BLET completes Safety Task Force restructuring

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) National Division has restructured its Safety Task Force (STF), which studies rail accidents from the viewpoint of locomotive engineers and trainmen, union officials announced last week.

The task force will maintain a list of primary investigators, as it has in the past, but has eliminated its list of secondary volunteers. National Secretary-Treasurer Stephen Bruno will continue as STF chairman, while Carl Fields (Division 682) will continue as coordinator and Scott Palmer (Division 482), assistant coordinator.

The BLET became the first labor union in the railroad industry to establish a formal accident investigation team. Created in 1989, the STF assists federal agencies in the investigation of rail accidents, helping to determine probable causes and making safety recommendations.

"I cannot overstate the importance of our Safety Task Force and our investigations into accidents from the human perspective, and more importantly, from the perspective of the operating employees," BLET National President Dennis Pierce said in a press release.