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OSHA’s campaign to keep workers safe in the heat OSHA’s Heat Illness Prevention campaign, launched in 2011, educates employers and workers on the dangers of working in the heat. Through training sessions, outreach events, informational sessions, publications, social media messaging and media appearances, millions of workers and employers have learned how to protect workers from…

The chief actuary of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) said in his triennial report that the railroad retirement fund will remain solvent with no cash flow problems for nearly three decades, barring any unforeseen drops in rail worker employment over that time. The positive forecast led the reviewers to conclude that the RRB payroll tax…

The Switching Operations Fatality Analysis (SOFA) in June issued its latest updates on switching fatalities and severe injuries for the entirety of 2017 and for the first quarter of 2018. According to SOFA, there were three switching-related fatalities and nine amputations as a result of switching accidents in 2017. There were 68 “severe injuries,” which…

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) ruled in favor of safe train operations in June by denying a request by Canadian National (CN) that sought a waiver allowing an extinguished intermediate signal aspect to provide a signal indication. The SMART Transportation Division Minnesota State Legislative Board filed comments in opposition to CN’s waiver request in a…

A victory for safety was achieved in June when the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Railroad Safety Board denied a request by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to lengthen the “off-air” restriction from four to 24 hours for required brake tests and inspections. AAR had written to FRA in December 2017 seeking a petition for…