FRA safety bulletin addresses rail employee training

As part of its investigation into a fatal on-track collision in Texas earlier this month, the Federal Railroad Administration on June 23 issued a safety bulletin to alert railroads about the importance of employee training.

According to the FRA, the accident occurred June 9 during a Union Pacific Railroad switching job in Nacodgoches, Texas. The locomotive engineer was shoving two locomotives and five covered hopper cars into a siding. The conductor was riding the consist and collided with cars that had been left fouling the siding after being set out on the main track. The employee had about two years of railroad experience, and qualified as a conductor in August 2023.

While FRA’s investigation into the accident is ongoing, the circumstances raise concerns about whether the conductor was properly trained and qualified to perform switching duties, FRA officials said in the bulletin. Once it completes its investigation, the FRA may take additional actions.

Specifically, the FRA safety alert reminds railroads of the following:

• Railroads must ensure that newly certified conductors or conductors-in-training have received structured and documented instruction in railroad operating fundamentals, consistent with the requirements of 49 CFR § 242.119. Railroad management should verify that conductors have demonstrated proficiency in classroom and on-the-job training, with special emphasis on rules and procedures for identifying equipment fouling and safely conducting shove movements;

• Railroads should review their operating rules' testing programs under 49 CFR § 217.9 and ensure that railroad testing officers are compliant with 49 CFR § 217.9(b)(1) and are testing conductors for equipment left in the foul and proper shove procedures; and

• Railroads should review with employees Switching Operations Fatality Analysis (SOFA) Recommendation No. 5 and the SOFA Working Group Brief. The group is a voluntary workplace-safety partnership formed to identify commonalities among fatalities and serious injuries that occur during switching operations. SOFA Alerts regarding switching related events are available here.