[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 85 (Monday, May 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24220-24222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-9952]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Notice of Safety Advisory 2004-01

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of safety advisory.

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SUMMARY: The FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2004-01 to address 
recommended safety practices and review existing requirements for the 
protection of roadway workers from traffic on adjacent tracks and to 
heighten awareness to prevent the inadvertent fouling of track when on-
track safety is not provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher F. Schulte, Specialist, 
Track Division, Office of Safety Assurance and Compliance, Federal 
Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of

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Transportation, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone: 202-493-6251; or Cynthia Walters, Office of Chief Counsel, 
FRA 1129 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-493-
6064.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Roadway Worker Protection regulation (``regulation'' ``rule'' 
or ``roadway worker rule'') (Subpart C of 49 CFR part 214) has proven 
to be an effective tool for reducing roadway worker fatalities. Since 
the regulation became effective in 1997, roadway worker fatalities have 
declined significantly. However, in 2003, there were five roadway 
worker fatalities, compared with one fatality in 1999. This suggests 
that more needs to be done to protect roadway workers. FRA believes 
that increased awareness by railroads, contractors to railroads, and 
their employees of certain dangers and how to avoid or minimize them 
may save lives.
    From 1997 to the present, 20 fatalities have been attributed to 
non-compliance with the regulation. Ten of the 20 fatalities occurred 
when workers entered fouling space and were struck by a train or on-
track equipment. Four of the 10 fatalities involved workers fouling 
adjacent track in error, while the remaining six have been categorized 
as involved workers fouling any track in error or fouling a track when 
unnecessary to perform work duties. This Safety Advisory addresses the 
circumstances involved in these ten fatalities-inadvertent fouling of 
tracks or fouling of tracks when unnecessary to perform work.
    FRA and other members of the railroad industry have become 
increasingly concerned about these two categories of roadway worker 
fatalities. The regulation addresses the first category by requiring 
on-track safety protection through watchman/lookouts on adjacent track 
outside working limits for large-scale maintenance or construction 
(Sec.  214.335). Accordingly, working limits is an acceptable form of 
on-track safety for adjacent tracks. The second concern is also 
addressed in part by the regulation. It prohibits a roadway worker from 
fouling the track unless necessary for the performance of the worker's 
duty (Sec.  214.313(b)). The regulation also encourages heightened 
awareness among workers of their surroundings. See 61 FR 65966. In 
light of the number of recent roadway worker fatalities, FRA believes 
additional attention and emphasis needs to be placed on worker 
protection in both situations cited above.

Protection of Workers on Adjacent Tracks

    The concept of protecting roadway workers from the hazards of 
trains and other on-track equipment on adjacent tracks is an important 
element of the roadway worker rule. Section 214.335(c) of the rule 
requires that roadway work groups engaged in large-scale maintenance or 
construction be provided with train-approach warning for movements on 
adjacent tracks that are not included within working limits. As noted 
in the preamble of the rule, ``this [P]aragraph c . . . details the 
conditions under which train approach warning must be used on adjacent 
tracks that are not within work limits. These are conditions in which 
the risk of distraction is significant, and which require measures to 
provide on-track safety on adjacent track.'' See 61 FR 65971. Although 
``large-scale construction or maintenance'' is not specifically defined 
in the regulation, FRA quoted approvingly from a recommendation issued 
by the Federal Roadway Worker Advisory Committee. That committee 
described large-scale activities as those including ``track maintenance 
and/or renovation, such as but not limited to, rail and tie gangs, 
production in-track welding, ballast distribution, and undercutting.'' 
See 61 FR 655971.
    Although FRA focused on ``large-scale'' activities as those that 
can be distracting to the roadway worker, other activities that are not 
necessarily ``large-scale,'' also may have the potential to be 
distracting. Maintenance-of-way work has become increasingly 
mechanized--inspection, light maintenance, or emergency repairs are 
often accomplished by work crews consisting of a small number of 
individuals. Such activities where workers are preoccupied, distracted 
by noise, or drawn away from the zone of protection by their project-
related duties may make it more likely that roadway workers and roadway 
maintenance machines will foul the adjacent track and possibly be 
struck by approaching or passing trains.
    The difficulty in determining when certain types of work should be 
classified as ``large-scale'' and the concern for potentially unsafe 
small-scale activities has prompted rail labor to request a regulation 
change mandating on-track safety for all roadway work groups on 
adjacent track, regardless of the scope of the work. Although FRA has 
decided not to pursue a regulation change at this time, FRA believes it 
may be prudent for railroads and contractors to evaluate, on a case-by-
case basis, whether work has the potential to foul or intrude on the 
adjacent track and consider protecting such work, even when the work 
would not be considered ``large-scale.''

On-Track Safety on Adjacent Track

    The roadway worker rule established requirements addressing on-
track safety on adjacent track. A brief review of such existing 
requirements follows. Roadway work groups can utilize train-approach 
warning (Sec.  214.329) and working limits (Sec.  214.319). When using 
train-approach warning, the watchman/lookout ``shall be provided by the 
employer with the equipment necessary for compliance with the on-track 
safety duties which the watchman/lookout will perform.'' (Sec.  
214.329(g)). Watchmen/lookouts shall be properly equipped to provide 
visual and auditory warning such as whistle, air horn, white disk, red 
flag, lantern, fusee (Sec.  214.7). This section further imposes a duty 
upon the employer to provide the watchman/lookout employee with the 
requisite equipment necessary to carry out his on-track safety duties.
    When using working limits, the roadway worker in charge of the 
working limits has the authority to actually direct train movement on 
the adjacent track. For controlled track, trains or on-track equipment 
can only move through the working limits at restricted speed or a speed 
determined suitable for the situation by the roadway worker in charge 
(Sec.  214.321(d)). For non-controlled track, trains and on-track 
equipment may only move at restricted speed (Sec.  214.327). If working 
limits are established for an adjacent track, it is important to 
consider the risks that remain when trains are permitted to pass 
through. Any maintenance or construction activity that has the 
potential to intrude onto the track must cease before trains are 
permitted to pass through working limits on adjacent track. Otherwise, 
any work that may cause an employee to foul the adjacent track would be 
unprotected. Based on the foregoing, railroads should have detailed 
procedures for directing trains through adjacent working limits, 
including a requirement mandating that further activity will not cause 
workers or equipment to foul the adjacent track. However, train-
approach warning must be provided if further work is performed that may 
result in workers intruding into an adjacent track after a train is 
directed through.

Inadvertent Fouling

    The concept of not fouling the track unless necessary for the 
performance of

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duties is a core element of the regulation. This concept has been 
codified in Sec.  214.313, which addresses the responsibility of 
individual roadway workers and imposes specific requirements on 
individual roadway workers. It is imperative that roadway workers 
comply with Sec.  214.313 and refrain from purposefully encroaching on 
the fouling space, unless absolutely necessary to perform their duties. 
Compliance with this requirement prohibits walking in the fouling space 
after work is complete and requires that roadway workers remain alert 
at all times. As long as roadway workers are moving about the right-of-
way under traffic (even if their work has been completed), there is a 
continuous risk of being struck by a train or maintenance-of-way 
equipment. We note that this section also imposes on each roadway 
worker the responsibility to ascertain that on-track safety is being 
provided before fouling a track, and provides the worker with the right 
to refuse any directive to violate an on-track safety rule.
    A second critically important concept involves lone workers using 
individual train detection as their method of on-track safety. 
Individual train detection is only appropriate in limited 
circumstances, as outlined in Sec.  214.337. It is not an appropriate 
form of on-track safety where there is a risk of distraction that may 
prevent the lone worker from being in a heightened state of awareness. 
Workers are more likely to inadvertently step into the fouling space 
when they are engrossed in their duties or are using individual train 
detection in locations that are inappropriate due to the geography or 
current physical conditions.
    FRA believes that the focus on heightened awareness appears to have 
deteriorated, causing increased occurrences of inadvertent and careless 
fouling of the track. As noted above, FRA's fatality data attribute six 
fatalities in the past seven years to roadway workers mistakenly 
stepping into the fouling space, directly into the path of a train.
    FRA realizes that throughout the course of a workday, roadway 
workers need to cross tracks and do so safely, since even tracks 
protected by a form of on-track safety can be dangerous. However, the 
roadway worker rule clearly prohibits unnecessary fouling and, by 
emphasizing roadway worker awareness, attempted to prevent careless and 
inadvertent encroachment of the fouling space.
    To further enhance safety, it is suggested that railroads and 
contractors to railroads install and utilize, as appropriate, rotation 
stops on roadway maintenance machines to prevent equipment from 
inadvertently fouling adjacent tracks.

Recommended Action

    It is important to note that, like many FRA railroad safety 
standards, the roadway worker regulation merely prescribes minimum 
standards. Railroads and railroad contractors are free to prescribe 
additional or more-stringent standards consistent with the rule. (Sec.  
214.301(b)).
    FRA recommends that railroads and contractors to railroads develop 
and implement basic risk assessment procedures for use by roadway 
workers to determine the likelihood of adjacent track intrusion prior 
to initiating work activities (whether large-scale or small-scale 
activities). For example, if the work can be conducted by individuals 
positioned between the rails of a protected track, they would not foul 
an adjacent track. Likewise, light work where there is a structure 
between the tracks to prevent intrusion might be safely conducted 
without adjacent track protection. Examples would include a fence 
between the tracks at a passenger train station and the tall beam of a 
through-plate girder bridge.
    Work that requires employees to be on the field side of the 
protected track toward an adjacent track would have a much greater 
likelihood to foul that adjacent track. Under these circumstances, it 
is necessary to consider the nature of the work and the track-center 
distance. While the roadway worker regulation specifies a 25-foot 
center that triggers mandatory adjacent track protection for large-
scale work, this number can serve as a guide when conducting a risk 
assessment for activities with minimal intrusion potential. For 
example, when a small crew is working and the activity requires an 
employee to be in a position between the tracks, it would be wise to 
determine which particular track-center distance would be safe. This 
determination will help to ensure that the adjacent track would not be 
fouled if a worker were to inadvertently trip and fall. Other risk 
factors to consider would be the nature of the work (inspection or 
repair), sight distances, and the speed of trains on the adjacent 
track. Upon completion of an on-site risk assessment, the on-track 
safety briefing required by Sec.  214.315(a) is perhaps the ideal 
instrument to implement preventive measures concerning adjacent tracks.
    In addition to the above recommendation concerning basic risk 
assessment, FRA is recommending that railroads and contractors to 
railroads consider taking the following actions:
     Use of working limits for activities where 
equipment could foul adjacent track (whether large-scale or small-scale 
activities);
     Use rotation stops to mitigate the dangers 
associated with on-track equipment and trains passing on adjacent 
tracks;
     Review procedures for directing trains through 
adjacent track working limits, and enhance such procedures when 
necessary;
     Install adjacent track warning signs/devices in 
the operating cab of on-track machines to remind roadway maintenance 
machine operators to not inadvertently depart the equipment onto a 
track where there may be trains and other on-track equipment passing;
     Provide additional training and monitoring to 
its employees, emphasizing the need to cross tracks in a safe manner 
(i.e., single file and after looking in both directions);
     Reinforce to individual roadway workers that it 
is critical not to foul a track except in the performance of duty and 
only when on-track safety has been established. This training could be 
accomplished through training sessions, as well as daily job briefings; 
and
     Institute peer-intervention measures by which 
workers are encouraged to intervene when observing another roadway 
worker engaging in potentially noncompliant and unsafe activity.
    Railroads are also reminded that it is necessary to provide 
appropriate warning equipment to watchmen/lookouts to enable them to 
effectively warning of approaching trains. Such equipment includes 
whistles, air horns, white disks, red flags, lanterns, and fusees 
(Sec.  214.7).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2004.
Grady Cothen,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-9952 Filed 4-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P