Title: Understanding Railroad Employee Safety Prior to Crew Consist Changes
Author(s) : Jason Pinder
The purpose of this quantitative study is to predict the safety impact to railroad transportation workers when the count of employees in the cab of a locomotive changes from two to one. In this study a predictive model based off preexisting Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) safety data and other factors will be constructed to anticipate changes in transportation employee safety metrics as one employee remains in the cab of the locomotive and the other less frequent employee serves permanently in a mobile capacity when needed. This predictive model will allow rail operators to understand what variables must be addressed to maintain or improve employee safety while maintaining or exceeding transit times. The results of the predictive model can be used by rail operators, union organizations, and the FRA. All will want to see a thorough analysis and evidence of the plan to protect employee safety and the economy.