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Safety alert: Reducing switching accidents CLEVELAND, April 22 -- The Switching Operations Fatality Analysis (SOFA) Group has issued its safety statistics for the month of January of 2004. According to SOFA, there were 11 “severe injuries” in switching operations in January, including two amputations. The SOFA Group issues regular safety reminders to help achieve its goal of eliminating switching injuries and fatalities. The group was formed in February of 1998 at the request of FRA to review switching operations accident reports and to develop recommendations for reducing fatalities and injuries. For the entire year, there have been two fatalities in switching operations. On January 14, a Norfolk Southern conductor with four years of service was killed when struck by a train he was switching in Kankakee Yard in Kankakee, Ill. On March 10, a 46-year-old Metro North conductor (with 27 years of service) was killed when struck by his own equipment at Metro North’s Stamford Yard in Stamford, Conn. Since January 1, 1992, there have been 126 switching fatalities. Of those 126 fatalities, seven took place in the month of May. According to SOFA, the average age of the victims in the seven fatalities is 47. The average length of service was 14.6 years with four employees having less than 2.5 years of service. The BLET, a Division of the Teamsters’ Rail Conference, is part of the SOFA Group, along with representatives from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Association of American Railroads (AAR), American Shortline and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), UTU, and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center. The BLET’s representatives are: George Last, Colorado State Legislative Board Chairman; Tom Perkovich, Minnesota State Legislative Board Chairman; and Rob Svob, Arizona State Legislative Board Chairman. A copy of the SOFA Group’s May 2004 Update is available on the BLET website at: http://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/SOFAPost05-01-04.pdf A copy of the SOFA’s Groups severe injury update is available at: http://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/SOFAMemoApril.pdf The five SOFA Lifesavers are available at: http://www.ble-t.org/pr/newsletter/1000newsletter/story3.html Thursday, April 22, 2004 bentley@ble.org © 1997-2010 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

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