Sleep Apnea and Engineers: Is It Safe to Travel by Train?
Over 2,000 employees were referred to sleep studies after being screened.
The train accident in the 2017 Long Island Rail Road accident was also a direct cause of poor sleep apnea screenings. According to the Long Island Rail Road Transit, sleep apnea screenings were planned, but not carried out. The engineer of this accident was not screened for sleep apnea, and after it, he was properly examined and determined to have a severe form of the disorder.
The Long Island Rail Road Mass Transit Authority claimed it had established sleep apnea screening and treatment programs for its train and bus operators and that everything was in line with the NTSB’s recommendations. As of November 30, 2017, over 97,259 employees had been screened for sleep apnea, and 2,079 employees were referred for sleep studies. Those diagnosed with sleep apnea are now in the company’s treatment compliance monitoring program.
