Safety

SLSI picks Cotton for key post

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) has named Sam Cotton as Senior Manager, Safety and Operations, replacing Mike Long, who recently accepted a position with the Federal Railroad Administration. Cotton will be responsible for management of SLSI’s Safety Culture Assessment program, a “voluntary, non-punitive and confidential five-to-ten-day onsite process with a rigorous methodology that includes an online survey of staff, discussions with management, and observations of a railroad’s daily practices.”

RAC 2018 Safety Award winners

The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) on Aug. 8 announced the winners of its annual Safety Awards, which recognize RAC member-companies’ initiatives “that help to ensure our country’s rail network remains among the safest in the world.” Canadian Pacific, VIA Rail, Cando Rail Services and Genesee & Wyoming received awards for their “outstanding safety leadership” in 2018. Winners will receive their awards at an RAC ceremony in November.

Where are railroad medical standards?

Why don’t the railroads have comprehensive medical fitness-for-duty standards? Why does this persist, in spite of several train collisions and derailments attributed to medical issues like untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)? This analysis of those questions considers the in-terests and relationships among the three primary interested parties: railroad management, railroad labor and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the regulator.

FRA certifies TrackAsset software

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has approved Railroad Software’s TrackAsset application for electronic capture of signal inspections, as outlined in FRA 49 CFR §§ 234.273 and 236.110. TrackAsset “provides visibility for signal maintainers and maintenance-of-way employees to easily track upcoming inspections and generate work orders to complete them,” the company says.

Tempest in a tank car

Industry watchers greeted the news of the recent BNSF derailment in Doon, Iowa, as typical ho-hum news. 32 tank railcars hauling crude derailed on a stretch of track that had been compromised by floodwaters. Several of the cars were ruptured and there was a crude spill. Emergency services (BNSF and others) were able to contain the size of the spill, and residents of the area were evacuated as a precaution. Luckily for all parties involved, there was no conflagration whatsoever as a result of the derailment.

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