​Thank you, Chair Homendy, and thank you for your leadership on rail safety issues.

Good morning. I’m happy to be here with you as we launch our campaign on Strengthening Rail Safety.

I came to NTSB in 2020 with an especially strong interest in rail safety, in part because of a tragedy in my own family’s history. In the early 1950s, my grandfather was struck and killed in a railroad grade crossing crash. My grandfather was a volunteer firefighter. He and a colleague were on a call when the collision occurred. My mother was a high school student at the time, and the loss of her father changed the course of her life.

My focus on rail safety was reinforced early in my tenure on the Board, as a result of our investigation into an Amtrak rail worker fatality in Bowie, Maryland. The Bowie accident occurred in April of 2018, and the circumstances deeply affected me. It resulted in the death of a young man—just 21 years old—who was working at the site as a rail gang watchman. In a high noise work environment, his attention was on a passing commuter train on the southbound track. He was struck by another Amtrak train approaching from behind at nearly 100 miles per hour. Again, he was just 21 years old.​

​Several recent NTSB investigations further demonstrate the dangers railway workers face. 

Since October 2020, the NTSB has investigated 18 accidents involving workers riding rail equipment during shoving movements. 

During a shoving movement, a locomotive pushes railcars while a worker ensures the track ahead is clear. Some railroads allow workers to perform this task while riding on the lead railcar. 

Workers riding the sides or leading end of railcars face significant dangers. They can fall from moving equipment into the path of the train, be struck at highway-railroad grade crossings, be thrown from equipment or become trapped, pinned, or crushed. 

In our 18 investigations since 2020, 14 workers were killed and 4 were seriously injured. Nowhere else in transportation would this be acceptable. NTSB has a history of warning about this practice we know involves significant safety risks. 

So today, NTSB will issue safety recommendations urging the rail industry to stop the practice of having workers ride rail equipment to protect train movements during shoving operations.

​​The recommendations call for railroads and the Federal Railroad Administration to prohibit the practice, use safer alternatives, and identify hazards before work begins. 

The NTSB found that current federal regulations do not adequately address the risks workers face during shoving movements. Crews are not always required to identify hazards such as limited visibility, close clearances, track conditions, switches, and derails before work begins. 

Safer alternatives are available, including having workers provide protection from the ground, using vehicles, cameras, and other technologies that allow crews to monitor the track ahead without riding rail equipment.

The NTSB recommends that railroads conduct and document a site-specific hazard assessment before work begins. The assessment should evaluate factors such as visibility, track and walkway conditions, clearances, switches, derails, and available alternatives to riding a shove to determine the safest method of protection. The findings should be shared with employees during a job briefing before operations start. 

Too often our investigations show that when a railroad worker is killed or injured, the hazards could have been addressed and the tragedy avoided. Every worker deserves to go home safely at the end of their day. And every preventable loss is one too many. 

Thank you again for your attention today.