Workers need constant safety reinforcement, or they will revert to shortcuts that may result in an injury.

I’m sure that he is a fine trainer on plant-related operations. But he probably was not a railroader with the necessary background to properly teach basic railroad techniques.

Railroad equipment is highly technical. They have many moving parts, are very heavy and unforgiving when things don’t go well.

I have found in my travels to many different plants that “old heads” that have been around awhile have picked up a lot of bad habits. Then they pass them on to any new guys, who take these shortcuts as gospel and an incident or injury can follow.

In my many years of providing Rail Yard Safety Training to industries, I have come across only one SOP that I thought did not need any improvement. Some instructions were flat-out dangerous. I had those corrected immediately with management.

A second opinion and a new set of eyes can detect many things that need to change.

About a year later this same operation had a terrible rail incident resulting in millions of dollars in a settlement.

OSHA wants to see all your training records for rail yard switching for as far back as you have them. If you don’t have any training records, they will suggest that you set up a Rail Yard Safety Training class ASAP and then threaten to fine you if you don’t.

You can invest a relatively small amount of money for training now, or you can pay a very large settlement out following an incident.

We can provide your company with Rail Yard Safety Training that would include the following: A virtual Manager Zoom class, a virtual safety audit, a review of your SOP for rail operations, a generic rail SOP,  Safety Audit Forms, How-To lists that cover the operation of hand brakes, switches, derails and air brake theory and yard test, video library, expert hotline, a newsletter with links to important railroad information.