Federal investigators probing the death of a CSX employee last month at the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Southeast Baltimore said Tuesday the conductor trainee had lost his footing while “shoving” the railcars around a curve.
In a preliminary report on the trainee’s June 26 death, the National Transportation Safety Board said the rail worker was on the left side of the lead rail car controlling the shove — the act of pushing rail cars or a train from the rear with another locomotive — by communicating with crews behind the train via handheld radio with one foot on a step and another foot on the car’s platform.
The trainee lost his footing when the rail car slowed down for a stop, falling onto the tracks before he was struck by the train, the NTSB found after reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing witnesses.
The Federal Railroad Administration, which is also investigating the worker’s death, cited the crash in a safety bulletin earlier this month encouraging railroads to review their safety procedures and increase awareness of the dangers of the job.
“Although the [conductor trainee] may have maintained three-point contact, his posture and position on the car were not stable enough to withstand the forces when the train slowed down and slack ran out,” the FRA wrote in the bulletin.
Both agencies are still investigating the crash. The NTSB said its further probing will “focus on the industry-wide operational rules and training for conductors riding equipment” as well as the design of the railcar involved.
