Why Japan's rail workers can't stop pointing at things

01/01/22 • 8 min

Take a train in any Japanese city and it is impossible to miss: rail employees in crisp uniforms pointing smartly at an array of buttons, knobs and dials.
It is "shisa kanko" - pointing-and-calling - an industrial safety technique that, despite its odd appearance, is known to reduce workplace errors by up to 85%.
Join us as we investigate this fascinating practice and speak with industrial safety experts in Japan on the effectiveness of pointing-and-calling.
This episode is based on an earlier article that originally appeared in Atlas Obscura.

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The Amazing Psychology of Japan's rail stations (Part I)

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