responsibility, motivation and commitment for my job”

“Judging my situations accurately, I make instantly a decision to secure safety”　

◇ Voices which fulfilled one’s own responsibility

5. Summary

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We regard this earthquake as a lesson, we aim to nurture a railway person who has a top priority for respecting human beings as well as philosophy of humanism

Thank you for your listening

East Japan Railway Workers Union