The U.S. Department of Transportation is adopting regulations by the Federal Railroad Administration that legalizes the number of consecutive hours passenger railroad employees can work in an effort to diminish risk, improve safety, and differentiate between freight and passenger services.
The final rule applies "fatigue science" to work schedules to regulate maximum on-duty periods as well as minimum off-duty periods. The DOT is attempting to bring scientific data into work scheduling, with the FRA rule being the first of its kind to be completed.
"Safety is job one, and by focusing our attention on proactive risk reduction strategies like these, we will be able to reduce the number of accidents on our railways," says Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "This new program will let us recognize and prevent fatigue problems for passenger train crews before they arise."
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By using fatigue modeling tools and data on human alertness factors, this new rule will guide train crew scheduling to reduce the probability of a hazardous work schedule and distinguish the difference between work during daylight hours and evening hours, which is when fatigue is most likely to hit.
According to the final rule, which is authorized by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, railroads must also provide fatigue training and submit certain work schedules of their passenger train employees as well as fatigue mitigation plans to FRA for approval. The final rule was developed along with the FRA's Railroad Safety Advisory Committee with representatives from the railroad industry, railroad labor and other stakeholder groups.
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