Long-Term Conditions Caused by Railroad Work
Defective Handbrakes or other Safety Appliances
Defective handbrakes or other safety appliances are far too common. In recent years we have seen an increase in injuries resulting from defective handholds and other railcar and engine safety appliances. This increase coincides with the railroad industry’s embrace of Precision Railroading, a major component of which was cutting back mechanical employees. Simply stated, there are far fewer inspections being conducted since there are far fewer mechanical employees to do the inspections or fix the problems that they find.
Taking a photo of the defect immediately after injury will help preserve the evidence for your case.
If you are injured due to a defective handbrake, handhold, stirrup or other safety appliance it’s important to find a FELA or Railroad Injury Attorney familiar with the parts involved (ie the pawl, etc…) and the rules of operation found in the railroad’s own safety rules.
Knowledge of the Safety Appliance Act and relevant case law is also essential. For example, under the Safety Appliance Act, if a rail vehicles’ couplers failed to couple automatically on even a single impact, then the railroad violated the Act’s requirement pertaining to automatic couplers. (Kavorkian v. CSX Transportation, Inc.) In other words, if a railroader is injured when couplers of in-use cars fail, then the Safety Appliance Act applies and the railroad cannot claim that the injured party is partially at fault for their own injury.
Many of these cases could potentially have more than one defendant. The negligent party may be the railroad the worker was working for or a third party such as the owner of the car, the company contracted to maintain the car, or an industry serviced by the railroad.
Contact us today for references from satisfied clients injured by defective handbrakes or defective railcar safety appliances.
FELA Case Summaries for Defective Safety Appliances
Conductor Suffers Back Injury Due to Fall from Defective Rail Car
The Plaintiff, a forty-one year old conductor for The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, suffered an injury when an unsecure handhold came loose in his hand. The defect caused the conductor to fall from the side of the rail car to the ground below. He immediately felt excruciating pain in his low back was taken to the hospital. The injury caused the conductor to undergo three back surgeries. The conductor was unable to return to his normal job at the Railroad. R. Bigby v. The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri. Bristol Baxley of Rome, Arata & Baxley for the Plaintiff/Conductor.