Notably, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the federal agency charged with ensuring safe and healthy working conditions for United States workers. However, as a long-time railroad worker, you should know by now that your industry is governed by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). However, you may still wonder whether their regulations overlap with one another from time to time. For this, please continue reading to learn whether OSHA regulations apply to the railroad industry and how one of the experienced FELA lawyers at Hildebrand McLeod & Nelson LLP can help you better understand the validity of your potential legal claim.
By definition, what are OSHA regulations?
To reiterate what was briefly described above, OSHA regulations are meant to set standards for workplace health and safety. The Administration does so by conducting thorough inspections of these workplaces, along with providing training, outreach, education, and compliance assistance. Overall, its standards are imposed on the construction, maritime, and agriculture industries, along with some approved general industries (i.e., healthcare, warehousing, transportation, manufacturing, telecommunications, and electric utilities).
Under what circumstances do OSHA regulations apply to the railroad industry?
It usually goes that a railroad employer must closely follow the FRA’s rules and regulations, namely through the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). If they are caught violating one of these standards, and one of their employees gets injured as a result, they may be held strictly liable for their incurred damages. However, this is not to say that a railroad employer must not also observe OSHA rules and regulations. This is because OSHA’s jurisdiction extends to the railroad industry when certain circumstances arise that are not specifically regulated by FRA or covered by FELA.
For example, OSHA establishes a standard for railroad facilities which states, “A route shall be established to allow employees to pass to and from places of employment without passing under, over, or through railcard, or between cars less than 10 feet (3 m) apart on the same track.” This standard is particularly directed to marine terminal operations. But importantly, no such standard, or any relevant, similar one, may be found with the FRA. So, in an accident involving these conditions, this OSHA standard may be enforceable instead.
This is all to say that OSHA or FRA governance may depend on which agency has exercised the authority to regulate such conditions. In other words, it may be very much possible for you to cite OSHA regulations in your railroad injury claim. Specifically, an OSHA violation may not automatically trigger your negligence per se requirement being met. But nonetheless, it may be admitted as evidence of your railroad employer’s negligence in the accident in question.
We advise you to reach out to one of the skilled FELA lawyers sooner rather than later. We are confident that you will not regret retaining the services of our team at Hildebrand McLeod & Nelson LLP.
