FRA Issues Safety Bulletin on Pre-Departure Inspections

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released a safety bulletin to remind employees to conduct visual inspections prior to pulling cars.

In Safety Bulletin 2022-01, issued Dec. 20, 2022, FRA reported that it is investigating “a recent fatal accident when a train operating on the main line struck a piece of angle iron protruding from a freight car on the adjacent main track. Based on FRA’s preliminary results from its ongoing investigation, the piece of angle iron appears to have been part of the freight car (not lading, but a repair to the carbody side top cord of a scrap metal gondola car) that was starting to dislodge from the carbody. It appears that the piece of angle iron was in this state when the car was pulled from the customer, moved to a yard, and then added to a different train on the main track. The angle iron, which was protruding into the foul of the adjacent track, pierced a locomotive cab window and fatally injured a member of the crew.”

The goal of the safety bulletin is to provide the industry “almost-immediate awareness” of the incident/accident as well as “key information with which to brief or (re)train employees,” according to FRA. The agency noted that as it completes its investigation, it “may take additional actions with respect to this incident/accident.”

Specifically, FRA is requesting railroads to review the safety bulletin with employees “to increase awareness of this hazardous condition that led to a fatal injury.” FRA also wants to remind “train crew members that when at locations where a person designated under §215.11 is not on duty for the purpose of inspecting freight cars (such as in customer facilities), prior to pulling any cars and only when it is safe to do so, to perform a proper visual inspection of freight cars for any protruding objects that may foul an adjacent track from a railcar, and if observing such a condition to immediately report it.”

At a minimum, FRA reported, at each location where a freight car is placed in a train and a person “designated under § 215.11 is not on duty for the purpose of inspecting freight cars,” the freight car shall be inspected for the following “imminently hazardous conditions … that are likely to cause an accident or casualty before the train arrives at its destination” and are “readily discoverable by a train crew member in the course of a customary inspection”:

1. A car body that is leaning or listing to the side; is sagging downward; is positioned improperly on a truck; has an object dragging below; has an object extending from side; has a door that is insecurely attached; has a broken or missing safety appliance; and/or has lading leaking from a placarded hazardous material car.
2. Insecure coupling.
3. Overheated wheel or journal.
4. Broken or extensively cracked wheel.
5. Brake that fails to release.
6. Any other apparent safety hazard likely to cause an accident or casualty before the train arrives at its destination.

DOWNLOAD FRA’S SAFETY BULLETIN 2022-01:

In related developments, FRA also recently released an safety advisory to make the rail industry aware “of a recent issue encountered by a train crew that experienced an unintended brake release of a train’s automatic air brakes while stopped at a signal,” and to recommend four steps to address the unintended release of train air brakes.