Inspection Detail

Inspection: 18832808 - Mass Transit Administration

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

Investigation Summary

On February 23, 1987, Employee #1 and a coworker on the midnight shift were sent to clear switch #21 along track #1, which was not working due to snow between the rails. Snow was falling heavily but the subway trains had been kept running to keep the track clear for the following day's operations. At approximately 5:05 a.m., Employee #1 was on the track sweeping snow from the switch when a train that had been running on another track was switched to track #1 and struck him as he tried to jump clear. He suffered two fractured legs, one with serious bone and tissue damage, and a fractured shoulder. The employees did not expect a train on track #1 and the train engineer did not expect to see workers on it. The train was traveling on track #1 in a reverse traffic pattern. The darkness and snow restricted both visibility and sound transmission. Employee #1 was also wearing a hood at the time of the accident.

Keywords: FRACTURE, SHOULDER, WORK RULES, STRUCK BY, TRAIN, COMMUNICATION, LEG, POOR VISIBILITY