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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 202 (Friday, October 18, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83940-83941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24118]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

Safety Advisory 2024-01; Roadway Maintenance Machines--Importance 
of Communications and Compliance With Red Zone Procedures

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of safety advisory.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2024-01 to emphasize the 
importance of rules and procedures regarding the safety of roadway 
workers who operate or work near roadway maintenance machines (RMMs). 
This safety advisory recommends that railroads and contractors review 
and update their rules regarding communication between roadway workers 
who work near RMMs and the operators of those RMMs, and increase 
monitoring of their employees for compliance with existing rules and 
procedures (including through operational testing). This safety 
advisory also recommends that railroads review and update their rules 
regarding work/red zones and evaluate the work/red zone distances for 
each type of RMM. In addition, this safety advisory recommends that 
railroads and contractors conduct additional safety briefings to raise 
worker awareness of the hazards associated with operating and working 
around RMMs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yu-Jiang Zhang, Staff Director, Track 
and Structures Division, Office of Railroad Safety, FRA, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, at telephone: (202) 493-6460, 
or email: [email protected].
    Disclaimer: This Safety Advisory is considered guidance pursuant to 
DOT Order 2100.6A (June 7, 2021). Except when referencing laws, 
regulations, policies, or orders, the information in this Safety 
Advisory does not have the force and effect of law and is not meant to 
bind the public in any way. This document does not revise or replace 
any previously issued guidance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In September 2023, FRA issued Safety Advisory 2023-06, titled 
Roadway Maintenance Machines--Importance of Clear Communications and 
Compliance with Applicable Rules and Procedures. FRA addressed two 
accidents in that Safety Advisory, each involving a railroad contractor 
working on a main line and being fatally injured by an RMM. In Safety 
Advisory 2023-06, FRA recommended that railroads and contractors review 
and update their rules regarding the safety of roadway workers who 
operate or work near RMMs, communicate any resulting changes to their 
employees, and increase monitoring of roadway workers, railroad 
employees, and contractors for compliance with all applicable rules and 
procedures.
    To date, in calendar year 2024, two roadway workers have been 
fatally injured while working in the vicinity of RMMs. This Safety 
Advisory is based on FRA's preliminary findings and the respective 
railroads' latest reporting and is not intended to attribute a cause or 
assign responsibility for these incidents on the acts or omissions of 
any person or entity.
    The following is a summary of the circumstances involved in the 
incidents:
    In February 2024, an RMM struck and fatally injured a track foreman 
working on CSX's main line in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. FRA's 
preliminary investigation shows that at the time the incident, the 
track foreman was part of a four-person work group tasked to flag a 
highway-rail grade crossing for a ballast regulator that would be 
entering the crossing. When the work group arrived at the crossing, the 
track foreman walked to the north of the ballast regulator and stood in 
the gage of the track approximately seventeen feet from the ballast 
regulator. As the ballast regulator moved north to pull ballast into 
the track, the foreman was not visible to the operator of the ballast 
regulator and the machine struck and fatally injured the track foreman.
    In April 2024, a Union Pacific manager was fatally injured when he 
was struck by an RMM while working on the main line in McNeil, 
Arkansas.\1\ The manager was serving as the roadway worker in charge 
(RWIC) of a work group filling areas along an embankment with ballast. 
The RWIC was directing the on-track operations of a track-hoe excavator 
(e.g., instructing the excavator operator where to dump ballast). The 
RWIC positioned himself alongside the excavator, which was in a blind 
spot of the operator, and was struck and fatally injured by the bucket 
while it was being retracted.
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    \1\ FRA issued a Safety Bulletin in response to this incident. 
See Safety Bulletin 2024-03 (available at https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/safety-bulletin-2024-03-employee-fatality-working-around-track-equipment).
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    These incidents represent the worst-case scenario that can occur 
when roadway workers are working on or near RMMs. These incidents 
highlight the continued need for railroads to examine their rules and 
procedures for protecting roadway workers who operate or work near RMMs 
and the need for roadway workers to be vigilant in maintaining a safe 
distance from any operating RMM.

Recommendations

    Considering the above discussion, FRA recommends that railroads and 
railroad contractors:
    1. Review and update work/red zone procedures \2\ to:
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    \2\ Although individual railroads define the ``work zone'' or 
``red zone'' surrounding RMMs differently, generally the ``work 
zone'' or ``red zone'' is the area surrounding the RMM, which, if 
entered by an individual creates the potential for injury as a 
result of being struck by the equipment.
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    a. Address differences in sight distances and line of sight for 
different types of RMMs; and
    b. Prohibit a roadway worker from entering the work/red zone of any 
RMM unless communication is established and maintained between that 
roadway worker and the RMM operator.
    2. Ensure work/red zones are discussed in job briefings anytime an 
RMM will be part of a work group.
    3. Increase monitoring (including operational testing under 49 CFR 
part 217) 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 paragraphs (1 and 2)), 
particularly those involving the operation of RMMs and roadway workers 
working on and in the vicinity of RMMs.
    4. Conduct additional safety briefings to raise worker awareness of 
the hazards associated with operating and working around RMMs.
    5. Review Safety Advisory 2023-06; Roadway Maintenance Machines--

[[Page 83941]]

Importance of Clear Communications and Compliance with Applicable Rules 
and Procedures during the additional safety briefings.
    FRA considers this Safety Advisory responsive to NTSB Safety 
Recommendation R-23-23 \3\ and FRA encourages all railroad industry 
members to take actions consistent with the recommendations of this 
Advisory. FRA 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.
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    \3\ NTSB Safety Recommendation R-23-23 recommends that FRA 
``[i]ssue a safety alert to railroads regarding the importance of 
establishing roadway maintenance machine standoff distances that 
take into account the ability of an operator to see a worker or 
object in the track gauge behind a roadway maintenance machine.''

    Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-24118 Filed 10-17-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
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