National Safety Month and Railroading

In the 1890s, the experience level of trainmen was commonly determined based upon the number of fingers that remained on a railroad worker’s hands. Accidents that occurred while working on the railroads were making newspaper headlines as early as June 17, 1831. Print advertisements for prosthetics were targeted mainly toward railroaders. In fact, railroading was the second deadliest profession next to coal mining. [1]

On these once ungoverned railroads, as the number of casualties increased each year, so did public demand for safety regulations. In 1893, at the time when The First Safety Appliance Act was finally passed, 1 in 28 railroad workers were injured and 1 in 320 were killed each year. Over the hundred years preceding the implementation of The First Safety Appliance Act, there would be a countless number of safety laws and regulations approved thereby placing the safety of railroad workers as number one importance. [1]

Today, with safety made as the priority, railroad employee casualties average 0 to 1 per year [2]. At Industry-Railway Supplier’s, the safety of railroad maintenance workers is our number one priority as well. The products we stock and the partnerships we make are done with safety first, and our field support staff are there to ensure our products are being used properly and safely.

J.Lanfranco THU locknuts were developed with safety as top of mind. These nuts greatly reduce necessary and often dangerous track maintenance time. The traditional nut and lock washers used on critical bolted joints such as diamonds and frogs require tightening every other day, or at the very least once per week, to maintain normal operation. This is dangerous because train traffic cannot stop in these areas, therefore maintenance crews must tend to them using a lookout tactic.

THU’s self-locking technology has been proven in the field to hold tight without loosening, regardless of the amount of vibration critical joints endure, therefore requiring very little maintenance, if any at all.

Our spark protective tents offer positive spark control in high-risk environmental locations. The mesh top allows for proper circulation and spark containment, and the surrounding reflective material provides an added level of security. The simple, pop-up design makes for quick on-and-off tracking. Likewise, our canvas and aluminum spark shields offer no-fuss protection when grinding and cutting rail.

Should an incident occur, quick visibility in and around the hazardous site is imperative to alerting surrounding traffic and illuminating the scene. Our compact Flagging and Fusee Safety Kit helps to quickly secure the area. Our Safety Strobe Kit helps to alert traffic of potential danger.

Human factor, including failure to properly operate a derail, is the leading cause of train accidents [3]. Employees working on or around the track with nearby rolling stock must be protected by a derail. Our derails are lightweight and require no tools for installation. They also come complete with a safety flag and hook, and should the anchoring notches slip off the tie plate or the edge of the rail clip, the addition of the tooth-like hooks will bite into the tie creating an added level of safety and security.

In National Safety Month, we are reminded of the great importance that safety must play in a profession that was once the second deadliest. The railroad industry has come a long way since the 1800’s, and Industry Railway is driven in our pursuit to stay abreast of any evolving safety 

[1] – www.railroads.dot.gov

[2] – www.safetydata.fra.dot.gov

[3] – www.federalregister.govstandards.

Our product support specialist demonstrates how to safely and properly use a hydraulic rail saw