Newsday.com
New York subway track workers get emergency radios
BY MARLENE NAANES
amNewYork
December 5, 2007
All subway track workers will carry emergency radios by early next year, according to transit officials responding to the findings of a safety task force convened after two men on the job were fatally struck by trains.
The task force consisting of New York City Transit staff and Transport Workers Union representatives yesterday released 63 recommendations focusing on improved communications and other safety measures.
Lack of communication was one factor in the deaths of Marvin Franklin and Daniel Boggs, who were killed in separate accidents in April while working on the tracks.
Investigations into Franklin's and Boggs' deaths had already uncovered a number of safety problems, including that nearly 3 percent of emergency call boxes did not work. The task force found that a factor in many previous accidents was the failure to use proper protocol in alerting trains to workers through the use of lights or flags.
But even before the release of yesterday's study, transit officials said they had already made plans to implement some of the task force's recommendations.
Track workers at sites where emergency alarms or phones are broken now carry radios, and NYC Transit is set to buy more than 1,000 radios for track workers by early next year. The agency also is ramping up its inspection and maintenance schedule for all emergency alarms and phones. In addition, flagging procedures will be improved, and soon flaggers for roving small groups will be required to carry a device that can trip a train's emergency brake.
The task force will submit a plan on how to implement the remaining recommendations by January.
Transit President Howard Roberts said that since Franklin's and Boggs' deaths, there have been improvements in safety on the tracks.
"We are not perfect and we will continue," he said.
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
New York subway track workers get emergency radios
BY MARLENE NAANES
amNewYork
December 5, 2007
All subway track workers will carry emergency radios by early next year, according to transit officials responding to the findings of a safety task force convened after two men on the job were fatally struck by trains.
The task force consisting of New York City Transit staff and Transport Workers Union representatives yesterday released 63 recommendations focusing on improved communications and other safety measures.
Lack of communication was one factor in the deaths of Marvin Franklin and Daniel Boggs, who were killed in separate accidents in April while working on the tracks.
Investigations into Franklin's and Boggs' deaths had already uncovered a number of safety problems, including that nearly 3 percent of emergency call boxes did not work. The task force found that a factor in many previous accidents was the failure to use proper protocol in alerting trains to workers through the use of lights or flags.
But even before the release of yesterday's study, transit officials said they had already made plans to implement some of the task force's recommendations.
Track workers at sites where emergency alarms or phones are broken now carry radios, and NYC Transit is set to buy more than 1,000 radios for track workers by early next year. The agency also is ramping up its inspection and maintenance schedule for all emergency alarms and phones. In addition, flagging procedures will be improved, and soon flaggers for roving small groups will be required to carry a device that can trip a train's emergency brake.
The task force will submit a plan on how to implement the remaining recommendations by January.
Transit President Howard Roberts said that since Franklin's and Boggs' deaths, there have been improvements in safety on the tracks.
"We are not perfect and we will continue," he said.
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
