WASHINGTON — A BNSF Railway conductor was working in an area “with insufficient walking space available … to perform trackside duties” when he was struck and killed during a switching move, the National Transportation Safety Board said in describing the probable cause of an April 2021 accident in Louisiana, Mo.
The NTSB accident report, completed June 6, was released Monday.
The accident on April 7, 2021, involved a local based in West Quincy, Mo.; the conductor had more than 20 years of experience and had been declared medically fit for duty, although NTSB investigators found in a review of the victim’s medical record that he had conditions that could cause difficulty walking, increase the likelihood of falls, or impact coordination of thinking and motor processes. The NTSB was unable to determine if these conditions contributed to the accident; there were no witnesses to or video of the accident.
The Missouri Department of Transportation, in a post-accident inspection, found the walking space at the Dyno Nobel plant where the fatality occurred did not meet a state requirement that walkways along industrial track extend 8 feet, 6 inches from the track center. NTSB investigators had found that walking space between the end of the track crossties and a series of large rocks was as little as 21 inches in the area where the conductor was struck by cars during a shoving move.
Dyno Noble subsequently rebuilt all walking spaces to extend 9 feet from the track center.
Bruce, correct, but then again. I’d rather be, beside a moving train instead of in front of one coming up on my backside. Over the years, many “sneaky rolling stock” have caught brakemen off guard and caused their demise. endmrw0615221319
Of course with 20-20 hindsight, the railroad is responsible for inspecting the spur.
But the overriding point is that Railroad Rules state that in tight quarters the conductor must walk ahead of the movement.
If the conductor seeing the tight squeeze had walked ahead, he would not have gotten crushed.
Of course it is too late, and the loss of life is tragic. It comes to mind: When a private spur is built into an industry, it looks like the RR servicing same spur would thoroughly inspect before any of their trains move into the industry.
Any refusal to serve because of unsafe track, would have been supported even by the state regulations. The state, after the fatal accident, sure got the job done.
Looks like RR safety would have inspected the private spur before their train would have ever entered same. Besides gauge check etc. to assure safety for rolling stock, human safety (i.e. State mandate of safe space for workers) should also be on the RR checklist. endmrw0614220944
And the before condition looks as if there was not even 21 inches — more like zero.
Keep in mind the photo is from an angle…that’ll distort the image, so 21 inches from the end of the crossties isn’t going to look like much space anyways. Secondly, it appears the trackage was the responsibility of the industry and not BNSF based on the fact the industry rebuilt the track to accommodate the distance from the track CENTER(a key point of measurement).
It still looks bad.