FRA Proposes Extensive Training Requirements For Safety-Related Employees

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) today, calling for the implementation of extensive training and oversight requirements for safety-related employees. This NPRM results from a mandate to the FRA from the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

The detailed rule proposes various new requirements including creating training standards for all safety-related rail employees on minimum Federal Safety requirements, and requirements for such training programs, including specific recommendations for on-the-job (OJT) training. Railroads will be required to submit to the FRA for approval, much like current requirements for Engineer Training under 49 CFR part 240, proposed training programs including "a description of its training program, a description of procedures used to design and develop key learning points for any task-based or knowledge-based training." (pg. 6426). The stated reason for this detail in the plan is the concern that "FRA will not have enough insight into whether an employer is going through all the necessary thought processes to develop comprehensive learning points for any particular task or knowledge-based training."

As noted above, the rule also requires specific OJT requirements, including a statement of all tasks to be completed in OJT, a statement or list of "the conditions necessary to ensure that learning can be successfully accomplished," and a statement of the standards by which proficiency will be measured. All of this leads to requirement that the employer create a manual or checklist for all the tasks and related steps "for a particular category or subcategory of employee in one manual, checklist, or other similar document." (pg. 6426).

A provision exists under the rule for railroads to use training contractors or organizations, however the railroads are not relieved of their reporting requirements of their proposed plans if they outsource the training (See proposed section 223.111).

There are also record keeping requirements (sec. 243.203), periodic oversight (sec. 243.205), and mandatory annual review to be conducted internally by the railroads (243.207). Smaller railroads (less than 400,000 work hours), are excepted from the annual review requirement. However, railroads conducting an annual review will be required to analyze injury reporting data, and an analysis of "inspection report data", i.e. citations from FRA inspections in the annual review. (pg. 6442).

The FRA estimates a 20 year, non-discounted cost, of these requirements to the industry of $81.6 million.

What will likely be the effect of this rule is that Railroads will expend considerable effort in detailing the methodological basis for existing safety programs in use throughout the industry. Virtually all of the covered employees receive training in federal requirements in order to do their jobs under both federal and internal requirements, such as engine service personnel, track workers, and track inspectors.

Also of note is the FRA's statements on its jurisdictional relationship with OSHA. In deciding in this NPRM to propose its own rules for cranes on track, and off-track equipment, the FRA reiterates its 1978 policy to regulate "those issues that are of an occupational nature and that have a significant impact on railroad operations." (pg. 6417).

It seems to me that the proposed rule is not likely to result in radical changes in how railroad employees are trained, which generally includes classroom instruction and OJT. What seems to be the import of this rule is having railroads, and railroad training providers, detail their programs for approval so the FRA may then in the future look to the approved programs for either beneficial or negative affects on worker safety. It is a laudable goal, but the detail required in the proposed safety programs from the railroads, which the FRA will in turn approve, is significant, as is the annual internal-review requirement.