A recently updated preliminary annual report of railroad safety statistics shows 2008 had the lowest number of incident and accident events since 1997.
The statistics were updated March 10 and contain data reported through the month of December 2009. They show a total of 12,673 accidents and incidents occurred in 2008. Although these resulted in 803 fatalities, it is the lowest recorded incident/accident and fatality count since 1997. The Federal Railroad Administration recorded 2,405 highway rail incidents, which resulted in 289 (12 percent) fatalities and 949 (39.5 percent) injuries.
Other key findings include:
- 25 of the 803 total fatalities were railroad employees.
- The most reported railroad employee injury event that led to days away from work was overexertion.
- Of the 264 reported cases of occupational illness, 60.6 percent were from noise-induced hearing loss.
