A member of the British Psychology Society is lending his expertise to an attempt to drive down injury numbers in the rail industry. Dr Jim Morgan, a senior psychology lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, has been approached by VolkerRail to consider human elements that may provide greater insight into such instances.

As part of his work, Dr Morgan will look at ways in which organisations in the sector can balance a focus on efficiency with employee health and wellbeng.

In addition, the research will also place an emphasis on why risky decisions are taken in the workplace, with such behaviour in environments deemed safety-critical being scrutinised in particular.

Dr Morgan explained external factors have the capacity to increase injury risk by altering environments in all lines of work.

Stuart Webster-Spriggs, health, safety, quality and environmental director at VolkerRail, noted the project "gives us the perfect opportunity to identify behavioural aspects in decision making and the measures needed to ensure the correct attitudes are realised and adopted".