Railroad Safety

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Responding to my recent post  about Metro North Railroad’s Spuyten Duyvil train derailment, Colin O’Keefe of LXBN interviewed me regarding the culture of rail safety on our nations railroads, and the external and internal factors that make it so subpar.  Rail employees are the eyes and ears of safety on the property, but recently Congress and OSHA’s Whistleblower Directorate have confirmed…

Strange as it sounds, a railroad manager can have a valid reason for taking disciplinary action against an employee and still be in violation of the FRSA. How? Because the employee’s protected activity in reporting an injury,raising a safety concern, or following a treating doctor’s orders was a “contributing factor” to the action.

The FRSA …

For those of you interested in the Federal Rail Administration’s Final Rule on the use of cell phones and other electronic devices, here it is.  The Rule is that railroad operating employees can "not use an electronic device if that use would interfere with the employee’s or another railroad operating employee’s performance of safety-related …

Need more proof that retaliation doesn’t pay? Check out this scenario. Workers raise safety concerns with their carrier and OSHA. Carrier files a defamation lawsuit against the workers. Workers file Whistleblower complaint with OSHA. OSHA investigation finds lawsuit was in retaliation for the workers’ protected activity, and PRESTO! the carrier has to pay $7.8…

Looks like the Federal Railroad Safety Act  is just the beginning of a new wave of whistleblower protection statutes. The combination of a whistleblower friendly Obama Administration and the worst breakdown of financial regulation in decades is sure to result in a major expansion of whistleblower protection laws, and the legal press is taking notice.…

Talk about leveling the playing field. OSHA’s FRSA Whistleblowers have sent another powerful message to rail management: sorry guys, but the days of business as usual are officially over. Supervisors are no longer free to retaliate at will against employees who raise safety concerns.

It all started when a Union Pacific Railroad Company welder performing…

I feel safer already. The Department of Homeland Security, through its Transportation Security Administration (TSA), has finally gotten around to promulgating new regulations strengthening security on passenger and freight railroads. The new regulations were to go into effect December 26, 2008, but the railroads successfully petitioned for a delay until April 1, 2009. The…

Sounds like Joe Szabo will be the next Head of the Federal Railroad Administration. If so, this is good news for rail labor and anyone concerned with promoting rail safety. Joe’s background is as a conductor for both freight and passenger railroads, and until recently he served as Illinois state legislative director for the UTU.