Test Your Knowledge

This case, handled by Jack Sevey of The Crow Law Firm, illustrates a good example of a violation of the Federal Safety Appliance Act. The Safety Appliance Act requires that railroad cars be equipped with couplers that couple and uncouple automatically. Because the cutting lever in this incident did not work properly, action was brought under the F.E.L.A. regarding a violation of the Safety Appliance Act. In addition, the act covered the knee injury because the railroad failed to provide a safe place to work.

Answer:

1. The Brakeman should have immediately notified his supervisor, the foreman in charge or, if there was not a foreman in charge and/or he happened to be the foreman, then notify the other employees on the job. The brakeman should have shown the car and the cutting lever to his fellow workers and have written down the number of the car with the defective cutting lever.

   Even though the severity of the injury was unknown at the time of the accident, he should have sought immediate medical attention and should explain to the physician each area of his body that was hurt. He should have told each one of the crew members what part of his body was giving him any type of problem no matter how minor, whether it be neck, low back, knee, etc. The other crew members should have been appraised of that fact so that at the time of their depositions, they could substantiate the fact that the individual was injured and was complaining of problems in each of those areas.

2. Other crew members should cooperate and help with any information relevant to the accident. Each member of the crew should have made out a 2611 indicating that the cause of the accident was a defective cutting lever and debris in the footpath. Other crew members should have attempted to operate the cutting lever so they could also attest to the fact that the cutting lever was not working properly. They should examine the walkway and make note of the debris. Some railroad rules instruct that the debris should be removed to prevent the possibility of another accident.

   Additionally, if rules allow, the brakeman or any of the crew members should have taken photographs of the car with the defective cutting lever and the debris in the footpath at that time. If a camera was not available, the plaintiff should have notified his local union representative or safety representative as soon as possible so that the footpath could have been photographed, as well as the car before it left the area of the accident. Some railroads require that all employees with knowledge of the accident fill out an accident report. If this is the case, the accident report should clearly state what the witness found when examining the operation of the cutting lever and the walkway. Report the facts that the brakeman was forced to walk along side the moving car because the cutting lever was defective. In addition, he did not see the pipe embedded in the walkway because he was concentrating on the bad order cutting lever.