Evaluating the issue of increasing suicide attempts at metro stations worldwide and in Turkey, Assistant Professor Dr. Rüştü Uçan highlighted that platform screen doors in Singapore, in particular, have completely eliminated such incidents.
Stating that a hierarchy for managing hazard and risk should be developed to prevent such attempts, Dr. Uçan explained that this hierarchy involves; eliminating the hazard, reducing the hazard, isolating the hazard, controlling with engineering measures, disciplining, and supervising.
Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences, Assistant Professor Dr. Rüştü Uçan, evaluated the issue of preventing suicide attempts at train and metro stations.
Singapore Model: Zero Suicide Attempts
Pointing to examples worldwide, Assistant Professor Dr. Rüştü Uçan highlighted that platform screen doors in Singapore, in particular, have completely eliminated such incidents.
Assistant Professor Dr. Rüştü Uçan noted that Singapore's underground metro system has not experienced any suicide cases since 1987, stating, “The biggest reason for this is that passengers' access to the tracks is completely blocked by platform screen doors. Passengers can board the metro only after it has arrived at the platform and the doors have opened. This eliminates the risk of jumping in front of the metro and being crushed or electrocuted.”
If No Singapore Model, What Are the Alternative Solutions?
Assistant Professor Dr. Rüştü Uçan stated that a hierarchy for managing hazard and risk should be developed to prevent suicide attempts in metro stations, explaining that this hierarchy involves; eliminating the hazard, reducing the hazard, isolating the hazard, controlling with engineering measures, disciplining, and supervising.
Assistant Professor Dr. Rüştü Uçan stated that access to tracks can be prevented using platform screen doors (PSDs) like those in Singapore, and added that physical barriers or railing systems could be installed at a certain distance from the tracks, automatic alarm systems that detect people approaching the tracks with sensor-based warning systems could be created, systems that send automatic warnings to incoming metros could also be installed, and security measures could be increased in metro stations.
Common Characteristics of Metro Suicides!
Assistant Professor Dr. Rüştü Uçan stated that examinations in Austria revealed certain common characteristics in suicide cases occurring at metro stations, saying, “The majority of those who committed suicide were 30 years old. Stations with high drug sales pose a greater risk. In these cases, individuals jump in front of the metro as soon as they enter the platform or from the middle. Attempts increase during less crowded hours. In high-speed trains, in addition to the risk of being crushed, there is also the risk of electrocution; braking does not save them. Those who commit suicide usually do so at the metro station closest to their homes.”