Admin User - Setting Up Reference Data

Company Structure

Regions and Depots

The regions within the company and the depots that fall within each of these.

This will ultimately affect which candidates each user can see on ACMS e.g. a region manager will only be able to see candidates that are from the associated depots within the same region.

T & C Annotation

A Terms & Conditions Annotation is an extra classification for a person in a safety critical role. This is useful if, for example, you have drivers that drive completely different types of trains. It can be used to differentiate any people that work to different terms and conditions.

T&C Annotations are bespoke to a company, you can set up as many as are needed or simply put everyone into a default one.

Role Reference Data

Competence Date Rules

Competence date rules are set up by AssessTech users.

In ACMS, the following competence dates are recorded against candidates' roles:

• Original competence date: the date of the first time a candidate was deemed competent in the role at any TOC
• First competence date: the date of the first time a candidate was deemed competent in the role at the current TOC
• Current competence date: the date of the most recent summary assessment 

ACMS calculates the expiry date of a candidate's competence based on competence date rules which add a defined period of time (in months) dependent on the length between the original and first date and first and current dates. 

Example:

PQA dispatcher:

• Original - First range = 0 to infinity
• First - Current range = 0 to 10 months 

= 12 months of competence

Default dispatcher:

• Original - First range = 0 to infinity
• First - Current range = 10 months to infinity

= 36 months of competence

It may be that several competence date rules need to be applied to each role type.  For example, for a driver role you may need to have competence date rules set up for PQA Year 1, PQA Year 2, Transferred Experienced PQA Year 1, Transferred Experienced PQA Year 2, Transferred Experienced, Experienced.

For roles which have a number of competence date rules, the easiest way to visualise whether there are any gaps is to create a chart like the one below. 

In this example, the rules are as follows:

PQA Driver Year 1:

• Original - First range = 0 to 1 month
• First - Current range = 0 to 10 months 

= 36 months of competence

Transferred Experienced PQA Year 1:

• Original - First range = 1 to 22 months
• First - Current range = 0 to 10 months 

= 12 months of competence

Transferred Experienced Driver:

• Original - First range = 22 months to infinity
• First - Current range = 0 to 22 months 

= 36 months of competence

Transferred PQA Year 2:

• Original - First range = 1 to 22 months 
• First - Current range = 10 to 22 months 

= 12 months of competence

Experienced Driver:

• Original - First range = 0 to infinity
• First - Current range = 22 to infinity 

= 36 months of competence

The diagram highlights that there is a gap for those with a date original to first range of 0-1 and a first to current range of 10-22.

Incapacities

Pre-defined list of reasons a person's work is restricted or that they are off role.

Examples:

• Long Term Sick
• Maternity Leave
• Light Duties
• COVID-19

Incapacities are a valuable way in which to manage extended periods of absence from duty/role.

Rather than using multiple overdue authorisations on a schedule to represent this, an incapacity can be added, the current schedule closed, and a new schedule opened upon their return.

Incapacities can then be utilised as a flag on reporting to indicate where a user is on an extended period of leave.

Reasons for Leaving

Pre-defined list of reasons for candidates leaving a role.

Examples:

• Deceased
• Dismissed
• Retired
• Sabbatical

Driving Categories

Driving Categories are used to define the driving activities that drivers are permitted to carry out. 

Examples:

• A1
• B1

Languages

Languages can be assigned to candidates in ACMS. This is mainly used for drivers and their train drivers licence.

Locations

Locations are used in a number of different places on the system; they can be activated as a field for particular roles, are used within incidents/investigations and added to waypoints within assessments.

Location Types

Locations can be categorised into Location Types.

Examples:

• Engineering depots,
• Station
• Junctions
• Signals
• Yard & sidings. 

Routes

There are two ways in which routes can be set up on ACMS:

1. As route reference data 
2. As role resources

The two options require slightly different set up and the second option provides a bit more functionality e.g. approval workflow and expiry times. An explanation for how to use role resources is included further down in this user guide. 

Example of routes set up:

Benefits

• Route records are already integrated into a number of different aspects of ACMS e.g. Links, Hours Tracker and SCWIDs.
• The associated Crew Plan codes are clearly displayed on the candidate dashboard.

Limitations

• There is currently no way of tracking expired routes which need to be re-signed. Development would be required to record lapsing date and implement expiry date rules.
• Route learning documentation cannot be directly associated with the route record. These files would need to be uploaded to Candidate Data.
• There is no functional link between main and sub routes. Despite the ability to note which main route each sub route falls under, this has no implication on the system e.g. if a sub route becomes expired, the main route does not also automatically become expired.

The benefits and limitations of role resources are also included in this guide.

Traction

Like routes, Traction can be set up in two ways on ACMS:

1. As traction reference data
2. As role resources

The two options require slightly different set up and the second option provides a bit more functionality e.g. approval workflow and expiry times. An explanation for how to use role resources is included further down in this user guide. 

Benefits

• Traction records are already integrated into a number of different aspects of ACMS e.g. Links and SCWIDs.

Limitations

• There is currently no way of tracking expired traction which need to be re-signed. Development would be required to record lapsing date and implement expiry date rules.
• Traction learning documentation cannot be directly associated with the route record. These files would need to be uploaded to Candidate Data.

The benefits and limitations of role resources are also included in this guide.

Role Resources

This is a facility to add information about the resources, against which people typically hold competence.

• Locations are used as part of competence; dispatchers typically with sign locations.
• Routes and traction are typically signed by guards and drivers, as part of their competence.
• Other competencies can be built into the system, for example, Engineering tasks, Management competencies, etc.

Resources have expiry dates (optional) so you can control the need to do refresher training and/or ‘sign’ things on a regular basis.

Learning times can be added, to facilitate training gap reports, for individuals or groups.

Role resources have three levels; Resource Type, Resource Subtype and Resource.  In order to build routes as resources the following format would be built:

Expiry times can be added to resources at either the subtype or resource level.   An expiry date will be automatically generated by ACMS based on the expiry time set when the resource was created.  Expired resources are highlighted red on the dashboard and can be tracked using reports.

Users are able to request a refresh on a resource by selecting the resource and then clicking on the Resource Admin button followed by Request Refresh. This will mark the resource as ‘Refresh Required’ and the candidate will need to update the executed date. Optionally, this can then be authorised or rejected by the manager.

If you do decide that approvals are required, you will need to add a new property to team types that are allowed to do this. If you go to Menu > Personnel > Team Type and open the type of team that is allowed to do this. You can add a new property:

• In Key, enter ‘RESOURCE’
• In value, enter ‘true’

This allows managers to view all of the resources to be approved or rejected on the resource authorise page.

Benefits

• An expiry time can be added to the resources either at the subtype or resource level. Expired resources will display as red on the candidate dashboard and can be tracked using pre-existing reports.
• Route Learning documentation can be uploaded against each resource record.
• Resources can be displayed on SCWIDs.
• There is an optional resource approval workflow which allows managers to either accept or reject resource refreshes.

Limitations

• Development is planned to make the resource properties visible from the candidate dashboard. 
• Development is planned to set up a new SCWID error code which checks for a Resource Type = Route for certain roles before permitting a SCWID to be issued. 

Medical Reference Data

Medical Types are set up by AssessTech users.  Different types of medicals can be recorded on ACMS. By default, the following are available:

General (Periodic) Medicals

General medicals can be passed or failed. Failures can result in early review dates and/or restrictions to duty.

All the rules for managing expiry dates, according to the person’s age and role (rules are different for drivers) are built into the system. These medicals take the rule change that came into effect with the European Driving License directive.

By default we have the following medical rule collections which can be applied to different role types:

Review Medicals

These are related to General Medicals and can result in further review dates and restrictions.

Sight Medicals

These are for recording whether or not people need glasses or other sight aids.

Hearing Medicals

These are for recording whether or not people need hearing or other communication aids.

There is a facility to add custom medicals, for example, to support additional hearing tests for people working in a noisy environment.

It is possible to set up different medical results for each type.  For each option we need to know whether the following is required:

• Status - pass/fail
• Restrictions - yes/no
• Review date - yes/no
• Return date - yes/no
• Doctor registration - yes/no

FAQs

Can a user be assigned to multiple depots or regions?

A user can only be assigned to one depot which then determines which region they are part of.  If a manager needs to see candidates that are within depots in multiple regions then this manager will require a company level security group which allows them to see all depots.