FRA Safety Advisory 2016-02; Hazard Recognition and Mitigation Published: Dec 5 2016 8:40AM
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 228 (Monday, November 28, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85674-85676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28558]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Safety Advisory 2016-02]
Identification and Mitigation of Hazards Through Job Safety
Briefings and Hazard Recognition Strategies
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Safety Advisory.
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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2016-02 out of concern for the
number of railroad and railroad contractor fatalities that occur when
roadway workers perform certain activities that fall outside the scope
of FRA's safety regulations, but within the purview of the U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) regulations. FRA
is issuing this Safety Advisory to remind railroads and railroad
contractors, and their employees (including roadway workers) of the
importance of identifying hazardous conditions at job locations,
conducting thorough job safety briefings to discuss the hazardous
conditions, and taking appropriate actions to mitigate those
conditions. This Safety Advisory reminds railroads, railroad
contractors, and their respective employees that OSHA's job safety
regulations may apply to certain roadway worker activities and makes
recommendations for hazard recognition strategies and challenge
procedures that could improve roadway worker safety while roadway
workers are engaged in activities subject to OSHA's regulations. FRA
considers this Safety Advisory responsive to the National
Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) Recommendations R-14-33, R-14-35,
and R-14-36.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Joseph E. Riley, Track Specialist,
Track Division, Office of Technical Oversight, FRA, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Mail Stop 25, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493-6357.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 3, 2016, two National Railroad
Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) employees were killed in Chester,
Pennsylvania, when an Amtrak train struck a backhoe on that track.
Although the NTSB has not concluded its
[[Page 85675]]
investigation of this accident, FRA believes more robust protection of
roadway workers \1\ employed by railroads and railroad contractors who
work on or near railroad track is necessary. Railroad safety is of the
utmost importance to FRA, and FRA has taken several measures, some of
which are discussed below, to better protect roadway workers.
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\1\ FRA regulations define a ``roadway worker'' as ``any
employee of a railroad, or of a contractor to a railroad, whose
duties include inspection, construction, maintenance or repair of
railroad track, bridges, roadway, signal and communication systems,
roadway facilities or roadway maintenance machinery on or near track
or with the potential of fouling a track, and flagmen and watchmen/
lookouts.'' 49 CFR 214.7.
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On June 10, 2016, FRA published two final rules addressing roadway
worker safety. One of the rules amends FRA's Roadway Worker Protection
(RWP) regulations (49 CFR part 214, subpart C), while the second rule
revises FRA's alcohol and drug regulations (49 CFR part 219).
The final rule, ``Railroad Workplace Safety; Roadway Worker
Protection Miscellaneous Revisions (RRR)'' (RWP Final Rule), resolves
miscellaneous interpretive issues, codifies certain FRA technical
bulletins, adopts new requirements governing redundant signal
protections and the movement of roadway maintenance machines over
certain types of track, and amends certain qualification requirements
for roadway workers. See 81 FR 37840, June 10, 2016. For example, the
RWP Final Rule mandates job briefings for roadway workers include
information on the accessibility of the roadway worker in charge.
Second, it sets standards for how ``occupancy'' behind train
authorities (when the authority for a work crew does not begin until
the train has passed the area) can be used. Third, it requires annual
training for any train, yard, and engine service individual acting as a
roadway worker in charge. Finally, it requires railroads to annually
train all roadway workers on their procedures for determining whether
it is safe to cross track.
The final rule, ``Control of Alcohol and Drug Use: Coverage of
Maintenance of Way (MOW) Employees and Retrospective Regulatory Review-
Based Amendments'' (MOW Final Rule), broadens the scope of FRA's
alcohol and drug regulations to cover MOW employees.\2\ See 81 FR
37894, June 10, 2016. The MOW Final Rule subjects all MOW employees to
FRA's drug and alcohol testing, including random testing, post-accident
testing, reasonable suspicion testing, reasonable cause testing, pre-
employment testing, return-to-duty testing, and follow-up testing. The
MOW Final Rule also requires drug testing of railroad and MOW employees
involved in certain highway-rail grade crossing accidents or incidents.
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\2\ The MOW Final Rule defines the term ``maintenance-of-way
employee'' or ``MOW employee'' as ``a roadway worker, as defined in
49 CFR 214.7.''
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On March 17, 2016, FRA published Safety Advisory 2016-01 addressing
the movement of roadway maintenance machines over highway-rail grade
crossings. In Safety Advisory 2016-01, FRA emphasized the importance of
compliance with railroad operating rules over highway-rail grade
crossings and the need for railroad employees and contractors operating
those machines to maintain situational awareness. See 81 FR 14516, Mar.
17, 2016. Specifically, in Safety Advisory 2016-01 FRA recommends
railroads and railroad contractors review, update, and follow rules and
procedures governing the safe movement of roadway maintenance machines
traversing highway-rail grade crossings.
As discussed above, FRA has taken a number of recent steps to
better protect roadway workers when those roadway workers are engaged
in activities subject to FRA's safety jurisdiction. When those
employees are engaged in activities outside the scope of FRA's safety
regulations, they may be required to comply with OSHA's regulations,
such as 29 CFR part 1910 (Occupational Safety and Health Standards) and
29 CFR 1926 (Safety and Health Regulations for Construction).
Specifically, railroads and railroad contractors may be required to
implement policies and procedures mandated by OSHA relating to the
working conditions for roadway workers.
Between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2015, over 60 roadway
worker fatalities occurred while the roadway workers performed work not
covered by FRA's safety regulations. This leads FRA to believe
railroads and railroad contractors, as well as their employees, may
fail to recognize potential hazards outside of those directly governed
by FRA's rail safety regulations and may fail to develop and implement
appropriate risk mitigation actions.
During the NTSB's September 24, 2014, hearing regarding the 2013
MOW and signal employee fatalities, the NTSB reminded the rail industry
that, in certain situations, OSHA's regulations apply to railroads and
railroad contractors, including OSHA's requirements that employees: (1)
Conduct hazard assessments to identify and address existing conditions
that pose safety hazards; (2) conduct job safety briefings prior to
every work activity; and (3) conduct additional job briefings if
significant changes occur during the course of the work. See 29 CFR
1910.132(d), 1910.269(a)(3), 1910.269(c), 1926.952(b)-(d).\3\
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\3\ Also on September 24, 2014, the NTSB issued a report titled
Special Investigation Report on Railroad and Rail Transit Roadway
Worker Protection, SIR-14/03. In that report, NTSB issued three
Safety Recommendations to FRA that this Safety Advisory is
responsive to, including Safety Recommendations R-14-33, R-14-35,
and R-14-36. NTSB's Recommendation R-14-33 states FRA should revise
the job briefing provisions of its Roadway Worker Protection
regulations (49 CFR part 214) to include best practices found in
OSHA's regulations. NTSB's Recommendation R-14-35 states FRA should
work with OSHA to establish guidelines for when and where OSHA
standards should be applied to railroads and railroad workers.
NTSB's Recommendation R-14-36 states FRA should require initial and
recurring training for roadway workers in hazard recognition and
mitigation, including recognition and mitigation of the hazards of
tasks performed by coworkers.
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Although FRA's safety regulations require on-track safety job
briefings prior to an employee fouling track,\4\ through this Safety
Advisory, FRA reminds railroads and railroad contractors and their
respective employees that when their roadway workers are engaged in
activities that fall outside the scope of FRA's safety regulations,
those activities may be subject to OSHA's regulations. And, those OSHA
regulations may require job safety briefings prior to beginning certain
work activities, and additional job safety briefings if a new hazard is
discovered during the work assignment. Job safety briefings, specific
to the task or tasks to be performed, provide a mechanism to not only
communicate identified risks to every member of the roadway work group,
but to also ensure that the roadway work group agrees as to how the
identified risks will be mitigated. The job safety briefing is a key
component in preventing individual conditions, which can be harmless in
isolation, from becoming a potentially dangerous situation.
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\4\ See e.g., 49 CFR 214.315(a) and (d) (addressing job safety
briefings).
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Railroads and railroad contractors should consider having a
workable strategy for identifying safety hazards that exist in their
work environments and for eliminating or addressing such safety
hazards. Railroads and railroad contractors should therefore consider
developing and implementing annual training for their roadway workers
in various hazard recognition techniques. Whenever a hazard or risk is
identified, a roadway worker should stop, look around, and analyze the
situation for potential harm. Recognizing every situation for its
potential danger may be
[[Page 85676]]
challenging. Moreover, individual, isolated conditions may appear to be
harmless. However, a combination of several seemingly harmless
conditions can present a serious safety hazard.
Examples of contributing factors or actions roadway workers may
face or engage in that may have been a factor in one or more roadway
worker fatalities since 2000 while the roadway workers were performing
work not covered by FRA regulations include, but are not limited to:
Ascending or descending; falling objects; electrocution; an
unanticipated energy release; slips, trips and falls; hoisting or
lowering an object; off-track equipment striking roadway workers;
collisions between roadway maintenance machines and standing trains;
highway vehicle collisions (vehicle to vehicle); highway vehicles
striking roadway workers; and environmental-related hazards (swarming
bees, mudslides, heat stroke, flash floods, etc.).
FRA and the railroad industry have witnessed success using the Good
Faith Challenge Procedures found in FRA's regulations \5\ for
situations when a roadway worker believes the on-track safety procedure
being used is inadequate for the work being performed. In such a
situation, the roadway worker may remain clear of the track until the
challenged safety issue is resolved without fear of retribution or
retaliation. Many railroads have adopted Good Faith Challenge
Procedures for any safety-related concern, not just those FRA
regulates. FRA recommends all railroads and railroad contractors adopt
appropriate Good Faith Challenge Procedures for any recognized hazard
identified during job safety briefings or any hazard otherwise arising
during the course of work activities roadway worker believes requires
remediation, whether FRA, OSHA, or another Federal agency regulate the
that hazard.
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\5\ See 49 CFR 214.311 (responsibility of employers to implement
Good Faith Challenge Procedures).
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Recommendations: In light of the above discussion, and in an effort
to improve job safety briefings, improve the identification and
mitigation of potential safety hazards existing in the working
environments of roadway workers, and reduce the number of injuries and
fatalities occurring when roadway workers are engaged in activities
outside the scope of FRA's safety regulations, FRA recommends railroads
and railroad contractors:
1. Develop hazard-recognition strategies identifying and addressing
existing conditions posing actual or potential safety hazards,
emphasizing the contributing factors or actions involved in roadway
worker-related fatalities occurring since 2000.
2. Provide annual training to roadway workers on the use of hazard-
recognition strategies developed by the railroad or the railroad
contractor.
3. Institute procedures for mandatory job safety briefings
compliant with OSHA's regulations prior to initiating any roadway
worker activity. Consistent with OSHA's regulations, roadway workers
should use hazard-recognition procedures to identify potential hazards
in their job briefings and then determine the appropriate measures to
mitigate the identified hazards. If an unforeseen situation develops
during work performance, roadway workers should stop working and
conduct a second job briefing to determine the appropriate means of
mitigating the new hazard.
4. Develop and apply Good Faith Challenge Procedures for all
roadway workers who, in good faith, believe a task is unsafe or an
identified hazard has not been mitigated.
FRA encourages railroad and railroad contractor industry members to
take actions consistent with the preceding recommendations and any
other actions that may help ensure the safety of roadway workers.
Although the primary purpose of this Safety Advisory is for railroads
and railroad contractors to apply these recommendations to activities
that fall outside the scope of FRA's safety regulations, FRA also
encourages the industry to apply these recommendations to activities
FRA's regulations govern.
FRA may modify this Safety Advisory, issue additional safety
advisories, or take other appropriate actions necessary to ensure the
safety of the Nation's railroads, including pursuing other corrective
measures under its safety laws and regulations.
Issued in Washington, DC, on November 22, 2016.
John K. Alexy,
Director, Office of Safety Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2016-28558 Filed 11-25-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
BMWED SUMMARY OF REGULATORY JURISDICTION between the FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION (FRA) and the OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (OSHA)