FRA Fines Amtrak for RWP Violations
The fines imposed were for "Failure of the Employee in Charge to Hold a Proper Job Briefing" and "Employee in Charge Did Not Have a Radio".
Lodge 3014 asked the FRA for their help in this potential life threatening close call, at Morris Interlocking, and they delivered!
In early September a gang was to replace a frog at Morris Interlocking. The gang had met in the tower to hold a job briefing. A RWP briefing was to be done as well.
The foreman in charge of the gang had to go to another location to make a move with a piece of equipment. He held a job briefing but did not hold an RWP briefing at that time. He wanted to hold it when he came back from making the move and before anyone went on the tracks. While he was gone an Asst. Supervisor took control of the gang.
The asst. supervisor decided he wanted to cripple the track and prep for the frog replacement. He told the gang two track was out of service. This was the track they were working on. ( This is four track 110 MPH territory. Track two had a 60 MPH restriction on it. There is also a running track off of one track and a running track that feeds into two & three track.) He posted three watchmen and told everyone to clear outside the gauge of all tracks. That was the briefing. He did not erect a non-shunting barricade. He did not do a complete RWP briefing nor did the men sign off on the briefing.
The fact of the matter was that two track was NOT out of service. Four track was. Four track was out of service, continuous, for bridge timber replacement.
When a train came, the watchmen sounded the horns and the men cleared out. When the train passed it was on two track. The track the supervisor had said was out of service. The men questioned the supervisor and told him to call on the radio to find out if it was in fact out of service. The supervisor told the men that he did not have a radio with him or in the truck. He said he would drive down and ask the foreman. When he came back he said the track was indeed out of service and told the men they could go back to work. The men proceeded to cripple the track. Again a train came and the watchmen sounded their horns. And again a train came down two track. The men were furious. The refused to go back on the tracks. In all four trains had gone buy on two track, which by now was not in class for even 60 MPH.
This time the foreman had completed his move and properly took track out of service. The foreman states that he never told the supervisor that the track was out of service and the supervisor never came down to talk to him.
The job was finally done safely.
When Amtrak was asked by the union to investigate this potentially life threatening incident so we could make sure it did not happen again, the company did nothing but bust the Asst. supervisor down to a foreman. (Still leading our men without a clue.) The union pressed for a more formal investigation but that was ignored. The union then contacted the FRA who began their own investigation.
Their finding were as follows;
1) The supervisor was the employee in charge at the time the foreman had left, since he ordered the gang onto the tracks.
2) As employee in charge he should have had a radio and did not.
3) Although a job briefing was held, a complete RWP briefing was not held. The information shared at this incomplete briefing was not accurate. Two track was not out of service, four track was.
4) When track is out of service you are permitted to clear in the out of service track. Had this been done, instead of clearing all main tracks, there would most likely been a loss of life from the erroneous information.
5) The FRA felt the men should have not gone back to work until they saw a copy of the form D and should have insisted that a proper briefing been done. The FRA felt the men should have exercised their "Right to Refuse an Unsafe Workplace"
The FRA fined Amtrak on two violations.
1) "Failure of the Employee in Charge to Hold A Proper Job Briefing" Fine- $3000.00
2) "Failure of the Employee in Charge to Have a Radio" Fine - $5000.00
These fines should send a strong message to anyone that thinks they can put the lives of others at risk for the sake of doing a job. Ignorance is not an excuse nor should it be tolerated . Every person must be responsible for their own safety. And an employee in charge had better take his responsibility very seriously.
Lodge 3014 would like to thank the FRA for their help in investigating this matter and helping us bring awareness to everyone who must work on these very dangerous rails.