(The following story by Kathleen Harris appeared on the Ottawa Sun website on November 20.)
OTTAWA — The federal government is spending $348,000 to study ways to curb suicides on Canada’s railways.
Transportation safety authorities have long tracked deaths on railway properties, but little is known about the extent of rail-related suicide. The study will assess the prevalence, analyze the causes and make recommendations.
“Trespassing is one of the most serious safety problems facing the railroad industry,” said Transport Canada spokesman Patrick Charette.
“It appears that some aspects of intentional trespassing like walking, jogging and playing around rail sites are being dealt with by various safety initiatives, but more information and background is required to better address suicide.”
The study will be carried out in conjunction with U.S. authorities. According to the government tender, the Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention reports about 4,000 suicides each year. For every suicide, there are another 100 attempts.
NO ‘CLEAR PICTURE’
“The current accident recording methods do not provide a clear picture of this phenomenon,” the tender report reads. “Consequently, it is not currently known whether the rate of rail-related suicide is increasing or decreasing and whether there are jurisdictions with particularly high incidents.”
The Transportation Safety Board recorded 58 trespassing deaths last year and 63 in 2005. Other data suggest at least 39% of annual deaths are due to suicide, 10% are by accident and the others are undetermined.
Dan Di Tota, national director of the railway safety organization Operation Lifesaver, applauded the government’s move to shed light on a subject that has long been taboo.
“It seems very difficult to talk about, because we’re concerned about copy-cat situations, but also society just doesn’t like to talk about it,” he said.
A former locomotive engineer, Di Tota said railway suicides cause much anguish for train crews. Employees take days, weeks or months off work and receive psychological counselling. Some never return to their jobs.