Railroad Worker Injuries and FELA Lawyers

A derailment can occur when a train’s wheels or bearings detach from the rail tracks, leaving the engineer unable to control the train. A derailment may be caused by excessive speeds, overly sharp turns, or defective rails, for example, and can lead to a crash that’s catastrophic for passengers and employees on board.

Accidents related to coupling – the method of joining two rail cars together – have historically been a leading cause of injuries in the railroad industry. Today, most train companies use automatic couplers to reduce the risk of a worker getting caught between trains. Not using an automatic coupler, in fact, may be grounds for negligence. But even when automatic couplers are used, when the trains collide too hard or quickly, there is a real risk of injury to employees.

Coupling injuries can occur after an accident on the job or through a cumulative effect. Certain workers are more vulnerable to suffering coupling injuries:

• Brakemen
• Porters
• Switchmen
• Attendants
• Engineers
• Conductors

While anyone working around a train is subject to certain risks, these specific workers are susceptible to some of the most horrific injuries that could be suffered in the railyard.

There is an abundance of activity in a train yard, so if the environment is not carefully managed, there may be risks to employees, such as tripping over misplaced materials, falling in holes, and falling over debris and spare parts.

A train yard is filled with vehicles besides train cars, such as forklifts used for moving cargo, and specialized vehicles for handling and lifting containers. A number of factors can lead to accidents and injuries, such as a forklift carrying an oversized, unbalanced load, a defect with the vehicle used, or material left in the path of moving vehicles.

Whether you’re on a train or in a rail yard, electricians and other railroad workers may face electrical hazards in the form of exposed electrical wiring, contact with high-voltage power lines and rails, or an electric arc caused by a short in a high-voltage power line.

Railroad workers can suffer electrocution injuries for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common causes include:

• Electrical wiring or equipment issues
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Machinery or appliance issues
• Arc flashes
• Fires or explosions

The causes of electrocutions are not always immediately apparent, which underscores the importance of having an attorney conduct a thorough investigation. You will want to get real answers as to what happened and who can be held responsible.

Ladders are used more often than you might think in a rail yard, whether it’s a ladder attached to the train itself or a freestanding ladder used to work on power lines. And ladder accidents also occur more than you might think. Whether it’s due to the use of a ladder that has structural damage, or the use of a ladder that’s too short for the job, or a lack of safety equipment, ladder injuries are all too frequent, and can result in serious injuries.

Heavy lifting is a frequent activity in rail yards, but when a two-man job is performed by one due to understaffing, or when a worker carrying a load trips and hurts the person helping them carry it, lifting can become a quick path to an injury. Negligence of a co-employee, in fact, is attributable to the employer.

Whether you’re repeatedly kneeling to work on the rails, throwing switches, or constantly dismounting from rail cars, repetitive stress injuries are all too common for rail workers, who may suffer from work-related carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, rotator cuff tears, tennis elbow, or chronic back pain. Hearing loss or tinnitus can also be caused by long-term exposure to excessive noise present at the rail yards.

The platform gap refers to the space between a train and the edge of the railroad station platform, and mechanical extensions known as gap fillers may be used on certain train lines in New York City. In a variety of other cases on older platforms in the area, railroad workers can be involved in accidents while working on particularly dangerous platform gaps. Platform accidents can occur when trains are stopped, or if they are still in motion. Many railroad workers have to work in platform gaps even while trains are functioning, which can increase the likelihood of accidents involving moving trains.

Railroad workers in New York can often be asked to perform work in a variety of difficult circumstances, but employers still must make sure that workplaces are as safe as possible. In some situations, railroad workers can be injured in accidents that are caused by unreasonably unsafe worker walkways. Railroad companies must make sure that workers can safely perform their jobs, and an employer can be responsible for injuries caused by dangerous walkways for workers. A number of railroad construction and job sites involve some perilous walkways for workers that can be extraordinarily difficult to traverse.

If you have suffered injuries through contact with electrical third rails or catenary lines, you may be entitled to financial compensation. As a railroad worker, you are under tremendous pressure to add to the growing train and light rail lines sprawling across our city and the country.

Burn injuries could be the result of thermal or electrical energy on railroads, and a burn injury is classified based on how deep the burn is and the area of the body the burn covers. Most large burns involve burns of varying depths, and victims will typically face an agonizing road to recover.

People may be able to survive serious burn injuries, but the burns can leave them with scars and numerous forms of impairment. A railroad worker who sustains burn injuries at work could be entitled to compensation through the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA).

Due to the dangerous nature of railroad work, many workers suffer head trauma, resulting in traumatic brain injuries (TBI). There is a wide range of symptoms, a victim of a head injury may suffer. If these types of symptoms continue for an extended period, the injured railroad worker may have suffered severe trauma. Moderate to severe symptoms may include:

• Agitation and unusual behavior
• Loss of coordination
• Poor attention and concentration
• Slurred speech
• Seizures
• Prolonged nausea

Victims who have sustained even more severe brain trauma may suffer from a loss of physical or mental ability, paralysis, drastic personality changes, or memory loss.

The spinal cord consists of a long group of nerves connected to your upper and lower body. The nerves in the spinal cord are essential for mobility and feeling across your body, from your arms and torso to your legs and feet. The bones, tendons, and ligaments of the vertebrae protect the spinal cord from injury. However, if you suffer a back or neck injury as a railroad worker, broken bones, swelling, and bleeding can all cause permanent damage to the spinal cord.

Depending on the location and severity of the injury to your spine, you may face various health consequences which impact normal functions in all or part of your body. Treatment and therapy for a spinal injury are expensive and ongoing, and you need significant financial resources to access the medical care you need. If you are a railroad worker who suffered a spine injury while on the clock in New York or elsewhere because of an unsafe condition, you aren’t restricted by any workers’ compensation insurance coverage. You can pursue a claim under the FELA.

There have been vast improvements when it comes to protecting railroad worker safety in the workplace. However, unfortunate accidents still occur every year that cause railroad workers severe injuries and even death.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there were 17 railroad employee fatalities and a total of 3,855 employee injuries in 2018. When a railroad worker is hurt or tragically dies because of a safety hazard, families are left struggling to deal with the loss of a loved one while also under tremendous pressure to pay hospital bills, funerals costs, and worrying about their financial future with one less breadwinner.

If you have tragically lost a family member in a railroad accident, contact the FELA attorneys at Hach & Rose, LLP to schedule a free, confidential consultation. Call us at or reach out to us by e-mail or online chat.

Unfortunately, railroad workers are exposed to hazardous materials every day. Working with materials containing asbestos can send asbestos fibers into the air and end up being inhaled. These tiny fibers can become lodged in your organ tissues and develop into mesothelioma cancer.

When you’re handling hazardous materials and working in unsafe environmental conditions, your employer should always provide you with the necessary equipment and protective gear. Gloves, face shields, and coveralls can protect you from asbestos and other illness-causing carcinogens.

Railroad switches and signals are two of the many safety mechanisms that are essential on train tracks. These devices help prevent disastrous and often deadly collisions between trains and other vehicles. As a railroad employee, you rely on these systems to keep you safe while you are at work, and when a switch or signal fails at your worksite, you may face life-altering physical injuries.

If you suffered severe or catastrophic injuries due to a failing switch or signal, you deserve fair compensation. The Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) can help ensure that you have the financial support you need to pay for your injuries and to cover lost wages. However, you will need to work with an experienced FELA lawyer to you win your case.

The nature of railroad worker injuries varies widely, but many severe railroad injuries are caused by moving equipment accidents. Hard coupling accidents between trains is one of the leading causes of injuries in the rail yard. Coupling is the method of joining two rail cars together, and when the trains collide together too quickly, there is a real potential for employees on board or close to the rail cars to be injured.

Employees also run the risk of injury when they dismount from a moving rail car. While this is not done as often as it was 30 years ago, some railroad companies still permit this practice, as long as safety guidelines are followed, such as ensuring the locomotive is moving at a walking pace. But one wrong step can still lead to a severe injury, and repeated dismounting from the cars can lead to a repetitive trauma, which harms the body over time.

Moving tractors in the rail yard run the risk of dropping loads too close to employees or even falling over if they’re carrying an unbalanced load. And any slip and fall accident near a moving train car could result in a catastrophe.

Boilers onboard a locomotive should be regularly inspected and maintained as well as utilized according to important safety standards. If a railroad company does not follow through with its obligation to maintain a high degree of safety in the use and maintenance of locomotive boilers, it can seriously endanger any employees working on or near the unsafe trains. In some cases, improper use and care of boilers can result in catastrophic explosion accidents that may severely injure those onboard the affected locomotive.

The Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) allows injured railroad workers to pursue compensation for injuries caused by their employer’s negligence, such as serious communications or organizational breakdowns, which lead to an accident, such as a head-on train collision. These extremely dangerous accidents can cause a devastating degree of destruction and severe injuries for those involved. When a railroad company fails to take the necessary safety precautions needed to prevent a head-on accident, they should be the ones to bear the financial consequences of the accident and the victims’ losses.

The proper functioning of crossing signals used to warn workers and other drivers of train crossings is crucial to the safety of all these parties, as a malfunction or defect in these signals could cause devastating and traumatic accidents. Because of the danger that train accidents pose to train workers, New York enacted the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), which allows injured workers or the families of workers killed in accidents to pursue legal action against railroad companies when their negligence results in a train accident.

Allowing a crossing signal to become defective or malfunction is a definite act of negligence on the part of a railroad company, and something for which the company should be held responsible when it causes an accident.

A railway employee injured in a fall involving a commuter train may be eligible to file for compensation from his or her employer if the company failed to take the proper safety precautions in preventing the accident. The following accidents may occur because of a lack of adequate safety measures:

• Falls on unsafe floors, stairways, or ramps at a station
• Falls on trains, often caused by unmaintained train cars or conductor errors
• Gap falls

These fall dangers may be blamed on a negligent commuter railway company, leaving the business liable for injury costs to both commuters and employees.

Train track switches are important features of railroads as they allow trains on the same track to bypass each other as well as switch tracks if necessary. Because these devices play an important role in train safety, railroad companies need to carefully monitor the status of track switches and correct any issues that may impede these crucial parts from working properly. However, if a railroad company fails to take action to maintain these essential track components, it may be held responsible for its actions if any employees are injured in accidents caused by switch failures.

Railroad employees should be able to trust their employers to err on the side of safety when it comes to any concerns about train traveling speeds. However, whether due to hiring dangerous conductors or pushing their crews to adhere to unreasonable schedules, railroad companies may endanger their employees due to excessive train speed. As a result of this lack of proper safety precautions, employees can suffer serious injuries in speed-related accidents that could have been prevented by their company’s compliance with locomotive speed and safety regulations.

If a length of railroad tracks is considered non-operational, any trains moving through that area should be promptly stopped and re-routed until repairs can be completed. Failing to do so can seriously endanger anyone on the train, including railroad workers, as these damaged tracks may cause train cars to derail. It is an employer’s responsibility to communicate to their train operators and employees the location of non-operational tracks and what routes to use instead. If this information isn’t provided, railroad workers injured as a result may be entitled to file for compensation due to their employer’s negligence.

A railway company has a responsibility to its employees and passengers to perform comprehensive inspections and regular maintenance on its locomotives. This can help prevent any mechanical failures that may arise due to faulty or worn-out train parts. Frustratingly, though, not all train companies discharge this important duty, potentially resulting in malfunctions that can cause severe train accidents. However, train company employees may be able to pursue compensation for their injuries under the FELA.