(The following story by George Hohmann appeared on the Charleston Daily Mail website on May 8.)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The CSX brakeman injured at the Union Carbide plant in South Charleston suffered an amputated leg, a Federal Railroad Administration spokesman said.
Warren Flatau, public affairs specialist, said the brakeman “was in a three-man crew working on an industrial switching job.”
The accident occurred on Blaine Island. One employee who works on the island said the brakeman was apparently working on a rail car coupling when another rail car was bumped, setting off a chain reaction that eventually moved the rail cars he was working on, knocking him to the ground and causing one of the cars to run over his leg.
CSX spokeswoman Meg Sacks said the accident occurred “during a routine switching operation. It was a local train and we were serving the customer, which was Union Carbide, which is a subsidiary of Dow Chemical.”
Sacks said the incident, which happened early Friday, is still being investigated.
The worker was rushed to Charleston Area Medical Center’s General Hospital.
Sacks said for privacy reasons, the railroad will not reveal the his name or age.
Flatau said the Federal Railroad Administration is precluded by law from identifying the worker.
But he said it was his understanding that he is 39.
Reportedly, the worker is from Milton.
Flatau said the federal agency is not conducting a full investigation “but because of the severity of this injury, we have been following up with the railroad and with rail labor representatives and are taking a very active interest in the cause of that event.” He said the federal agency “would like to determine the cause of the accident.”
CSX is required to submit a report no later than June 30, Flatau said. Shortly after the report is submitted, it will be posted on the federal agency’s Web site, he said.
Flatau said a significant number of railroad employee injuries happen in yards where there are switching operations and, “This is the very type of event that we want to prevent.”
Gary McKinney, assistant area director of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the accident was not reported to OSHA.
“A CSX line would not be in our jurisdiction anyway,” he said. “That comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration.”