DC Metro Sees Another Fatality | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

A DC Metro track maintenance workers died Sunday night after being struck by a gravel spreader. The worker, identified by the Washington Post as 60-year-old Michael Nash, was clearing excess gravel from electronic switches and sensors embedded in the rails between the Dunn Loring and Vienna stations at the time of the fatal accident.

Nash’s death comes less than two months after a collision between two Metro trains killed nine people and injured dozens more. The malfunction of electronic rail sensors is suspected to have contributed to the June tragedy.

This latest Metro fatality prompted the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority to halt all scheduled track maintenance and open a review of its worker safety rules and practices. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, which documented 23 worksite deaths due to contact with objects and equipment in 2007, is also investigating Nash’s death.

Specializing in rail injury law, my colleagues and I know that track workers face many dangers every day. I am pleased that WMATA will conduct a thorough safety review. I hope that necessary changes get made before more Metro workers get injured or killed.

About the Editors: Shapiro & Appleton& Duffan personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the Northeast North Carolina (NC) border. Lawyers with the firm practice primarily in the southeastern U.S. and handle injury law cases, including car, truck and railroad accidents, medical negligence cases, and more. The firm’s website is hsinjurylaw.com. Lawyers with Shapiro & Appleton& Duffan also edit the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard and have compiled a video library covering many FAQs on personal injury subjects. The firm’s lawyers are licensed in VA, NC, SC, WV, DC and KY.

EJL