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Final rule aimed at keeping rail transit workers safe near tracks
Final rule aimed at keeping rail transit workers safe near tracks
November 5, 2024
Washington — A new Federal Transit Administration final rule establishes mandatory minimum safety standards for rail transit employees who work on or near tracks.
Set to go into effect Dec. 2, the rule directs rail transit agencies to establish multiple track worker protections, including “the right to challenge and refuse in good faith any assignment based on on-track safety concerns and resolve such challenges and refusals promptly and equitably.”
Other requirements:
• Implement a roadway worker protection program to prevent incidents, fatalities and injuries to workers who access areas on or along tracks.
• Establish minimum requirements for RWP programs, such as job safety briefings and lone worker protection.
• Require workers to report unsafe actions, conditions and near misses related to RWP programs.
• Develop training programs that cover all transit workers responsible for on-track safety by position.
An FTA press release cites National Transit Database statistics showing that 29 transit workers were killed and 144 were seriously injured while performing track work between Jan. 1, 2008, and June 30, 2024.
{snip}
November 5, 2024
Washington — A new Federal Transit Administration final rule establishes mandatory minimum safety standards for rail transit employees who work on or near tracks.
Set to go into effect Dec. 2, the rule directs rail transit agencies to establish multiple track worker protections, including “the right to challenge and refuse in good faith any assignment based on on-track safety concerns and resolve such challenges and refusals promptly and equitably.”
Other requirements:
• Implement a roadway worker protection program to prevent incidents, fatalities and injuries to workers who access areas on or along tracks.
• Establish minimum requirements for RWP programs, such as job safety briefings and lone worker protection.
• Require workers to report unsafe actions, conditions and near misses related to RWP programs.
• Develop training programs that cover all transit workers responsible for on-track safety by position.
An FTA press release cites National Transit Database statistics showing that 29 transit workers were killed and 144 were seriously injured while performing track work between Jan. 1, 2008, and June 30, 2024.
{snip}