Washington — Spurred by the death of a rail worker in Massachusetts, the National Transportation Safety Board is again calling on railroads to equip roadway maintenance machines with collision-avoidance technology.
NTSB’s investigation into the Aug. 4, 2023, incident in Great Barrington, MA, found that a Middlesex Corp. maintenance machine fatally struck the worker, who was operating a leaf blower on the same track. The machine operator “had no safety devices beyond a wide-angle mirror to look for hazards.”
In addition to recommending the installation of collision avoidance technology that can detect people or objects before a crash, NTSB – in its final report on the fatal incident published Aug. 4 – offers these new safety recommendations:
To the Federal Railroad Administration: Require all on-track maintenance machines with movable extensions to be equipped with a 360-degree people-detection system to alert operators when people are within an unsafe proximity.
To all Class I railroads, the Housatonic Railroad Co. and Middlesex Corp.: Require all on-track maintenance machines, including those that are leased or contracted, to be equipped with collision-avoidance systems.
To all Class I railroads: Equip on-track maintenance machines with movable extensions to include 360-degree people-detection systems.
To the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association and the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association: Inform your members of the safety benefits of collision-avoidance systems on maintenance machines and people-detection systems on machines with movable extensions. Also, urge your members to inform employees of the circumstances of the Massachusetts incident, the importance of thorough job briefings with contractors and the requirement to communicate on-track activities/movements with the roadway worker in charge.
NTSB also reiterates a 2012 recommendation for FRA to require safety management systems to be incorporated into railroads’ risk reduction programs.
In 2016, NTSB included “collision-avoidance technologies” on its list of 10 Most Wanted safety improvements for 2017-2018.
