Standards, duties, and powers of railway signal and tunnel watchmen in Vietnam

Standards, duties, and powers of railway signal watchmen in Vietnam

(1) Standards

- Hold a diploma or certificate at the primary level or higher in train operations, railway transport, signal guarding, locomotive coupling, and carriages;

- Meet the health conditions as prescribed by the Minister of Health of Vietnam;

- Have a probation period as stipulated by labor laws and meet the requirements of the signal guard professional examination organized by the enterprise employing the signal guard role.

(2) Duties

- Take direct command and operation directions from the station's train dispatcher to manage, supervise, inspect, use signals, and perform tasks related to machine guidance and route leading to serve the station's train operation according to the train schedule, train operation commands, national technical standards for railway exploitation, railway signals, train operation procedures, shunting operations, and technical management rules of the station;

- Inspect necessary safety conditions in accordance with technical standards and other related railway operation safety issues when performing assigned duties.

(3) Authorities: Issue a stop signal if the necessary safety conditions are not met and immediately report to the station’s train dispatcher.

Reference: Article 14 Circular 15/2023/TT-BGTVT

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Standards, duties, and powers of railway signal and tunnel watchmen in Vietnam (Image from the internet)

Standards, duties, and powers of railway tunnel watchmen in Vietnam

(i) Standards:

- Hold a diploma or certificate at the primary level or higher in railways, railway bridges, level crossing guard, bridge guard, and tunnel guard;

- Meet the health conditions as prescribed by the Minister of Health of Vietnam;

- Have a probation period as stipulated by labor laws and meet the requirements of the level crossing guard, bridge guard, and tunnel guard professional examination organized by the enterprise employing these roles.

(ii) Duties

- Prevent unauthorized persons and animals from entering the railway tunnel area;

- Inspect and protect the railway infrastructure within the tunnel range to ensure safety;

- When detecting actions or incidents that potentially obstruct or endanger railway traffic safety, promptly report to the nearest station and immediate superior for resolution measures;

- Keep a complete journal of railway tunnel guarding activities;

- Perform other duties as prescribed by the railway infrastructure maintenance procedures.

(iii) Authorities: Authorized to signal train stops in emergencies that pose a direct threat to train operation safety.

Reference: Article 18 Circular 15/2023/TT-BGTVT

Standards, duties, powers of level crossing guards and bridge guards in Vietnam

(a) Standards:

- Hold a diploma or certificate at the primary level or higher in railways, railway bridges, level crossing guard, bridge guard, and tunnel guard;

- Meet the health conditions as prescribed by the Minister of Health of Vietnam;

- Have a probation period as stipulated by labor laws and meet the requirements of the level crossing guard, bridge guard, and tunnel guard professional examination organized by the enterprise employing these roles.

(b) Duties:

- Promptly open, close level crossing barriers, and road barriers at the railway bridge area to ensure the safety of road users when railway transport vehicles are passing;

- Inspect and maintain level crossing and bridge guard equipment in accordance with national technical standards for railway exploitation;

- When detecting actions or incidents that potentially obstruct or endanger railway traffic safety, promptly report to the nearest station and immediate superior for resolution measures;

- Keep a complete journal of level crossing and bridge guarding activities;

- Perform other duties as prescribed by laws regarding level crossings and bridges.

(c) Authorities:

- Authorized to signal train stops in emergencies that pose a direct threat to train operation safety;

- Halt road vehicles when the level crossing or bridge area does not ensure safety for vehicles to pass through.

Reference: Article 17 Circular 15/2023/TT-BGTVT

Mai Thanh Loi

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