By Richard N. Shapiro, Railroad Injury and FELA Attorney

Passage of the Rail Safety Improvement Act in 2008 marked a milestone in federal railroad legislation, and not just because it was the first piece of meaningful rail employee protection legislation to make it out of Congress in a quarter century. The RSIA also marked a shift in safety efforts by focusing on factors that contribute to injuries and death such as employee fatigue and by calling on regulators and rail operators to identify and implement plans to make working on trains and tracks or in rail yards safer.

The Federal Railroad Administration is currently seeking feedback on how to write regulations for those required rail employee risk reduction programs. Making an obvious, but welcome, suggestion, unions and groups representing conductors, engineers, carmen, signalmen, dispatchers and others have advised FRA to ask the people who everyday face risk for getting injured or killed by locomotives, rail cars or train equipment how to improve safety.

In an official letter to the agency, the groups noted that workers have essential information to share regarding managing fatigue, dealing with security risks and integrating new technologies into their jobs and procedures. Equally important, the organizations wrote, was compiling and sharing information about reportable on-the-job injuries, whistleblower cases and instances of apparent retaliation, and the safety records of regional and shortline railroads.

I concur wholeheartedly with those recommendations. My colleagues and I have spent decades representing victims of rail accidents. We often hear from plaintiffs how incidents could have been prevented if the railroads had taken certain steps to remove or resolve dangers. We rarely learn that the employers took the time to learn from their workers what risk reduction efforts were needed.

FRA should make every effort to ensure that rail employees have a voice at the table when railroads put together plans to improve safety.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By John Cooper, Railroad Injury and FELA Attorney

Major freight railroads across the United States reported record or near-record profits for 2010. Union Pacific had its best financial year ever. Kansas City Southern saw its year-to-year profit grow 82 percent. The two rail operators with the largest presence in my part of the country, CSX and Norfolk Southern, both increased their profits by more than 35 percent.

When discussing his company’s performance during the fourth quarter of the past fiscal year, the CEO of Norfolk Southern said, “During 2010, we profitably grew the business, invested in the franchise, generated significant levels of cash, and produced attractive returns for our shareholders. We have every reason to believe that 2011 will be an even stronger year for us.”

Missing from that rosy scenario is the reality that 2010 was another dangerous, deadly year on America’s rails and in the nation’s rail yards. Through the end of last November, the Federal Railroad Administration received some 8,000 reports of injuries and deaths among railroad workers, rail passengers and people crossing tracks in vehicles or on foot. That represented an increase of nearly 200 over the same period of 2009.

It’s also likely that the 2010 and 2009 figures are lower than the actual number of reportable, FELA on-duty incidents. Fearing  illegal and unethical intimidation, discrimination and retaliation against men and women who stand up and tell the companies of accidents and safety problems, many rail employees may not report dangers and injuries.

As freight volumes, miles traveled and hours on the job have grown, the numbers of accidents and fatalities on railroads have kept pace. That logic need not hold, however.

Dedicating a meaningful portion of their hundreds of millions in profits to identifying and resolving risks to employee and public safety would allow railroad operators — from Amtrak to Canadian Pacific — to better protect workers, riders, drivers and pedestrians. Needed improvements include clearing sight lines around and along private grade crossings, strengthening fencing along tracks in urban areas, deploying positive train control technology and developing work rules and staffing levels that ensure employees get adequate rest between shifts.

Safety costs money. But having spent decades working with my law firm colleagues to represent and provide legal advice to victims of railroad accidents, I know that each dollar spent on making trains, tracks, rail yards and train equipment safer is a dollar well spent.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, Railroad Injury Attorney

Nearly a hundred people died in crashes with trains at hidden or obscured grade crossings in the United States between 2001 and 2005. The victims lost their lives in cars, in trucks, on foot and while riding motorcycles or bicycles. The railroad crossings were obscured by overgrown trees and bushes, curves in the road or natural or man-made features such as low hills or buildings. Almost all of the fatal accidents occurred at rural crossing where roads, highways and private driveways intersected with tracks in locations that lacked gates or warning lights — so-called “passive crossings.”

When people approaching train tracks do not know they are doing so, they don’t slow down or stop. When engineers and conductors on trains cannot see vehicles or people on tracks, they cannot begin braking in time to prevent tragedies ranging from severe injuries to deaths.

The Federal Railroad Administration wants to make these situations less common. Working with state officials across the country, FRA drafted a model Adequate Sight Distance at Passive Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Act and published it on January 7, 2010. Adoption of the legislation would

• Set minimum train stopping distances for the types of trains that use passive crossings.
• Require clearing all obstructions along the tracks from the intersection to the greatest minimum stopping distance.
• Require state inspectors to visit and recommend improvements to passive crossings on a regular basis.
• Authorize fines for crossing owners who do not clear sightlines.
• Establish a system for crossing owners to pay local governments or utilities for making crossing improvements.

The draft model law is brand new, and its unclear how many states will adopt it. At the same time, the need for improving the safety of passive grade crossings has never been greater. Freight rail for BNF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific is booming and appears set to continue growing in tonnage and number of trains for the next decade. Plans to expand Amtrak and other forms of long-distance passenger rail proliferate nationwide. More trains and more frequent rail trips increase the risk for crashes at grade crossings.

My colleagues and I see too often the damage trains do when they collide with vehicles at passive crossings. We fully support every effort to make rail crossings safer.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad–The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Randy E. Appleton, Attorney

When a railroad injury/accident involves release of toxic or hazardous fumes/smoke, a permanent lung/breathing disease or chemical inhalation injury may result. The cause may be a crash, derailment or even a defect or malfunction on an engine, affecting the engineer or conductor, or even a by-stander.  The Locomotive Inspection Act requires that railroads keep engines in good working order and most defects are violations of the federal regulations.  My colleague Richard N. Shapiro wrote an interesting article fully discussing engine explosions and the release of toxic fumes and smoke, as well as the locomotive inspection act requirements that apply to railroad activities.

By Randy Appleton, FELA Lawyer

Early on July 2, 2010, a Norfolk Southern conductor died after getting run over by one the company’s trains. The fatal accident occurred in Meridian, Mississippi (MI), while the conductor was assisting a crew with switching the train from one track to another. No details on the cause of the accident were available, though Federal Railroad Administration investigators responded to the scene.

During 2009, the U.S. rail industry saw 16 on-the-job deaths, several of which were due to problems at switches.

Worker safety needs to be the top priority for all rail companies. Any death or injury that can be prevented must be prevented. Unfortunately, working with a law firm dedicated to representing victims of unsafe work environments, I see too often how railroad company employees face unnecessary risks on trains, in rail yards and at switches and crossings.

When investigators identify the cause of the accident in which the conductor lost his life, I hope NS and other freight railroads such as CSX and BNSF take all necessary steps to make sure no other rail workers die from that cause.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad–The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Randy Appleton, FELA Lawyer

In 2008, a temporary emergency order was put in place to restrict the use of cell phones and other electronic devices for on-duty train crews. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is now looking to make this temporary order permanent.

The proposed permanent rule would restrict the use of electronic devices like cell phones, whether personal in nature or supplied by the railroad, if the device interferes with that employee’s or another employee’s performance of safety-related work duties, according to the United Transportation Union.

My colleague Rick Shapiro wrote an article about cell phone restrictions in the railroad industry and we both believe these types of restrictions will help improve workplace safety for rail workers. The data overwhelmingly supports restricting cell phone use when operating vehicles and large equipment. One study found that reaction time for drivers using their cell phone was on par with a drunk driver, according to Reuters. There’s also first-hand evidence. For example, the FRA discovered that a coal train engineer’s phone use contributed to a May 2002 accident in which two freight trains slammed into each other near Clarendon, Texas.

Some railroad workers may not support the proposed rule because they feel it is too broad in scope. However, there will be exceptions to the proposed rule where using a cell phone is acceptable, and there are certain exemptions for specific electronic devices such as calculators, railroad radios, watches, cameras, etc.

What if a railroad worker violates the proposed rule? Well, the FRA is requesting comment from the railroad community about what the punishment should be. One idea is revoking a locomotive engineer’s certification. The deadline to submit written comments to the FRA is June 17, 2010.

By Randy Appleton, Railroad Accident/FELA Lawyer

A study conducted by the Federal Railroad Administration revealed human factor errors are responsible for nearly 40 percent of all train accidents over the past five years and confirms that fatigue plays a role in approximately one out of four of those accidents.

In 2009, there were 10,529 railroad accident/incidents, according to the FRA Office of Safety Analysis . They also reported that 627 of these accidents were due to human factors. Based on the FRAs own study, this means roughly 156 of these rail wrecks are attributable to fatigue.

That number is far too high. These fatigue-related train accidents can be prevented, as long as the rail worker has adequate time, whether from breaks or rest periods in between shifts, to fully re-charge their batteries. However, whats truly disturbing is the fact that these types of accidents are increasing.

“In almost every other category of train accidents, we’ve seen a steady decline in recent years, but human-factor-caused accidents are increasing,” said FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman. “Widespread acceptance by the railroad industry of the validated findings of this fatigue report could potentially lead to fewer serious train accidents.”

Basically this means if the rail companies would aggressively tackle this issue, wed probably see major decreases in fatigue-related train wrecks.

These sentiments are echoed by Deborah A.P. Hersman, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. She has repeatedly stated that fatigue is a major concern for the NTSB, ever since the creation of the agency in 1967 and it has been on their Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements since the list was created in 1990, according to avstop.com. This means, for 20 years, the NTSB has requested this issue be addressed, but nothing significant has been done in the transportation industry.

Ms. Hersman relayed some pretty scary data including the fact that fatigue-impaired performance is very similar to alcohol-impaired performance.For example, being awake for 16 hours is equivalent to a blood alcohol level of .05 (the legal limit in Virginia .08) and fatigue produces similar side effects as alcohol consumption including reduced speed and accuracy, handeye coordination, decision making, and memory.

The NTSB recommended fatigue management systems, which take a comprehensive approach to reducing fatigue-related risk based on empirical and scientific evidence and methodology to continually assess their effectiveness.

I hope railroad companies and government officials actually examine the FRA studies and take the advice of Ms. Hersman. Unfortunately, up to this point, it appears theyve neglected the recommendations needed to tackle fatigue-related accidents, but if more train crashes are attributed to fatigue, there will probably be a serious outcry to fix this problem.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing hundreds of railroad workers in FELA/ railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S.  We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad – The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By John Cooper, Railroad Accident/FELA Lawyer

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is beginning to implement the regulations set forth in the Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2008 that must be followed by all U.S. railroad companies regarding the use of Positive Train Control (PTC) systems.

Currently, the installation of PTC systems is voluntary and many railroad companies are against the safety upgrades because they believe it’ll be too costly. My colleague, Randy Appleton, wrote about the absurdity of this argument and how the money spent upgrading the safety of our railroads is microscopic compared to the costs associated with a major train crash.

Despite the railroad companies’ protests, the PTC systems represent a step forward in rail safety and train accident prevention. There are various PTC prototypes being tested, but the basic system relies upon GPS technology that reviews train speeds, track conditions and vehicle locations. In addition, the system alerts the rail crew of problems and if the crew fails to respond, the emergency brakes are activated.

This technology is an upgrade from the current systems in place for many railroad companies. Signal systems are the primary technology utilized to assist with coordinating train movement via instructions to train engineers and feedback to dispatchers about vehicle movement. However, signal systems are not perfect and the system failures are possible, according to Susan Kristoff, an engineering consultant.

Given these shortcomings and the persistence of fatal train wrecks across the country, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended a “train control system on mainline tracks which will provide for positive separation of all trains” to the FRA way back in 1987 and listed a positive train separation system on their top-10 list of desired safety improvements in 1990. As you can tell, it’s been a long time coming for these new regulations.

There are currently 11 different PTC projects involving nine railroads in at least 16 different states. These pilot projects are allowing railroad companies to test this technology while gradually implementing the PTC systems in order to comply with the required 2015 deployment completion date, according to the FRA.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing hundreds of railroad workers in FELA/ railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S.  We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad – The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.