Is it true in the railroad that you will know someone who will be killed or injured?

Question

Someone had said in a responce to someone elses question about a job in the railroad that "you will know someone who will be either killed or seriously injured" not exact wording but same message. Sounds scary. I am a somewhat clumsy maybe goofy at times type of person who cannot make quick decisions based on "common sense" so would you recommend that I stay away from a career like this?

Answer 1

A quick check of the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) webpage shows an average of 5,200 employee injuries / deaths each year for the past 3 years (and declining)... YET, in the period of 1984-1987 the annual injury. death statistics were on the order of 30,000 !! [ref: http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSa... ].

EVERY industrial / transportation job has dangers... I remember back in 1985 when I was going through Naval Aircrew Candidate School:  Our class numbered 80, and the instructor said that 15% of us would be dead or maimed at the end of 5 years sea-duty.  Turned out to be a very accurate figure.

TODAY though, all the transportation folks work with OSHA and DOT rules that GREATLY mitigate the injuries and deaths.

I'd take the JOB !!

Answer 2

Yes, and you should stay away from automobiles, too, because if you know anyone who drives or rides in one, in your lifetime, you'll probably know someone who was killed in one. Ride a bike...oh, wait, you'll probably know someone who was killed riding one of those, too. Ok, walking is good...no wait, many pedestrians get killed by cars ( rarely by bicycles, though ), so if you only walk on bike-paths, you'd be safe. Best thing to do is puncture your eardrums, so you'll never hear of ANYONE ever being killed that you know of walking, riding, or driving. That's a fairly safe bet.

- The Gremlin Guy, tongue FIRMLY in cheek -

Answer 3

It's a dangerous profession.  While it's not *guaranteed* that someone you know on the job will be injured or killed, it's fairly likely.  Same goes for construction, trucking, and a number of other jobs.  It's an assumed risk which has to be weighed against other factors, including pay.  Only you can decide if you want to take up such professions.

Answer 4

Sorry to say, if you work at a large terminal like I did you will hear about it, witness it, or be a statistic.

The first year of working for the Soo Line in Minneapolis I heard about 3 co-workers getting hurt.  One from heat stroke another guy hurt his back (number ONE injury at the RR is back injuries), and the other guy tried to stop a freightcar by placing his steel-toed boot on the rail, but the car just squashed his toe and now he is a security gaurd at a Target store.

Before the start of any shift the foreman would first read us the rule of the day, then if any interesting or especially horrific system-wide accident reports came over the Telex he would usually read them to us.  It was a sobering reminder of what can happen if we are not alert at our job and pay attention to our surroundings.  

Safety was the number ONE priority and always will be for any railroad due to the nature of it.  If you allow your mind to wander, it will eventualy catch up with you, example:

One day while I was at the controls of a dead GP40 (ex Milwaukee Road unit) sitting in front of the roundhouse waiting for the trackmobile to arrive, I was just bored to death and for kicks I released the independent brake on the loco.  It did not move.  I dropped my bottle of water and when I got up from picking it up the loco had started to move toward the closed door of the roundhouse.  I threw on the brakes just in time to keep from crashing through it!  I admit it, it was a purely stupid thing to do but its these dumb little things you think cannot happen that DO happen because of someone else's bad judgement or your own.

If you do end up in a very dangerous profession the best advice I can give you is to know and obey the rules and be aware of what is going on around you at all times.  Don't ever depend on anyone else for your safety, you have to lookout for yourself at all times.

Answer 5

Actually the most dangerous industries are livestock and other  farming and then retail, which produces an alarming number of minor injuries.  Somewhere well after that comes underground coal mining and I would guess railroading is well down on u/g coal mining for serious injuries and deaths. This obviously varies from country to country.  But by comparison to some other industries, railroading is pretty safe.

Answer 6

No it isn't.  There is only a possibility.

Answer 7

My ex boyfriend worked for the railroad. He was seriously injured by an air hose that just so happened to blow apart while he was standing next to it. The air hose flew up and hit him in the face just below his eye. If it would have hit him in the temple, it would of killed him. But just as the other answer states, you run a risk in these types of jobs of getting injured.

I wouldn't stay away from a career like that but I would say over come your clumsiness, or at least try to and take a stab at it. Nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself. :) Good luck to you and stay safe!

Answer 8

No, you shojld not "stay away" just be safety conscious at all times. I hate to say this but there is a good chance you will know someone hurt or killed eventually. But that is also true in any other facet of life. The drive to work is more dangerous than the work itself.

Answer 9

I think Duke is right. There's a greater risk of an accident with RR work. But, it's not guaranteed you'll be in a serious accident. Last Wednesday, my train (I'm conductor) hit a semi truck in northern Minnesota. We hit the trailer and demolished it, but there were no injuries - just a lot of aluminum everywhere. Turns out, this was the second time this driver had been hit by a train. I had a cup of coffee in the locomotive with me at the time, and it didn't even spill. All the energy went in to the trailer. My only other mishap was 11 years ago in downtown Fargo when we hit a car at 30 mph. Just very minor injuries with that one. I still talk to the guy when I'm in Fargo. But, you do need to be prepared for the worst I think. Most railroads are very good in accident situations. They'll send a crew out right away to replace the one involved in an accident. The Company then sends you home for about three days, and someone calls a couple times a day to check on you. There's different counseling services available should you want to pursue that. Unfortunately, after a bad accident and the crew gets sent home, some very good people simply never come back to work. Don't even consider the "quick decision making" on your part. That has nothing to do with the accidents on a railroad. A train simply cannot stop - it's not a matter of a decision made 1 second versus 3 seconds. Over all, I'd have to say the majority of trainmen are like me, only had a couple mishaps over a decade or so, and weren't serious. Oh, and keep in mind that "Derail" is just a nickname. Has nothing to do with my professional record.

Answer 10

Yes, working on a railroad is a dangerous job.