Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119602464 - Sperry Rail Service, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 and two coworkers were working on the Sperry Rail Service (SRS) train car #141. They had just finished the night's work and were heading to the M and W base in Perryville, MD, to spend the night. The employees parked the SRS #141 on the west side of the tracks near the road crossing in the M and W base. The driver of the SRS #141 told Employee #1 that the spreader bar underneath the car needed to be oiled, but that it could be done when the crew woke up because of the cold and rainy weather. Employee #1 told the driver he was going to make a phone call and that he would return. The chief operator came into the car's living quarters and he and the driver had a cup of tea and began to talk. They discussed the train car's position in the base and decided to move it to the east of the road crossing. The chief operator asked where Employee #1 was and the driver replied, "Making a phone call." The driver started the train car's propelling engine, which was very loud, and released the brakes. Meanwhile, the chief operator was outside removing the wheel chocks from underneath the train car. Once this was completed, they moved the train car, not knowing that Employee #1 was underneath it oiling the spreader bar. Minutes later, an Amtrak employee found Employee #1's body on the tracks and notified personnel about the accident. All employees receive training on how to safely operate the train cars. Employee #1 had taken several safety tests and was extremely safety conscious when it came to going under train cars, according to his fellow workers. He always followed the safety rules, except this one time.

Keywords: WORK RULES, RUN OVER, TRAIN, INATTENTION