Save Our Trains Michigan
Conductor
Congress urged: Focus on training, fatigue
"Training of new employees working in safety-sensitive positions is inadequate and not focused on safe operations," a congressional panel was told July 25 by the UTU.
Additionally, the UTU asked the House Railroad Subcommittee to amend the Hours of Service Act to restrict each tour of duty to no more than 10 hours and to establish a cumulative seven-day maximum total.
In his testimony, UTU Alternate National Legislative Director James Stem also said congressional intervention is needed to give the Federal Railroad Administration "more resources and more authority to have a more immediate impact on the increasing number of train collisions and major accidents that continue to occur."
Also testifying were the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman; an NTSB official; a sleep scientist and two railroad officials.
The subcommittee, in calling the oversight hearing, observed that while commercial airline pilots are limited to 100 hours of work per month, and truck drivers to 260 hours, train and engine service employees are permitted by hours-of-service regulations to work up to 432 hours each month, which is the equivalent of 30 consecutive 14-hour days.
In asking for congressional action, Stem said that "accidents caused by human factors account for about 38 percent of total train accidents" and that such accidents are increasing in number. He cited, as causes:
• Inadequate training programs for new employees;
• Insufficient practical on-the-job experience for new employees;
• An absence of familiarity with the workplace physical environment;
• Substandard recurrent training requirements for existing employees, and
• An unacceptable prevalence of fatigue throughout the rail industry.
"The insufficiency of existing training programs, together with fatigue and the resulting loss of situational awareness, are contributing causes in the majority of accidents attributed to human factor failures," Stem said. "Cumulative fatigue is the major contributing factor in the loss of situational awareness; however, training deficiencies and other demands on the employee's time disrupt the ability to focus, prioritize and process the critical information streams that require constant attention.
"The rail industry," Stem said, "will have more than 80,000 new employees in the next five years. It also is experiencing an unprecedented retention problem involving new employees.
"The lack of appropriate training is the number-one safety issue facing the rail industry today - and training failures should be of significant and urgent concern to the Congress," Stem said. "These training deficiencies are not limited to operating employees, but also include train dispatchers, signal employees, maintenance-of-way employees, locomotive repair and servicing employees, and track inspectors.
"The UTU is of the strong opinion that newly hired trainmen should not be required to work unsupervised or operate locomotives until they are truly experienced in the trainman craft," Stem testified. "This ensures they have become proficient in their train service job functions and have gained needed on-the-job experience before assuming additional demanding duties and responsibilities. A one-year minimum in train service prior to becoming a conductor would improve the quality and competency of railroad operating employees, which equates to safer and more efficient operations."
As to fatigue, Stem said the FRA is not empowered to deal with cumulative fatigue and that railroads "have refused to address the problem in a meaningful manner - that many employees are now told, 'either come to work or you are fired,' even though they have not been able to sleep before reporting for duty."
"The incidence of fatigue for railroad operating crews and its significant detrimental effect on situational awareness for safety-sensitive employees covered by hours-of-service limitations is directly associated with so-called 'limbo time,'" Stem said.
Limbo time covers all time consumed between completion of the maximum allowable 12-hour shift and the time when an employee is completely released from service. Railroads, he said, regularly compel crews to remain at the workplace for many hours following completion of their maximum allowable 12-hour shift to guard the stationary trains until a relief crew is available for service.
It is not unusual, Stem said, for railroad employees to be at the workplace for 18 consecutive hours, and then they are entitled to only 10 hours off duty before being required to report for another 18-hour shift.
Although the UTU entered into many "work/rest" agreements with the railroads, "an overwhelming majority of those projects were canceled by the railroads because guaranteed time off reduces the number of hours an employee must be available for duty each week, month, and year," Stem said.
The subcommittee also was provided with a letter to the UTU and BLET from the NTSB in which the safety board, pointing to 2004 fatal accident at Macdona, Texas, made specific recommendations.
They included that the UTU and the BLET "use this accident as a fatigue case study to illustrate the responsibility of the carrier to provide an employee the opportunity for adequate sleep and the responsibility of the employee to acquire sleep sufficient to work at a safe level of alertness, and the options available if adequate sleep is not obtained."
The NTSB also recommended the FRA "determine the most effective methods of providing emergency escape breathing apparatus for all crewmembers on freight trains carrying hazardous materials that would pose an inhalation hazard in the event of unintentional release, and then require railroads to provide these breathing apparatus to their crewmembers along with appropriate training."
The NTSB also recommended the FRA "require railroads to use scientifically based principles when assigning work schedules for train crewmembers, which consider factors that impact sleep needs, to reduce the effects of fatigue."
Additionally, the NTSB recommended the FRA "establish requirements that limit train crewmember limbo time to address fatigue."
The UTU's specific recommendations to Congress are:
• Amend the Hours of Service Act to permit only 10 hours of service for each tour of duty for covered employees. This means that the time an employee reports for service and is then released at the final terminal will not exceed 10 hours;
• Establish a reasonable cumulative total for permitted service each seven days.
• Require a minimum of 12 hours notice for employees reporting for service on call who do not have a regular starting time.
• Provide FRA additional resources to enforce these safety parameters.
• Provide FRA the authority to further restrict the total time on duty when sensitive operations are involved and the safety of the operation requires.
July 25, 2006
"Training of new employees working in safety-sensitive positions is inadequate and not focused on safe operations," a congressional panel was told July 25 by the UTU.
Additionally, the UTU asked the House Railroad Subcommittee to amend the Hours of Service Act to restrict each tour of duty to no more than 10 hours and to establish a cumulative seven-day maximum total.
In his testimony, UTU Alternate National Legislative Director James Stem also said congressional intervention is needed to give the Federal Railroad Administration "more resources and more authority to have a more immediate impact on the increasing number of train collisions and major accidents that continue to occur."
Also testifying were the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman; an NTSB official; a sleep scientist and two railroad officials.
The subcommittee, in calling the oversight hearing, observed that while commercial airline pilots are limited to 100 hours of work per month, and truck drivers to 260 hours, train and engine service employees are permitted by hours-of-service regulations to work up to 432 hours each month, which is the equivalent of 30 consecutive 14-hour days.
In asking for congressional action, Stem said that "accidents caused by human factors account for about 38 percent of total train accidents" and that such accidents are increasing in number. He cited, as causes:
• Inadequate training programs for new employees;
• Insufficient practical on-the-job experience for new employees;
• An absence of familiarity with the workplace physical environment;
• Substandard recurrent training requirements for existing employees, and
• An unacceptable prevalence of fatigue throughout the rail industry.
"The insufficiency of existing training programs, together with fatigue and the resulting loss of situational awareness, are contributing causes in the majority of accidents attributed to human factor failures," Stem said. "Cumulative fatigue is the major contributing factor in the loss of situational awareness; however, training deficiencies and other demands on the employee's time disrupt the ability to focus, prioritize and process the critical information streams that require constant attention.
"The rail industry," Stem said, "will have more than 80,000 new employees in the next five years. It also is experiencing an unprecedented retention problem involving new employees.
"The lack of appropriate training is the number-one safety issue facing the rail industry today - and training failures should be of significant and urgent concern to the Congress," Stem said. "These training deficiencies are not limited to operating employees, but also include train dispatchers, signal employees, maintenance-of-way employees, locomotive repair and servicing employees, and track inspectors.
"The UTU is of the strong opinion that newly hired trainmen should not be required to work unsupervised or operate locomotives until they are truly experienced in the trainman craft," Stem testified. "This ensures they have become proficient in their train service job functions and have gained needed on-the-job experience before assuming additional demanding duties and responsibilities. A one-year minimum in train service prior to becoming a conductor would improve the quality and competency of railroad operating employees, which equates to safer and more efficient operations."
As to fatigue, Stem said the FRA is not empowered to deal with cumulative fatigue and that railroads "have refused to address the problem in a meaningful manner - that many employees are now told, 'either come to work or you are fired,' even though they have not been able to sleep before reporting for duty."
"The incidence of fatigue for railroad operating crews and its significant detrimental effect on situational awareness for safety-sensitive employees covered by hours-of-service limitations is directly associated with so-called 'limbo time,'" Stem said.
Limbo time covers all time consumed between completion of the maximum allowable 12-hour shift and the time when an employee is completely released from service. Railroads, he said, regularly compel crews to remain at the workplace for many hours following completion of their maximum allowable 12-hour shift to guard the stationary trains until a relief crew is available for service.
It is not unusual, Stem said, for railroad employees to be at the workplace for 18 consecutive hours, and then they are entitled to only 10 hours off duty before being required to report for another 18-hour shift.
Although the UTU entered into many "work/rest" agreements with the railroads, "an overwhelming majority of those projects were canceled by the railroads because guaranteed time off reduces the number of hours an employee must be available for duty each week, month, and year," Stem said.
The subcommittee also was provided with a letter to the UTU and BLET from the NTSB in which the safety board, pointing to 2004 fatal accident at Macdona, Texas, made specific recommendations.
They included that the UTU and the BLET "use this accident as a fatigue case study to illustrate the responsibility of the carrier to provide an employee the opportunity for adequate sleep and the responsibility of the employee to acquire sleep sufficient to work at a safe level of alertness, and the options available if adequate sleep is not obtained."
The NTSB also recommended the FRA "determine the most effective methods of providing emergency escape breathing apparatus for all crewmembers on freight trains carrying hazardous materials that would pose an inhalation hazard in the event of unintentional release, and then require railroads to provide these breathing apparatus to their crewmembers along with appropriate training."
The NTSB also recommended the FRA "require railroads to use scientifically based principles when assigning work schedules for train crewmembers, which consider factors that impact sleep needs, to reduce the effects of fatigue."
Additionally, the NTSB recommended the FRA "establish requirements that limit train crewmember limbo time to address fatigue."
The UTU's specific recommendations to Congress are:
• Amend the Hours of Service Act to permit only 10 hours of service for each tour of duty for covered employees. This means that the time an employee reports for service and is then released at the final terminal will not exceed 10 hours;
• Establish a reasonable cumulative total for permitted service each seven days.
• Require a minimum of 12 hours notice for employees reporting for service on call who do not have a regular starting time.
• Provide FRA additional resources to enforce these safety parameters.
• Provide FRA the authority to further restrict the total time on duty when sensitive operations are involved and the safety of the operation requires.
July 25, 2006
