REGINA, Sask. — While the purpose of Rail Safety Week, organized by Operation Lifesavers Canada, is to spread awareness of safe practices around railways, officials say it's up to the general public to learn and adhere to safety protocols.
The spokesperson for Operation Lifesavers Canada, Chloé Devine Drouin, says that the ultimate goal is for "Canadians to recognize the risks, what to do around tracks and crossings, and make the safe choice every time, because when it comes to rail safety, there's no undo button".
For Rail Safety Week, Operation Lifesavers Canada has partnered with railway police services and local police services to raise awareness about the dangers of trespassing on railway properties.
"You've got quite a few police officers and law enforcement as well as first responders that may be out and about that you may encounter that may want to educate you or raise awareness about those rail safe behaviours that you can adopt in order to save your own life," says Drouin.
The chairman of the Saskatchewan Legislative Board for the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, Scott Hanson, points out that this week is about helping rail workers as much as it is about educating the general public about rail safety practices.
"One of the biggest things that I deal with is the trauma and the mental health issues that are related to things like suicide by rail, crossing accidents, those types of things, and everyone's got a sad story about it," says Hanson.
Hanson also points out a common misconception about railway crossings.
"A lot of people don't realize that a railway crosswalk is actually a yield sign. Notice it's the same colour as a regular road yield sign," says Hanson.
Rail safety is more pressing than ever, as at the beginning of September — just after the Labour Day Classic — a 16-year-old girl was left with life-altering injuries after a railway accident occurred near Regina's downtown area.
"The railways [in Regina] go through the downtown corridor where there is a lot of transient people, there's a lot of traffic, there's lots of people trying to get somewhere, and for whatever reason, Regina is a very bad place for rail incidents or near misses," says Hanson.
Hansen stresses, "People have to understand that that is no place to be and just because a train stops, does not mean that it's not going to start moving again".
