Straight Track #134

U.S. Rail News, in Vol. 25 No. 20, published September 25, 2002, reported on a new FRA warning to railroads to stop harassment of injured railroad workers. The same volume of U.S. Rail News also carried an article regarding how the federal government, in the rush to make airlines safe, is overlooking security concerns facing the railroad industry. Due to the general interest in such subjects to all railroaders, we thought to share these with you.

J. Dillon Hoey
hoey@felahfd.com

FRA TO RAILROADS: STOP INJURED WORKER HARASSMENT

U.S. Rail News
Vol. 25 No. 20 
September 25, 2002

The Federal Railroad Administration is warning railroads to avoid harassing workers who seek medical treatment or workers’ compensation after job injuries. The warning included a threat of civil fines and prosecution by the Justice Department. 

The warning follows union complaints about supervisors following employees into hospital emergency rooms to influence doctors to treat their injuries as minor. Minor injuries do not need to be reported to the Federal Railroad Administration. 

In a letter to railroads, the FRA said, “The FRA is very concerned about injured employees receiving proper medical treatment. If the injured person feels restricted in discussing these issues, it can prevent proper treatment, besides violating a person’s privacy.” Among the forbidden behaviors by supervisors are: 

• Asking a doctor to prescribe that an injured employee take only non-prescription drugs;
• Asking a doctor to provide or prescribe that an injured employee take only over-the-counter drugs but in quantities that equate to prescription strength, such as over-the-counter painkillers at three times the recommended dose. 
• Accompanying an injured employee into an examination room without a voluntary invitation. 

RAILROADS OVERLOOKED FOR SECURITY AS GOVERNMENT FOCUSES ON AVIATION 

U.S. Rail News
Vol. 25 No. 20 
September 25, 2002

The security of railroads, ports and cargo planes appears to have been overlooked by the federal government in its haste to make airlines safe, according to witnesses at a Senate hearing. 

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee reviewed aviation security following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Industry and government experts said that although steady progress is being made to prevent terrorists from hijacking another airplane, there are few barriers to stop them from attacks on other transportation targets, such as freight and passenger rail systems. 

Although the government might have been slow to act on rail security, the railroad industry has created several initiatives on its own to stop terrorists. 

Railroads would get more security funds and technologies under a bill to increase cargo security that has been introduced by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). However, the bill has stalled in Congress, partly over disputes about where to get the money. 

Hutchison recommends a trusted shipper program that would concentrate security measures on shippers who have not passed background checks. Transportation workers, including railroad employees, would be required to obtain security clearances before they could handle cargo. 

Government Admits Oversights

No legislation is pending intended specifically to increase security for railroad passengers. 

Transportation Security Administration chief James Loy told the Senate committee the nation’s security system included oversights that must be resolved. 

“We can’t see this as just an aviation issue,” Loy said. 

The warning about security gaps for railroads and other transportation modes met with agreement among senators. 

“You could blow up the Philadelphia tank farm and shut down the Eastern Seaboard for a year,” Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the committee, said at the hearing. “No kidding, we haven’t done anything.” 

Hollings has sponsored a bill that would require federal and local port officials to coordinate port safety and to pay for equipment such as cargo scanners and transponders that would track ships. 

The railroad industry started its own program to track rail shipments that represented a security risk. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has opened a 24-hour center to monitor security called the Surface Transportation Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Other initiatives by the AAR and its member railroads include: 

• Increased tracking of hazardous materials and munitions shipments by railroads;
• Comparisons of employee lists to an FBI watch list of suspected terrorists;
• Security upgrades of computer systems to guard against damage to equipment and software;
• Requiring that Amtrak passengers show IDs when buying tickets. Passengers who use credit cards at ticket machines could have their names checked against FBI databases. 

Railroads Take the Initiative for Security

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said he was impressed by the railroad security center’s efforts to prevent attacks on computer systems. He said the center “will help ensure that intrusions on transportation information technology – such as viruses and attacks – do not disrupt the nation’s transportation operations.” 

The new security measures are particularly important for Amtrak, which saw its ridership increase after the September 11 attacks. The railroad now carries 49 percent of the people who travel between Boston and New York by either airplane or passenger rail. 

Amtrak is considering a policy change that would allow conductors to do random ID checks of passengers and limit platform access to ticketed passengers. The policy is still being reviewed. 

A change being considered by Congress and Amtrak would require that railroad passengers and their luggage be screened before they board trains. Currently, there is no thorough method for checking trains for explosives. 

Witnesses at the Senate hearing said other risks come from the routes followed by railroads, which leave them vulnerable to attack in open country, tunnels and neighborhoods. Contact: Andy Davis, Senate Commerce Committee, at (202) 224-6654.

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