Zooker.
Thanks for your comments and I will return the wishes and say safe controlling if you be an ATC. Indeed the safety critical element and human interraction has been a constant friction point and as well as Hawes was an element in accidents such as at Norton Fitzwarren and more recently Clapham Junction where the poor tech worked 30 days on the trot, mis-wired the signal in rear which created a "false" green and saw the rear-end collision which saw many folk perish. The public enquiry which followed ushered in the "Hidden rules" by which our base rosters are to abide.
I work in an industry whose rule book has evolved because of accidents, try as we might not every eventuality can be forseen IMHO and the human being although being reduced in numbers, has not been entirely replaced. For example - the computer cannot deal with the call which comes in when a driver has hit another human being; we deal with these things differently but the shock and despair in the voice is something which is difficult to shift out of one's mind.
I would recommend a read of the ESJ report, especially pages 37-40
Rail Accident Investigation: Report 28/2009 in the context of this thread which gives a fascinating insight into how the fatigue element in both industries is managed and why the recommendation is basically a call to see the ending of 12hr shifts (well that is how it is being interpreted). There is a school of thought that working longer
weeks in the same pattern and repetition can lead to rote working especially when it is the same area day after day to a set timetable etc.
I would thoroughly recommend LTC Rolt's
Red for Danger - this book although out of print is a set text on the causes of accidents, and written in a beautifully humane style.