WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration has proposed rules to protect track workers for all transit agencies, the first such effort to propose minimum national standards for track maintenance safety.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking now available at the Federal Register would require transit agencies to create a protection program for personnel who work on or around tracks; implement comprehensive worker training; and ensure unsafe acts and conditions are reported. The proposed rule would apply to rail agencies, as well as to the state agencies that oversee safety.
“The workers who repair and maintain America’s transit railways deserve to be safe on the job,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release. “We are proud to propose the first-ever rule requiring worker protection standards for all rail transit agencies, and I look forward to partnering with transit agencies across the country to advance this vital rule and keep workers safe.”
The FTA says that, according to the National Transit Database, 22 workers were killed and 120 workers were seriously injured in track incidents between Jan. 1, 2008, and Oct. 31, 2022.
“This rule will ultimately save lives,” said FTA Acting Administrator Veronica Vanterpool. “Once this rule is finalized, it will support safer conditions for workers who perform critical tasks that keep transit operating efficiently and safely.”
With the publication of the rule, a 60-day comment period has begun on the proposal through May 24, 2024. The FTA is encouraging the public, transit agency, state oversight agencies, unions, and other interested parties to submit comments; information on how to comment is available by downloading the proposed rule.
The Transport Workers Union heralded the proposal as “a massive breakthrough, an unprecedented leap forward in terms of worker safety.
“Instead of being neutral, the FTA is saying it intends to be an active ally in our efforts to protedt workers who do inherently dangerous jobs on and along the tracks,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said in a statement. The union highlighted one aspect of the FTA proposal that would give a worker the right to refuse an unsafe work order, calling it “extremely significant, particularly among work groups that do not have contractual language providing for good-faith safety challenges.”
— Updated March 24 at 12:20 p.m. with comment from Transport Workers Union.
Yup.
and they could probably make an Emergency Order like the FRA can do & have this stuff in place in 30 days. But no, they won’t.
I understand that is a different operating environment, but the FRA Roadway Worker Protection rules have been in place since the 1990’s. This is a long time coming.