FRA recommends railroads strengthen yard safety
(The following story by Dean Brickey appeared on the East Oregonian website on January 22.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Dec. 14 death of a railroad worker near Syracuse, N.Y., has prompted the government to issue recommendations for improving railroad safety.
The recommendations follow a preliminary investigation into Dec. 14 death of a worker who was killed when his truck was struck by a remote-controlled shoving yard movement.
The news involving new Federal Railroad Administration recommendations was of particular interest to Ed Brookshier, Hermiston's city manager.
Union Pacific Railroad has notified the city it wants to operate remote-controlled trains through Hermiston. The city has adopted a resolution banning remote-control operations. The railroad, however, continues to pursue its plan.
Railroad officials have told city officials the remote-control operators would be on the locomotives.
"If it was something other than that, it could be very scary," Brookshier said, acknowledging that some remote-control train movements in yards are conducted by a worker who is on the ground.
"The issue for us is at-grade, ungated crossings," he said.
The FRA's recommendations were included in Safety Advisory 2007-01 published Thursday in the Federal Register.
Warren Flatau, an FRA spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the latest recommendations are not limited to remote-control locomotives.
"It is another warning, if you will, to all parties, about the critical importance of abiding by operating rules in yards," he said this morning.
Flatau said the FRA and New York authorities still are investigating the Syracuse accident. Causes and contributing factors have not been established.
Agency officials said the subject of "point protection" for shoving movements was included in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning railroad operating rules and practices under consideration. "Point protection" refers to safety at the front of a moving train.
By issuing the safety advisory, the FRA is asking the industry not to wait until the lengthy rulemaking process is concluded, but to act now to prevent another injury or death. The agency's most significant recommendation is that railroads "review, or amend ... their point protection rules to clarify that the person protecting the point visually determine, for the duration of the shoving or pushing movement, that the track is clear either within the person's range of vision or for the complete distance the equipment is to be shoved or pushed ...."
In making this recommendation, FRA officials acknowledged that "continuous observation cannot be accomplished if the person is also attempting to accomplish other tasks that cause the person to divert attention from providing point protection."
The safety advisory also recommended that railroads:
• Assess their rules addressing safety at yard crossings.
• Review their point protection rules and their importance with all relevant employees.
• Review their rules pertaining to employee behavior on or about tracks with particular emphasis in yards.
• Address the ability of employees to call for assistance in emergency situations.
• Assess the visibility of flat cars and other equipment with low profiles and consider measures available to increase their visibility when they are the lead car in a shoving movement, especially at yard crossings.
John P. Tolman, vice president and national legislative representative of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, applauded the FRA's action.
"The industry is long overdue for a mandatory point protection requirement for shoving movements," he said, "Crews should have the absolute right to refuse to make a blind shove."
Tolman said his union urges the FRA to closely monitor the industry's response to these recommendations, and to take further action, if necessary, to ensure that another tragedy like the New York accident never happens again.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
