Metro-North Receives Hotline for Rail Safety Tips

Metro-North rail employees will now have access to a hotline which they can use to report safety concerns, violations, or other signs of unsafe working conditions without the fear of retribution.

Railroad is typically considered a high risk injury, meaning there's a greater risk for worker injury and fatality when compared to other industries. In 2011, more than 2,900 workers were injured on the job, resulting in some 52,000 plus lost days of work. The average amount of time an injured work took off from work due to injury was 25 days, as opposed to the median of just 8 days across all industries.

One of the problems facing the rail industry is fear of retaliation for reporting unsafe working conditions. If a rail worker sounds the alarm about a safety violation, he or she may lose their job or suffer other consequences handed down by their employer. Of course, this type of retaliation is against the law, as mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), yet it's still a common practice not only in the rail industry, but throughout all industries.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is hoping that the new hotline will encourage rail workers to report safety concerns and violations. Using this hotline, Metro-North workers can make anonymous reports without fear of retaliation by their employer. When a complaint is made in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System, officials from the the Metro-North, the FRA and Railroad Workers' unions will review it to determine whether or not further investigation should be done.

As noted by the FRA, the information collected by this new hotline will allow officials to better identify close call incidents so they can determine exactly what happened and implement the necessary changes to avoid future incidents of a similar nature.

"The information about close call incidents enables the railroad to identify factors that contribute to accidents or injuries and to correct these problems before they result in harm,” said FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg. “It will increase productivity and cost savings by reducing claims and litigation as well as time lost from injuries. The program will also help to decrease damage to railroad property and the environment."