RAIL SAFETY AND SECURITY

Locomotive Cab Conditions:

The “Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commissions Act of 2007,” designed to provide more safety and security on our nations transit systems, did make some improvements for the rail industry; however, the death of a CSX conductor who was shot and killed in the cab of a locomotive during a robbery attempt in June 2010 demonstrates that not much progress has been made in the area of locomotive in-cab security and our operating crews remain in grave danger. The engineer on the train survived, but was also shot and seriously injured. The incident occurred just after the release of the Teamsters High Alert 2 rail security report, which revealed that top U.S. rail carriers have failed to make significant progress toward closing the security gaps that put at stake the safety of rail workers and communities across the country. The report disclosed that 51 percent of train crews surveyed had no way to lock or secure the cab of their locomotive against unauthorized access while occupied, and 73 percent reported that they had no way to lock the cab while it was unoccupied.

The High Alert 2 rail security report was the second such report by the Teamsters, both of which are the result of studies conducted by the Teamster Rail Conference to gain insight from rail workers into the actual safety and security issues faced by those employees on a day-to-day basis. The High Alert 2 Rail Security Report can be viewed at: http://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/ highalert2complete.pdf.

The BLET and the UTU have called on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to improve locomotive cab security and establish climate control regulations in locomotive cabs. In their joint comments filed on March 14, 2010, the unions expressed a number of safety concerns in response to the FRA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Locomotive Safety Standards that was filed in January of this year.

In their comments about locomotive cab temperatures, the unions explained the negative effect of extreme heat as it causes fatigue and lethargy, slows reaction time, and therefore diminishes safety. They argued that the rule should require newly purchased or reconstructed locomotives, as well as those locomotives already equipped with air conditioning, to be capable of maintaining a climate between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. With regard to cab security, the unions pointed out that the lack of air conditioning in hot weather causes crews to choose between their safety and their security. Crews must be able to close, lock, and seal the doors and windows of the cab in order to protect themselves from the risk of invasion of the operating compartment by unauthorized persons.

Section 405 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 authorized studies of the locomotive cab environment and empowered the FRA to regulate on this issue based on its findings. On March 17, 2011, BLET National President Dennis Pierce testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroad, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials at a hearing on “Federal Regulatory Overreach in the Railroad Industry: Implementing the Rail Safety Improvement Act.” In that testimony, President Pierce explained to the Committee the relationship of cab temperatures and cab security that occurs when crews are assigned to a locomotive with no functioning air conditioning. President Pierce pointed out that the FRA is considering establishing an upper temperature limit in locomotive cabs and that “the carriers continue to resist movement on this important health and safety issue.”

With regard to the issue of locomotive seats, the BLET and UTU have expressed their extreme disappointment to the FRA for not including anything about locomotive seats in their Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Locomotive Safety Standards. The unions pointed out that “improper and unsafe seats and seat securements have caused many injuries and illnesses to operating crews” and asked the FRA to “accept the scientific facts and offer requirements for specifications of locomotive seats on occupied locomotives.”