Australia National Standard for Health Assessment of Rail Safety Workers 2024 4.13: Vision and eye disorders: assess visual acuity, visual fields, monocularity, progressive eye conditions such as cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, and colour vision according to the operator's task-based colour vision requirement (Normal Colour Vision for red signals at speed or distance, colour defective safe A or B vision, or none), using the Ishihara plates and Farnsworth D15 panel and the Standard's protocols, with laboratory rather than practical testing; apply the criteria in Table 24 and manage stable corrected impairment as Fit for Duty Unconditional with aids worn at work

What does 4.13 require?

Good vision is essential for driving trains and trams, operating machinery, train control and working near the track; impaired acuity or fields delay detection of another train or a member of the public and lengthen reaction to signals and hazards, while track predictability and seating height give some compensation in borderline cases depending on the role. Progressive conditions such as cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy change gradually and may go unnoticed, so detection and regular monitoring matter, and most optic neuropathies, retinal degenerations and retinopathies are likely to be incompatible with Safety Critical Work. Colour vision matters for recognising red, green and other signals, flags and lights: the operator's task risk assessment decides whether a role needs Normal Colour Vision (red signals under all conditions including speed, distance and poor visibility), colour defective safe A vision, colour defective safe B vision (surfaces such as flags and screens) or no requirement, and the health professional tests to the Standard's protocols with Ishihara plates and the Farnsworth D15 panel and further laboratory testing as the protocol requires, never a practical test. Acuity is tested for each eye with and without correction at the standard distance and fields assessed clinically with formal perimetry where indicated. The fitness criteria in Table 24 set the acuity, field, monocular, progressive disease and colour vision requirements for Category 1 and Category 2 workers; a worker with a stable, non-progressive impairment who meets the criteria with corrective lenses is Fit for Duty Unconditional and must wear the aids at work, and workers under the former Standard's Farnsworth Lantern or pre-2012 practical tests may continue in the same role under the transition arrangements until their colour vision demands change.