Amtrak Safety Awareness

[Amtrak Safe]

Amtrak Safety Awareness

Dear Amtrak Safety Team,
I am an Amtrak locomotive engineer.
This is a very important safety issue in which I feel needs to be addressed:
Amtrak Locomotive Engineers should (while on duty or on company property)
at all times wear the highly reflective safety vest
(as also required by Union Pacific Rail Road employees)
while walking en route to gain access to their locomotives;
and or while on the ground in checking or inspecting their locomotives.
Amtrak’s New Mission implements safety recommendations
that lead to fundamental goals to be safer:
a. Safer: Operate the safest possible passenger railroad.
b. Reduced employee accidents and injuries.
c. Easily identifiable from passengers as an effort provide a
safety awareness to passengers and other Amtrak employees.
d. Amtrak's continued effort to build on new and improved safety concerns.

Out on the track or in an office, Amtrak employees should
get the reinforcement they need to do their jobs well
and go home to their families safely every day.This is not
about statistics or ratios, it’s about keeping people safe.

Timothy Gallagher-Manager On Board Services-Amtrak says:
It is important for employees to speak up and be open when it comes to
safety. They can correct potentially unsafe behaviors and shape Amtrak’s safety culture.

Federal Railroad Administration Passenger Safety Rail Division

Amtrak’s funding situation has become more stable, thanks in part to the
Passenger Rail Investment and Safety Improvement Act of 2008-2015
and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009-2015Amtrak Safety Awareness

 

[OBS]

There is some very good information there, however this web site has no direct relationship with Amtrak, the company. However, speaking as an Amtrak employee, I assume you are on the West Coast since you quote Tim ( who is a great person as well as Manager). Do you have Safe to Safer on the West Coast? If so, I would suggest you bring this to your S to S rep or committee as I think it is a great idea...

 

[rusty spike]

As an Amtrak patron, I appreciate your concern for your safety and of those around you. I hope that every Amtrak locomotive engineer is engaged in safey issues as you are.

 

[KrazyKoala]

I've seen non-engineer rail workers wear these vests. You should go out an buy one or ask for one from your supervisor.

 

[X]

Not to say that safety vests aren't often a good idea, but this is a great example of what the typical misguided focus on occupational safety leads to. Someone wants a zero tolerance rule on high visibility apparel while Amtrak's million and one systemic safety issues are completely ignored as usual.

 

[KrazyKoala]

I would think all engineers are aware of the dangers. If they weren't, I don't think they'd make it as far as being an engineer. If you want to wear the vest, wear it. Don't wait for months or years for Amtrak to implement it into their safety policy before you start doing it.

 

[roadman3313]

I know in Transit (speaking of buses) many agencies require operators to wear reflective vests anytime they have to exit their vehicle and go into the street or in the yards and facilities. I worked at a facility that took this very seriously too as someone at the company (another work site) ran over someone in the yard at night (his brother).

Right now I am at a site that does not require that (most of our outwear is black) and it is near to impossible to see people walking in the yard at night. Granted if people followed the speed limit in the yard 5-10 MPH instead of driving 15-25 then stopping would be easier to do when you did see someone.

As a Supervisor we do have reflective vests, jackets, and dayglow yellow/greenish rain jackets and rain pants (that meet highway reflective standards) as our work does sometimes bring us out in public streets with all sorts of drivers. Though even with all the flashing lights on, flares out, and safety equipment and vesting on, if someone is going to hit me, then they are going to hit me (as I'm sure we all see people out there driving who probably shouldn't be...)

I agree that vests are something that can contribute to safety, but it really comes down to following all the safety rules to attempt to prevent an accident. If there is no vest policy, bring your own. Hopefully it will call attention to your focus on safety and hopefully, in addition to your written letter, your supervisor will catch on and see that it can make a difference and subscribe to the program of establishing a culture of safety.

 

[KrazyKoala]

The light rail in Minneapolis requires to have them wear them while on the clock! Even when sitting on the train driving it.

 

[Ryan]

Not to say that safety vests aren't often a good idea, but this is a great example of what the typical misguided focus on occupational safety leads to. Someone wants a zero tolerance rule on high visibility apparel while Amtrak's million and one systemic safety issues are completely ignored as usual.

Like what?

And why do you think that having a rule mandating high vis clothing means you have to ignore these systemic safety issues?

 

[KrazyKoala]

It should be common sense.

Also, I dont understand how workers get hit by trains, you can hear them coming from several miles away, the tracks start viberating, the ground shakes, ect, ect/.

 

[Ryan]

The electric trains are pretty darn quiet - throw in some noise from the work you're doing and there's a train on top of you before you even notice.

 

[X]

Not to say that safety vests aren't often a good idea, but this is a great example of what the typical misguided focus on occupational safety leads to. Someone wants a zero tolerance rule on high visibility apparel while Amtrak's million and one systemic safety issues are completely ignored as usual.

Like what?
And why do you think that having a rule mandating high vis clothing means you have to ignore these systemic safety issues?

Note that I said "zero tolerance rule", the implication is that Amtrak employees can't be trusted to determine when visibility is bad enough to warrant wearing a vest. Where do you stop? Maybe train crew should also be required to wear hardhats on the job, Mechanical and everyone else in Amtrak yards have to. After all, you never know when a meteor will try and brain you! Heck, have you see the seen the inside of a locomotive cab? Those sun visors love to come loose and whack you, so engineers should really wear them at all times, just like their safety glasses. He/She does wear ANSI safety glasses at all times, right?

As roadman3313 alluded to a safety vest won't protect me from the laborer on a forklift who can't see anything because he's driving around with the load up. It also won't help the commissary truck stop faster from 20MPH when the Amtrak yard speed limit is 5MPH. Real safety is not about looking safe, it's about thinking safe and being safe, but Amtrak is more concerned with keeping the trains rolling on time. So instead they try to keep you safereduce your settlement award with pointless gestures like mandatory safety vests.

 

[X]

The electric trains are pretty darn quiet - throw in some noise from the work you're doing and there's a train on top of you before you even notice.

Good point, if the OP really were worried about being hit then maybe he should be going after the yard job engineers that don't use their bell, don't whistle, and speed (5MPH limit). That would do a whole lot more for Amtrak employee safety then letting some road foreman with a grudge ding engineers for not wearing a vest at 12 noon with not a cloud in the sky.

 

[Ryan]

OK, so that still doesn't answer the question. What are the systemic safety issues that a zero tolerance policy forces you to ignore? If it were truly zero tolerance, you wouldn't have people speeding around with loads up blocking their view.

 

[X]

Amtrak doesn't have zero tolerance policies, the company has "we had a policy in place" / "we can hold it over their heads" policies.

When you have a UP style safety vest rule as the OP referenced, that "safety" vest becomes a "don't be caught outside the cab not wearing that @4#$ thing" vest for engineers. That's not what true safety is about, you want those you're trying to keep safe to be constantly thinking about how they can keep themselves and those around them safer, and the way to do that is to truly make safety their responsibility. Change the rule to 'must be worn at night and in poor visibility', and enforce it through peer pressure, then the thought process becomes "I can't see anything out there, I'd better put my vest on so I don't get hit".

Some safety person can perform a review, implement a policy to cover some specific action(s) and / or behavior(s), enforce it with zero tolerance and largely remove the risk from those action(s) and / or behavior(s). Or you can foster a true safety culture and have all your employees constantly thinking about the risks involved in what they're doing, and how to make it safer.

 

[X]

OK, so that still doesn't answer the question. What are the systemic safety issues that a zero tolerance policy forces you to ignore? If it were truly zero tolerance, you wouldn't have people speeding around with loads up blocking their view.

And, I think, to more directly answer your question:

The misguided focus on occupational safety over systemic safety distracts from systemic safety issues, and it leads to a false appearance of safety. Someone wearing a safety vest could be less likely to look where they're going, as they figure that other people should be able to see them (not the best example, I know). Likewise making a rule requiring vests to be worn is a easy way to deal with an incident or complaint, but perhaps putting in more lighting would go a lot further towards reducing actual risk.