The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a Safety Advisory emphasizing the importance of rules and procedures regarding the safety of roadway workers who operate or work near roadway maintenance machines (RMM).
Considering incidents that have occurred in the past few years resulting in fatalities of two roadway workers struck by RMMs on main line track, FRA issued Safety Advisory 2023-06 (download below), recommending that railroads and railroad contractors:
- “Review, update, and communicate applicable rules and procedures related to the operation of RMMs to ensure the safety of roadway workers who operate and work with or around the machines.
- “Increase monitoring of roadway workers, railroad employees, and contractors for compliance with all existing applicable rules and procedures (and any updated rules and procedures to result from paragraph (1)), particularly those involving the operation of RMMs and roadway workers working on and in the vicinity of RMMs.
- “Conduct additional safety briefings to raise workers’ awareness of the hazards associated with operating and working around RMMs.”
FRA says it encourages all railroad industry members to take actions consistent with the recommendations of this Safety Advisory and may modify this Safety Advisory, issue additional safety advisories, or take other appropriate action necessary “to ensure the highest level of safety on the Nation’s railroads, including pursuing other corrective measures under its rail safety authority.”
-Source(Railwayage)
