The National Transportation Safety Board has issued safety recommendations urging the rail industry to protect workers during shoving movements.
The new recommendations call for an end to the rail industry practice of requiring workers to ride rail equipment during shoving movements in order to provide point protections. The NTSB called on railroads and the Federal Railroad Administration to prohibit the practice and require safer alternatives, as well as to identify hazards before operations begin.
“Railroad workers deserve a safe workplace and should never have to risk their lives to do their jobs,” NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said. “Our investigations have repeatedly shown that riding moving rail equipment can have deadly consequences. Railroads have safer alternatives, and they should use them.”
Currently during a shoving movement, a locomotive pushes railcars while a worker makes sure the track ahead of the cars is clear. Some railroads allow workers to do this while riding on the lead railcar. The practice puts workers in danger, the NTSB said, and can increase their odds of falling from moving equipment, being struck by vehicles at highway-railroad grade crossings, or being pinned or crushed during collisions. The practice also puts employees in danger of being thrown from equipment or trapped between railcars and nearby structures.
NTSB said since Oct. 2020, it has investigated 16 accidents involving workers riding equipment during shoving movements. Fourteen of those workers were killed and two more were seriously injured. Two additional investigations have been opened since August, the agency said.
In making the recommendations, the agency said federal regulations do not adequately address these risks and do not consistently require crews to identify hazards before work begins, placing them in greater danger when safer alternatives are available.
“Repeated accidents that seriously injure or kill railroad workers are unacceptable,” NTSB Vice Chairman Michael Graham said. “These recommendations provide a safer path forward by reducing unnecessary exposure to hazards and strengthening pre-job hazard assessments.”