In railroad worker injury/death cases the Safety Appliance Act regulations are critical-proof of violations makes the case easier to prove.

by Richard N. Shapiro

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Rick is a Virginia injury attorney who handles car accidents, medical malpractice, FELA, wrongful death, etc.

This article explores the application of the Railroad Safety Appliance Act statute, and regulations in cases involving railroad worker injuries/wrongful death on the railroad. An important act passed by Congress called the Safety Appliance Act, sets forth a broad range of regulations that apply to virtually every type of train car, and some locomotive engines used by railroads. The act sets forth many different conditions that must exist without a defect or insufficiency on railroad cars.

The following is a partial list of some of the conditions and things that must be safe:

all ladders/handholds must be secure and have no insufficiency;

• manual brakes must work properly and have no improper condition;
• the overall air brake system on the train must work properly;
• all walkways must be properly constructed and there are precise regulations relating to many details;
• no oil or slippery substances on locomotive walking areas;
• there can be no broken parts or insufficient conditions relating to the train car wheels, trucks, gears and similar components.
• There are many other regulations not outlined here.

When a railroad worker suffers an injury due to any insufficient condition or defect on a train car, or due to faulty brake parts and systems, and if this problem leads to railroad worker injury, this constitutes a regulatory violation creating strict or absolute absolute liability on a railroad employer. Many state and federal court cases confirm that the regulatory violation need not involve an actual defect-just in insufficiency or improper condition may constitute a complete regulatory violation depending upon the evidence. Such a violation means that a worker and the attorney representing the railroad worker, have no duty to show advance knowledge of the railroad or a railroad supervisor, before the injury occurs. The law says that the violation is absolute and complete with the finding that the injury was caused by the improper condition or defect. This means that the main issue becomes fair compensation under law to the worker and relieves the worker and her attorney from proving advance notice.

There are many Railroad injury cases that our firm has handled involving Safety Appliance Act or Locomotive Inspection Act violations. Often, our client does not appreciate that there is a pertinent railroad safety regulation or statute that applies to the way in which they were injured, and this is an important reason to seek out qualified railroad FELA counsel. To explain how the legal briefs are filed and what the particulars of a railroad regulatory violations mean, we are setting for excerpts of an actual legal brief filed in a previous case in which our client was injured because of insufficient brake on one train car, and then he subsequently suffered an injury to his back because of an improperly secured ladder or handhold on a different train car. We have omitted names and places because of confidentiality in the settlement which was negotiated on behalf of our former client.

SAMPLE PLAINTIFF’S BRIEF SUPPORTING PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO LIABILITY UNDER THE FELA AND SAFETY APPLIANCE ACTS

• This addresses Insecure Handhold/ladders & Defects
• This addresses Handbrake Insufficiencies/Defects
  
  Click here for the sample brief.