New safety measures enacted after fatal accident in railway yard

The federal government is rolling out new measures to bolster rail safety following an investigation into a fatal 2017 incident at a Saskatchewan railway yard.

Under an order from Transport Minister Marc Garneau, railway companies must adopt updated practices for employees who conduct switching duties — taking railcars from one track to another — that ensure equipment is properly secured.

Transport Canada said it also plans to ramp up oversight rules and address gaps in employee training and experience.

The department said it will work with industry and labour representatives to identify the causes of uncontrolled movements that occur while switching without air brakes.

“I am deeply troubled every time there is a rail incident that results in a tragic death,” Garneau said in a statement Thursday.

The new measures follow a Transportation Safety Board report in June that expressed concerns about inexperienced workers being paired together and recommended changes to reduce uncontrolled movement of railcars.

Two Canadian National Railway Co. employees were carrying out switching duties at the company’s yard in Melville, Sask., 150 kms east of Regina, on Dec. 22, 2017, when one was fatally injured. The safety board said the two workers, one a designated foreman and the other a helper, were moving railcars by letting them roll to their intended track without the use of air brakes.

The investigation found that the crew’s limited experience likely contributed to a decision to shove three loaded cars up a slight grade using a remote- controlled locomotive at too low a speed, which resulted in the cars losing momentum and beginning to roll backwards.

“Team work is critical but, in this occurrence, the foreman and the helper were working in virtual isolation,” investigator Glen Pilon said on June 10. “No plan was discussed for kicking the cars uphill, nor was there any shared expectation of how this would be performed.”