http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/07/12/news/local/doc46959ce5f15cd019749128.txt
Excerpt:The accident happened while Schulte was trying to pull a pin on a rail car while walking alongside a train on a switching lead, the suit states.
According to the suit, the pin lifter stuck, causing Schulte to trip and fall, at which point he was struck and run over by a rail car.
The suit claims the Iowa Interstate Railroad failed to maintain a safe place to work, failed to have a proper lookout, violated safety rules, failed to properly train Schulte and failed to properly construct, inspect and maintain the rail yard walkway, among other allegations.
This was a horrible accident indeed. I am not sure what “proper lookout and safety rules” applies.
Well,
He has a point in that the broken lift pin/leaver should have been caught by the mechanical department on the inbound inspection.
And precedent says the carrier should provide a good, clean, even and stable towpath/walkway, free of debris, on their switching leads.
This is where I work…I switch down the center lead and the one to the right…note the bench, trash can, and the absence of debris?
The photo is taken about 10 feet back from where I pull pins all day.
My MOW guys come out about once a month, adjust my switches, tamp the lead, and spread clean, small walkway rock for me…because if they don’t, I file a un safe working condition report in our computer system, which the FRA gets to look at.
That way, if something goes wrong, I can justifiably state that the carrier was informed of the problem before any incident.
I griped about the empty water cans and trash to the point the carrier installed the trash can so myself and the other crews had someplace to pitch their empty soda and water cans…and the bench was the carriers idea…after the officials noticed I was bringing a UP ice bucket/water cooler to sit on while waiting…with temps in the 90s and 100s most summer days, they take care we don’t even get close to heat exhaustion.
“Proper look out and safety rules” is this guys way of saying the carrier’s mechanical department, (car men) should have noticed the broken lever before releasing the train to be switched, and that a notation should have been made on the switch list that the car was BO, (bad order) so anyone having to deal with the car would have advance warning that there was a problem.
A bench and a trash can? I thought you worked for a living. [}:)][:D]
There is also a power outlet by my bench…used to be a power switch for the leads instead of a hand throw, but the rookies kept lining it under cars, so the Port took the power switch out.
I am trying to find a coffee pot that works on 220 volts, and thinking about re wiring a box fan for 220!
I don’t know if any home coffee makers operate on 208 or 240 volts (I doubt any do). However, if you are willing to buy a commercial coffee maker, there are several that operate on those voltages.
http://www.bunnomatic.com/pages/commercl/1coffee/automatic.html
http://www.bunnomatic.com/pdfs/commercial/specsheets/a14a.pdf
And, I’ll bet you’ll make a lot of new friends, with 300 cups of coffee at your dispoal.[;)]
Keep in mind that there are probably no coffee makers designed for outdoor use, so you will need some sort of weatherproof enclosure for it.
Not to take away from this poor guys injuries, but without seeing the actual conditions, it’s hard to say who’s at fault.
Was the pin actually broken? Cut levers do stick without being broken. Was an inbound inspection required? Not all places require cars to be inbound inspected. If inspection was required, was it preformed? If required, and not preformed why did he move the track? He’s also responsible for inspecting the car.
He says the walking conditions were bad. Did he report them? Did someone else? Is there a paper trail? Was it a known hazard? Did he ignore it? Again, he’s responsible for helping to make the walking conditions safe.
Was he following the rules? Probably 90% of all injuries I’ve investigated are the result of a rules violation. The big one is getting on and off moving equipment.
He says he wasn’t trained properly. Did he report this to anyone?
In most cases like this, the company will settle, with no admission of guilt.
Nick
The link in my first post is to coffee makers that can brew 4.5 gallons/hour and 7.5 gallons/hour. If he is using 16 ounce cups, that is 36 or 60 cups per hour. Of course 60 cups/hour equals 1 cup/minute, that would be almost like McCroskey and Kramer at the water cooler in “Airplane!”. Ed, you aren’t planning on sleeping any time soon are you? You might also want to consider bring out a portable toilet or planting some shrubberies.
Truth is, I am only about 50 feet from the lunch room/locker room here…its got A/C, showers and toilets, plus a Bunn coffee maker and a icebox…but my own little Mr. Coffee on the lead would be more convenient…
Now, a lean to over my bench would be a fine and outstanding idea!
Nick kinda expanded on my post…if the walkway was bad, did this guy report it?
And yes, pin levers do stick, sometimes it takes a good hard jerk, sometimes you have to stop and go to the other side to pull the pin…
I don’t know about where this guy worked, but here at the PTRA, any T&E employee can BO a car…once he realized it was broken, he should have stopped, and called in the car.
Now, if he didn’t realize it until he first pulled up on the pin, and that caused his fall…still, our rules say you can’t run while holding up a cut lever, so he should have been either walking real slow, or standing still when he was operating the lever.
All we have is a newspaper report, so anything beyond this is pure speculation…but like Nick said, the carrier will most likely settle.
Ed, you’d have to stand well back from a fan that took 220V or be blown over. You might look for the Big A** Fan Co. on the web - no joke, there is a fan company by that name. Their logo is a grinning donkey (go figure!!). Some of their fans went into a factory building I did the contract for, and we all got a good laugh out of the company name.
Or switch REALLY, REALLY fast for a couple of days straight. You’d look like the Roadrunner in the old Warner Bros. cartoons, moving so fast you’d leave fire on the ballast.
The spot where we do our usual runaround is plenty flat on the side where we operate the cut lever, but I’ve had a couple of times when I’ve nearly lost my footing stepping down after crossing over the engine walkway to close the anglec**k for the breakaway - there is a grade there and some loose ballast (we had a washout there last year). But I’m learning to watch where I step.
Obviously this doesn’t work when cutting freight cars, but once I know the cut lever is going to lift (the coupler is almost always stretched when we stop, and the pin won’t lift until the engineer brings the locomotive in on it), I’m on the engine. No way I’m working on the ground hanging on to the cut lever on a moving locomotive.