NYCT & TWU Task Force Reveal Safety Recommendations For Subway Track Workers
According to the New York City Transit (NYCT) division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), all NYC Subway track workers will carry emergency radios by early 2008. The announcement came yesterday as a task force consisting of New York City Transit staff and Transport Workers Union (TWU) representatives released 63 recommendations which focus on improving communications & safety for all track workers. The task force was created in the wake of the deaths of track workers Marvin Franklin & Daniel Boggs who were killed while working on the tracks in two separate accidents this past April.
According to NYC Transit, track workers already carry radios at work sites where emergency alarms & phones are broken. They plan on purchasing more than 1,000 radios for workers by early 2008. They also plan on intensifying their inspection & maintenance schedule for their fleet of emergency alarms & phones. They also have promised improvement in all flagging procedures. The last major plan they have is to require flaggers for small roving groups of workers to carry a device that can trip a train’s emergency break. The task will release a plan by January on how to implement the rest of their recommendations.
I personally think these proposed changes are great for the safety of all track workers. It is a shame that it took death to make these changes come to fruition. Why does it always have to be that way in life? Why??????
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Comments
Motorman Mark (and others):
You can find that report, and dozens other at HomestationOnline.org (a comprehensive online news and information source, focusing on the social, political, economic and environmental factors, and the local, national and global labor issues that affect NYC transit workers.)
Here is the direct link:
Something else you may be interested in:
TWU Maintenance of Way (MOW) Officers 12/22/07 Response to Safety Report:
http://www.homestationonline.org/resources/RT Flagging Task Force Letter 12-22-07[1].pdf
Hey, could someone tell me how I could obtain a copy of this report, or, better yet, post a pdf??
It would help me lots!
Thanks,
MC