President of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD), Greg Regan, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about a recently introduced bill that will help improve the safety of the railroad industry. Regan discussed what needs to change to be considered an improvement and how the industry is helping workers report issues before they become a problem.
The Rail Worker Community Safety Act was introduced last week. The bill is widely supported from both sides of the aisle and several leaders in the labor movement. The bill hopes to make our railroads safer and address other major issues in the railroad industry. By having the TTD assist in addressing the issues, the problems can be found and fixed quicker and more efficiently as they are the workers on the ground with the trains daily, Regan said.
Approximately every eight hours, the railroad industry has a derailment that qualifies as the minimum reporting threshold of at least $11,000 of damage. While the bill isn’t necessarily adding preventative measures, they are addressing the safety processes and checks required. By focusing on the safety of the railroads, they will, in turn, improve the quality of the industry and limit the number of derailed trains. If the derailment rate would decrease from three derailments a day to at least 2 per day or lower, that would be a noticeable improvement, Regan said.
There is a voluntary reporting system in the industry, but workers were afraid to report the issues for fear of retaliation from employers. To remove the fear, the railroad industry is borrowing a reporting system used by the FAA that allows for anonymity for reporting problems. This will provide examples of how to improve safety in the industry. While they should have no issue with wanting to improve safety, the employers are worried this system will encourage false reporting, Regan said.
To hear more about the newly introduced bill from Regan, please press play above.
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