On Thursday, KQED's Mina Kim talked with Michael LeRoy, a professor at the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois College of Law at Urbana-Champaign. He followed last year's BART strike, and this incident.
"When you read the actual citations, even a layperson would probably say 'What were you thinking when you did this?'" LeRoy said.
"They don't have any lookout posted, they've got two individuals working on a track that is active, you have a train coming through in excess of 65mph, and worse the two individuals inspecting a dip in the track have a metal pole that is determined to be too near an energized third-rail line."
Original post:
Cal/OSHA is fining BART $210,000 for three "willful serious violations" that led to the Oct. 19 deaths of two workers, who were killed by a train in Walnut Creek that was going more than 65 mph.
The probe by Cal/OSHA found the workers, Christopher Sheppard and Laurence Daniels, didn't meet the qualifications needed to do work near hazardous energized third rails. Sheppard was a special projects manager for the transit system, while Daniels was a contractor and consulting engineer.
The investigation also found that a trainee was at the controls when the accident happened. His trainer, described as a "high-ranking transportation manager," was seated in the passenger car with other BART managers and another trainee, and he wasn't able to view the track from that vantage point.
The third violation was the result of the fact that BART's "simple approval" procedures for employees working on the tracks were not adequate and weren't being followed in any case.
"Employers in California msut comply with safety standards to protect their employees, and diligence is vital in hazardous working conditions," said Christine Baker, director of the state Department of Industrial Relations, which includes Cal/OSHA.
The accident occurred while BART workers were on strike.
BART General Manager Grace Crunican issued the following statement:
“The BART family has spent the past six months mourning the loss of Christopher D. Sheppard and Laurence E. Daniels while making permanent changes to our safety procedures. Passenger and employee safety is our top priority at BART. BART has fundamentally upgraded its safety procedures with the implementation of an enhanced wayside safety program and a proposed budget investment of over $5 million in additional resources to bolster BART’s safety performance. Cal/OSHA has informed BART these changes correct the concerns which are at the heart of their citations, designating the issues as ‘abated,’ meaning that none are continuing violations or pose continuing safety hazards.
Here's the citation:
And here's some previous coverage from KQED:
NTSB Urges Safety Upgrades in Wake of BART Worker Deaths
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/19/ntsb-urges-safety-upgrades-in-wake-of-BART-worker-deaths
BART Probe: Investigators Re-Enact Fatal Accident
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/10/20/ntsb-investigating-bart-train-accident-that-killed-two-workers
