Rail Industry Medicals

We can assist with these medicals and instructions below to apply for the relevant Railway Industry Medicals (Category 1, 2 versus 3).

Rail Industry Medical Categories

Thousands of people are employed in order for the trains to run on time. Employment within the Australian railways covers a large range of positions, including working as a train driver, cleaner, signal engineer, mechanical engineer, signal electrician, office administrator, track worker, traction linesperson, inspector, signaler, and many other different positions / apprenticeships and traineeships.

The Rail Industry Medical has different assessment criteria for a range of health conditions, depending on which category the railway worker belongs to, as per the following:

Rail Category 1 Medicals | Safety Critical Work/Workers

Category 1 workers are the highest level of Safety Critical Worker. These are workers who require high levels of attentiveness to their task and for whom sudden incapacity or collapse (e.g., from a heart attack or blackout) may result in a serious incident affecting the public or the rail network. Single-operator train driving on the commercial network is an example of a Category 1 task.

1. Register in the RIW system with a RIW number provided by your employer.
2. Complete your Rail Category 1 Pre-assessment Form: Worker Notification and Health Questionnaire , Category 1 & 2 Rail Safety Worker
3. On the day of the assessment, you need to provide your surname, RIW number and date of birth for us to finalise your Railway medical with an online submission.

These are the areas that you usually will be assessed for Rail Category 1 Medicals:

• Medical Examination
• Resting ECG
• Fasting Blood Glucose
• Full Lipid Profile
• Audiometry / Hearing Test
• Vision Test
• Musculoskeletal/Neurological Examination
• Cardiac Risk Score
• Medical Questionnaire
• Drug and Alcohol Test

Frequency of Railway Category 1:

• On employment commencement
• 5 yearly to age 50
• 2 yearly between age 50 to 60
• Yearly from age 60

Rail Category 2 Medicals | Safety Critical Work/Workers

Category 2 workers are those whose work also requires high levels of attentiveness, but for whom fail-safe mechanisms or the nature of their duties ensure sudden incapacity or collapse does not affect safety of the rail network. For example, in many cases signalers are classified as Category 2 because fail-safe signal control systems protect the safety of the network in case of worker incapacity.

1. Register in the RIW system with a RIW number provided by your employer.
2. Complete your Rail Category 1 Pre-assessment Form: Worker Notification and Health Questionnaire , Category 1 & 2 Rail Safety Worker
3. On the day of the assessment, you need to provide your surname, RIW number and date of birth for us to finalise you Railway medical with an online submission.

These are the areas that you usually will be assessed for Rail Category 2 Medicals:

• Medical Examination
• Audiometry / Hearing Test
• Vision Test
• Musculoskeletal/Neurological Examination
• Medical Questionnaire
• Drug and Alcohol Test

Frequency:

• As per Rail Category 1 Medicals

Rail Category 3 Medicals | Non-Safety Critical Work/Workers

These are workers whose action or inaction will not lead directly to a serious incident affecting the public or the rail network. These workers require health assessments to ensure their own safety while working in or around the network.

1. Register in the RIW system with a RIW number provided by your employer.
2. Complete your Rail Category 1 Pre-assessment Form: Worker Notification and Health Questionnaire , Category 3 Rail Safety Worker Assessment
3. On the day of the assessment, you need to provide your surname, RIW number and date of birth for us to finalise you Railway medical with an online submission.

These are the areas that you usually will be assessed for Rail Category 2 Medicals:

• Medical Examination
• Audiometry / Hearing Test
• Vision Test
• Musculoskeletal/Neurological Examination
• Medical Questionnaire
• Drug and Alcohol Test

Frequency:

• On employment commencement
• At age 40
• 5 yearly from age 40