Train operators in Japan are in motion when seated.
As the train approaches a signal, the operator points at it and says, "Signal is green." When the train begins to pull into a station, the operator points at the speedometer and calls out the speed. When leaving a station the operator points at the timetable and says the exact time out loud.
The same is true for workers at every station in the high-speed train network.
The system is called point-and-call (shisa kanko in Japanese) and its has been shown to dramatically reduce error.
Japan Railway Technical Research Institute conducted research in 1994 in which workers who were asked to complete a simple task made 2.38 errors per 100 actions when no special steps were taken to prevent errors. according to society of Engineering in Medicine & Biology (embs.org).
When told to add just calling or just pointing as error prevention steps, their error rate dropped significantly.
However, errors dropped 85 percent when workers pointed, called, and listened to their voices.
This heightened mental focus technique has been applied in the New York Subway system, aviation and some industrial settings.
