(a) The purpose of this part is to prevent accidents and casualties to
employees involved in certain railroad inspection, maintenance and construction
activities.
(b) This part prescribes minimum Federal safety standards for the railroad
workplace safety subjects addressed herein. This part does not restrict a
railroad or railroad contractor from adopting and enforcing additional or more
stringent requirements not inconsistent with this part.
Under 49 U.S.C. 20106 (formerly section 205 of the Federal Railroad Safety
Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 434)), issuance of the regulations in this part preempts
any State law, rule, regulation, order, or standard covering the same subject
matter, except a provision directed at an essentially local safety hazard that
is not incompatible with this part and that does not unreasonably burden on
interstate commerce.
Any person (an entity of any type covered under 1 U.S.C. 1, including but not
limited to the following: a railroad; a manager, supervisor, official, or other
employee or agent of a railroad; any owner, manufacturer, lessor, or lessee of
railroad equipment, track, or facilities; any independent contractor providing
goods or services to a railroad; and any employee of such owner, manufacturer,
lessor, lessee, or independent contractor) who violates any requirement of this
part or causes the violation of any such requirement is subject to a civil
penalty of at least $550 and not more than $11,000 per violation, except that
penalties may be assessed against individuals only for willful violations, and
where a grossly negligent violation or a pattern of repeated violations has
created an imminent hazard of death or injury, or has caused death or injury, a
penalty not to exceed $27,000 per violation may be assessed. See appendix A to
this part for a statement of agency civil penalty policy.
Adjacent tracks mean two or more tracks with track centers spaced less
than 25 feet apart.
Anchorage means a secure point of attachment for lifelines, lanyards
or deceleration devices that is independent of the means of supporting or
suspending the employee.
Body belt means a strap that can be secured around the waist or body
and attached to a lanyard, lifeline, or deceleration device.
Body harness means a device with straps that is secured about the
person in a manner so as to distribute the fall arrest forces over (at least)
the thighs, shoulders, pelvis, waist, and chest and that can be attached to a
lanyard, lifeline, or deceleration device.
Class I, Class II, and Class III
have the meaning assigned by, Title
49 Code of Federal Regulations part 1201, General Instructions 1–1.
Competent person means one who is capable of identifying existing and
predictable hazards in the workplace and who is authorized to take prompt
corrective measures to eliminate them.
Control operator means the railroad employee in charge of a remotely
controlled switch or derail, an interlocking, or a controlled point, or a
segment of controlled track.
Controlled track means track upon which the railroad's operating rules
require that all movements of trains must be authorized by a train dispatcher or
a control operator.
Deceleration device means any mechanism, including, but not limited
to, rope grabs, ripstitch lanyards, specially woven lanyards, tearing or
deforming lanyards, and automatic self-retracting lifelines/lanyards that serve
to dissipate a substantial amount of energy during a fall arrest, or otherwise
limit the energy on a person during fall arrest.
Definite train location means a system for establishing on-track
safety by providing roadway workers with information about the earliest possible
time that approaching trains may pass specific locations as prescribed in §214.331
of this part.
Designated official means any person(s) designated by the employer to
receive notification of non-complying conditions on on-track roadway maintenance
machines and hi-rail vehicles.
Effective securing device when used in relation to a manually operated
switch or derail means one which is:
(a) Vandal resistant;
(b) Tamper resistant; and
(c) Designed to be applied, secured, uniquely tagged and removed only by the
class, craft or group of employees for whom the protection is being provided.
Employee means an individual who is engaged or compensated by a
railroad or by a contractor to a railroad to perform any of the duties defined
in this part.
Employer means a railroad, or a contractor to a railroad, that
directly engages or compensates individuals to perform any of the duties defined
in this part.
Equivalent means alternative designs, materials, or methods that the
railroad or railroad contractor can demonstrate will provide equal or greater
safety for employees than the means specified in this part.
Exclusive track occupancy means a method of establishing working
limits on controlled track in which movement authority of trains and other
equipment is withheld by the train dispatcher or control operator, or restricted
by flagmen, as prescribed in §214.321 of this part.
Flagman when used in relation to roadway worker safety means an
employee designated by the railroad to direct or restrict the movement of trains
past a point on a track to provide on-track safety for roadway workers, while
engaged solely in performing that function.
Foul time is a method of establishing working limits on controlled
track in which a roadway worker is notified by the train dispatcher or control
operator that no trains will operate within a specific segment of controlled
track until the roadway worker reports clear of the track, as prescribed in §214.323
of this part.
Fouling a track means the placement of an individual or an item of
equipment in such proximity to a track that the individual or equipment could be
struck by a moving train or on-track equipment, or in any case is within four
feet of the field side of the near running rail.
Free fall means the act of falling before the personal fall arrest
system begins to apply force to arrest the fall.
Free fall distance means the vertical displacement of the fall arrest
attachment point on a person's body harness between onset of the fall and the
point at which the system begins to apply force to arrest the fall. This
distance excludes deceleration distance and lifeline and lanyard elongation, but
includes any deceleration device slide distance or self-retracting
lifeline/lanyard extension before they operate and fall arrest forces occur.
Hi-rail vehicle means a roadway maintenance machine that is
manufactured to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and is equipped with
retractable flanged wheels so that the vehicle may travel over the highway or on
railroad tracks.
Hi-rail vehicle, new means a hi-rail vehicle that is ordered after
December 26, 2003 or completed after September 27, 2004.
Inaccessible track means a method of establishing working limits on
non-controlled track by physically preventing entry and movement of trains and
equipment.
Individual train detection means a procedure by which a lone worker
acquires on-track safety by seeing approaching trains and leaving the track
before they arrive and which may be used only under circumstances strictly
defined in this part.
Informational line-up of trains
means information provided in a
prescribed format to a roadway worker by the train dispatcher regarding
movements of trains authorized or expected on a specific segment of track during
a specific period of time.
Lanyard means a flexible line of rope, wire rope, or strap that is
used to secure a body harness to a deceleration device, lifeline, or anchorage.
Lifeline means a component of a fall arrest system consisting of a
flexible line that connects to an anchorage at one end to hang vertically
(vertical lifeline) or to an anchorage at both ends to stretch horizontally
(horizontal lifeline), and that serves as a means for connecting other
components of a personal fall arrest system to the anchorage.
Lone worker means an individual roadway worker who is not being
afforded on-track safety by another roadway worker, who is not a member of a
roadway work group, and who is not engaged in a common task with another roadway
worker.
Non-controlled track means track upon which trains are permitted by
railroad rule or special instruction to move without receiving authorization
from a train dispatcher or control operator.
On-track roadway maintenance machine
means a self-propelled,
rail-mounted, non-highway, maintenance machine whose light weight is in excess
of 7,500 pounds, and whose purpose is not for the inspection of railroad track.
On-track roadway maintenance machine, existing
means any on-track
roadway maintenance machine that does not meet the definition of a “new
on-track roadway maintenance machine.”
On-track roadway maintenance machine, new
means an on-track roadway
maintenance machine that is ordered after December 26, 2003, and completed after
September 27, 2004.
On-track safety means a state of freedom from the danger of being
struck by a moving railroad train or other railroad equipment, provided by
operating and safety rules that govern track occupancy by personnel, trains and
on-track equipment.
Personal fall arrest system means a system used to arrest the fall of
a person from a working level. It consists of an anchorage, connectors, body
harness, lanyard, deceleration device, lifeline, or combination of these.
Qualified means a status attained by an employee who has successfully
completed any required training for, has demonstrated proficiency in, and has
been authorized by the employer to perform the duties of a particular position
or function.
Railroad means all forms of non-highway ground transportation that run
on rails or electro-magnetic guideways, including (1) commuter or other
short-haul rail passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area, and (2)
high-speed ground transportation systems that connect metropolitan areas,
without regard to whether they use new technologies not associated with
traditional railroads. Such term does not include rapid transit operations
within an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of
transportation.
Railroad bridge means a structure supporting one or more railroad
tracks above land or water with a span length of 12 feet or more measured along
the track centerline. This term applies to the entire structure between the
faces of the backwalls of abutments or equivalent components, regardless of the
number of spans, and includes all such structures, whether of timber, stone,
concrete, metal, or any combination thereof.
Railroad bridge worker or bridge worker
means any employee of, or
employee of a contractor of, a railroad owning or responsible for the
construction, inspection, testing, or maintenance of a bridge whose assigned
duties, if performed on the bridge, include inspection, testing, maintenance,
repair, construction, or reconstruction of the track, bridge structural members,
operating mechanisms and water traffic control systems, or signal,
communication, or train control systems integral to that bridge.
Restricted speed means a speed that will permit a train or other
equipment to stop within one-half the range of vision of the person operating
the train or other equipment, but not exceeding 20 miles per hour, unless
further restricted by the operating rules of the railroad.
Roadway maintenance machine means a device powered by any means of
energy other than hand power which is being used on or near railroad track for
maintenance, repair, construction or inspection of track, bridges, roadway,
signal, communications, or electric traction systems. Roadway maintenance
machines may have road or rail wheels or may be stationary.
Roadway work group means two or more roadway workers organized to work
together on a common task.
Roadway worker means any employee of a railroad, or of a contractor to
a railroad, whose duties include inspection, construction, maintenance or repair
of railroad track, bridges, roadway, signal and communication systems, electric
traction systems, roadway facilities or roadway maintenance machinery on or near
track or with the potential of fouling a track, and flagmen and
watchmen/lookouts as defined in this section.
Self-retracting lifeline/lanyard
means a deceleration device that
contains a drum-wound line that may be slowly extracted from, or retracted onto,
the drum under slight tension during normal employee movement, and which, after
onset of a fall, automatically locks the drum and arrests the fall.
Snap-hook means a connector comprised of a hook-shaped member with a
normally closed keeper, that may be opened to permit the hook to receive an
object and, when released, automatically closes to retain the object.
Train approach warning means a method of establishing on-track safety
by warning roadway workers of the approach of trains in ample time for them to
move to or remain in a place of safety in accordance with the requirements of
this part.
Train coordination means a method of establishing working limits on
track upon which a train holds exclusive authority to move whereby the crew of
that train yields that authority to a roadway worker.
Train dispatcher means the railroad employee assigned to control and
issue orders governing the movement of trains on a specific segment of railroad
track in accordance with the operating rules of the railroad that apply to that
segment of track.
Watchman/lookout means an employee who has been annually trained and
qualified to provide warning to roadway workers of approaching trains or
on-track equipment. Watchmen/lookouts shall be properly equipped to provide
visual and auditory warning such as whistle, air horn, white disk, red flag,
lantern, fusee. A watchman/lookout's sole duty is to look out for approaching
trains/on-track equipment and provide at least fifteen seconds advanced warning
to employees before arrival of trains/on-track equipment.
Working limits means a segment of track with definite boundaries
established in accordance with this part upon which trains and engines may move
only as authorized by the roadway worker having control over that defined
segment of track. Working limits may be established through “exclusive track
occupancy,” “inaccessible track,” “foul time” or “train
coordination” as defined herein.
