Ramadan

[amateur]

Any forum users here fasting?

 

[Bletchleyite]

How, out of interest, does the Railway address this for staff?

With it being the most difficult time of the year for Ramadan, with long days and short nights, people will be refraining from food and drink for well in excess of 15 hours in some parts of the country.

Will such people, dehydrated and with low blood sugar, be safe to work trains, for example? Do special arrangements, such as alternative shift patterns, perhaps involving split shifts, need to be looked at to ensure safety?

 

[najaB]

How, out of interest, does the Railway address this for staff?..

I get the feeling we've had this discussion before... off to search.

 

[me123]

^We have indeed. I vaguely recall a thread surrounding a newspaper's (IIRC false) accusation that a railway incident was caused by the driver fasting for Ramadan.

EDIT: Found it

 

[najaB]

There's a couple of threads that come up. The discussion I remember was towards the end of Paddington derailment 16/06/16.

But I saw another one that seems relevant: Fasting Drivers

 

[Bletchleyite]

Cheers both, will have a read.

 

[AlterEgo]

I've just had a Nando's but only had one side and not two.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Yup, I'm fasting. Slightly easier for me as I booked holidays and I work twilight shifts, but it's still a challenge.

 

[bnm]

^We have indeed. I vaguely recall a thread surrounding a newspaper's (IIRC false) accusation that a railway incident was caused by the driver fasting for Ramadan.

Not entirely false. RAIB observed in its summary of the Paddington derailment that there's research that shows fasting can affect concentration.

None if the press at the time made an accusation that fasting was the cause. They said it may have contributed.

 

[me123]

I was going off my memory when I posted that, but actually there was an article in The Sun entitled "Muslim train driver 'caused rush-hour derailment by fasting for holy month'". The article has now been removed for legal reasons, but luckily the WayBack Machine has archived it.

Rail accident experts claimed his fast caused the rush-hour derailment that led to three days of disruption.

I would like to clarify that the above quote was subsequently retracted.

 

[D365]

I would like to clarify that the above quote was subsequently retracted.

If you can call it a retraction. I seem to recall the smallest possible space was given to this notice in the publication.

 

[me123]

I should also point out that in the same article the following quote appears.

The Rail Accident Investigation Board was unable to conclude fasting was a factor in the crash.

Journalism at its finest