An Exploratory Analysis and Comparison of Railroad Employee Injuries on Rights-Of-Way and in Yards

Abstract

The railroad industry is one of the oldest transportation industries in the United States, and until the late 20th century, it was also considered one of the most dangerous. Although this industry has made vast safety improvements in the last 20 years, railroad employees continue to be exposed to hazardous working conditions. Railroads are required by law to provide the Federal Railroad Administration with monthly summaries of injuries and illnesses that occur on railroad property. However, only in 1997 were railroads first required to report the specific railroad location where the injury occurred. Research was conducted to examine whether there were differences between injuries occurring in yards and those occurring on rights-of-way. Comparisons of these data indicate that, although railroad yards appear to be more dangerous in terms of the injury rate and resulting number of lost workdays, there are a lot of similarities in the characteristics of the injuries occurring in both locations. These results can be used to structure cost-effective safety and training programs that are appropriate to both environments.