S. Vishnu Sharma
CoERS conducted a three-day programme for the Karnataka State Police at Mysore.
The program was on ‘Training on Structured Crash Investigation using Root Cause Analysis Matrix (RCAM)’.
The programme sought to upskill the police with design thinking principles to aid in improving the Road Traffic Accident (RTA) investigations to arrive at the cause of accidents with greater emphasis on understanding human factors, say sources from CoERS.
CoERS
CoERS is Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) Centre of Excellence for Road Safety which is more popular with its shorters name CoERS.
Aim
The workshop aimed to equip road crash investigating officers with the practical skills required to adopt a systems approach to problem solving, say sources from CoERS.
Training was provided for ‘Root Cause Analysis Matrix’ (RCAM), a tool used to perform structured crash investigations, say sources from CoERS.
The training also focused on on-field data collection and analysis and communicate their hypothesis effectively.
Importance
Alok Kumar, IPS Additional Director General of Police (Training and Road Safety), Karnataka provided insights on the importance of the training program.
We are very pleased about the training programme, he said.
It’s critical that investigating officers have a more receptive mind set and approach to gathering information about crashes, he said.
We must use a sound data collection procedure and conduct investigation in a scientific manner to establish the facts, he said.
We can identify better interventions in the future with the aid of this program, which is a good beginning, he said.
Key outcomes
The key outcomes targeted from this workshop include:
Ø Understanding the root cause analysis matrix (RCAM) methodology towards conducting a structure crash analysis.
Ø Encourage use of data-driven and scientific strategies to develop targeted interventions.
Ø Knowledge sharing of best practices on design thinking approach to creative problem solving for better understanding of various human factors leading to road crashes.
Ø Improve the capacity of the investigation officers to perform death audits.
Need for the program
Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head, CoERS and RBG Labs, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, who is coordinating this initiative elaborated on the need for the programme.
He said a scientific approach to enforcement in road safety is an essential requirement to formulate preventive interventions to reduce the occurrence of crashes.
RCAM provides a structured methodology to investigate the root causes of a crash based on a 3M&E model, said CoERS head.
That is from the perspectives of Man (Human), Machine (Vehicle), Method (User Behaviour), Environment (Road), he said.
This methodology enables factual collection of human, vehicle and property damage data and perform evidence-based design of interventions for improving road safety, he said.
Capacity building
Dr. M.B Boralingaiah, IPS, DIGP, Director, Karnataka Police Academy (KPA) explained the need for the programme.
This capacity building program is a significant step towards bringing a change in the officers to approach the crash data collection and collation from a scientific investigation point of view, he said.
RCAM methodology will provide a structured approach to identify the contributing factors of the crashes, identify responsible stakeholder to take rectification measures thereby prevent its future occurrence, he said.
This programme is a good beginning which will help us determine effective interventions in the future, he said.
Innovative Approach
Chennabasavanna Langoti, Deputy Director, Karnataka Police Academy (KPA) highlighted the innovative approach of the program.
RCAM workshop by CoERS has provided our officers with practical skills and best practices in road crash investigation.
By adopting a systems approach of RCAM, we can enhance our officer’s capacity to perform thorough death audits, focus on data-driven and scientific strategies to reduce the occurrence of crashes, he said.
About Centre Of Excellence In Road Safety (CoERS)
The Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) at IIT Madras is funded by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India.
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It performs evidence-based integrated approach to Road Safety. CoERS works on various aspects of human factors engineering, road engineering and vehicle engineering to bring about significant improvements in road safety globally.
This CoERS also advices various stakeholders and Governments to bring about a data-driven systems approach to road safety.