Source: https://ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/_layouts/ntsb.recsearch/Recommendation.aspx?Rec=R-18-016
Timestamp: 2019-08-20 22:29:08
Document Index: 467689461

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 214', '§ 214', '§ 214', '§ 214', '§ 214', '§ 214', 'art 214', '§ 214', '§ 214']

Safety Recommendation R-18-016
Recommendation: TO THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION: Review, and modify if necessary, your current inspection guidance regarding watchman/lookout equipment to verify that it requires railroads to provide the necessary equipment for a watchman/lookout to notify a roadway work group of approaching trains and that this accurately reflects the definition contained in Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 214.7.
Response: -From Ronald L. Batory, Administrator: This letter is the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) response to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) Safety Recommendations R-18-16, R-18-17, R-18-18, and R-18-19. These recommendations arise from an accident on January 17, 2017, in Edgemont, South Dakota, in which a train struck and killed two roadway workers. FRA agrees with the NTSB's findings that the probable cause of the accident was the improper use of train approach warning by the BNSF Railway (BNSF) roadway work group responsible for providing on-track safety. FRA also agrees that incorrect information provided in the job briefing, including a miscalculated sight-distance assessment, contributed to the accident. However, FRA disagrees with the NTSB's finding that BNSF's failure to provide the watchman/lookout with the necessary equipment to alert the work group of oncoming trains and equipment or FRA's enforcement of Federal regulation requiring railroads to equip watchmen/lookouts contributed to the accident. Although the roadway workers in the job briefing incorrectly determined that train approach warning could be safely used as the method of providing on-track safety in this instance, the method of providing a warning in no way contributed to the accident. This accident was caused by the watchman/lookout not devoting his full attention to detecting approaching trains and failing to provide any warning to the roadway workers. NTSB' s Safety Recommendations R-18-16, R-18-17, and R-18-18 are based on incorrect conclusions and are not supported by the facts outlined in the NTSB's report. FRA's responses to each recommendation are summarized as follows: FRA considers NTSB's Safety Recommendation R-18-19 to be not applicable because FRA's National Inspection Plan is not the mechanism to require periodic, unannounced inspections for roadway worker protection regulatory compliance. Detailed responses to each recommendation are provided in the enclosure. As FRA has made clear in our answers above and in the enclosure, the agency will not take any further action on these recommendations, and so respectfully request that the NTSB close them. The definition of a watchman/lookout in 49 CFR § 214.7, states: Watchman/lookout means an employee who has been trained and qualified to provide warning to roadway workers of approaching trains or on-track equipment. Watchmen/ lookouts shall be properly equipped to provide visual and auditory warning such as whistle, air horn, white disk, red flag, lantern, fuse. A watchman/lookout 's sole duty is to look out for approaching trains/on-track equipment and provide at least fifteen seconds advanced warning to employees before arrival of trains/on-track equipment. Chapter 1 of FRA' s March 2018 Track and Rail and Infrastructure Integrity Compliance Manual, Volume Ill (Compliance Manual) also explains under 49 CFR § 214.7 that roadway workers acting as watchmen/lookouts "shall be properly equipped to provide visual and auditory warning such as whistle, air horn, white disk, red flag, lantern, fuse." FRA has reviewed its current inspection guidance regarding watchman/lookout equipment and is confident that it accurately reflects the regulatory requirements and intent. Section 214.7 is a definitional section that supports substantive rule provisions, notably 49 CFR § 214.329 (Train Approach Warning Provided by Watchmen/Lookouts). Section 214.329 states, in part: (c) The means used by a watchman/lookout to communicate a train approach warning shall be distinctive and shall clearly signify to all recipients of the warning that a train or other on-track equipment is approaching. (g) Every watchman/lookout shall be provided by the employer with the equipment necessary for compliance with the on-track safety duties which the watchman/lookout will perform. The preamble to the 1996 roadway worker protection regulation under 49 CFR § 214.329 states, in part: This section further imposes a duty upon the employer to provide the watchman/lookout employee with the requisite equipment necessary to carry out his on-track safety duties. It is intended that a railroad 's on-track safety program would specify the means to be used by watchmen/lookouts to communicate a warning, and that they be equipped according to that provision. 61 Fed. Reg. 65959, 65970 (Dec. 16, 1996). Likewise, Chapter 3 of FRA's Compliance Manual under 49 CFR § 214.329 states, in part: Paragraph (g) requires the employer to provide the watchman/lookout employee with the requisite equipment necessary to carry out his on-track safety duties. It is intended that a railroad's on-track safety program specify the means to be used by watchmen/lookouts to communicate a warning, and that they be equipped according to that provision. Thus, FRA has made clear that a railroad must properly equip a watchman/lookout with the equipment specified by the railroad's on-track safety program to properly communicate a warning. Except in limited circumstances (e.g., a watchman/lookout assigned to provide train approach warning for a single welder and who is located immediately next to the welder to provide a warning), if a railroad does not provide equipment with the specified auditory or visual warning capabilities to the roadway workers a watchman/lookout is protecting, the railroad is in violation of 49 CFR § 214.329. If an on-track safety program fails to specify the "requisite equipment necessary" for a watchman/lookout to provide on-track safety for a roadway work group, the program also is not compliant with Part 214. Although the 49 CFR § 214. 7 definition of "watchman/lookout" does mention both visual and auditory warnings, it does not supersede the clear requirements of 49 CFR § 214.329, and the unambiguous intent of the regulation as conveyed in the preamble to the final rule. FRA's guidance is consistent with both the regulatory text and the preamble to the final rule, and it requires no modification at this time. Further, there has been no "inconsistent enforcement" of Federal regulations requiring railroads to equip watchmen/lookouts. Thus, the NTSB should close Safety Recommendation R-18-16.