(The United Transportation Union posted the following article on its website on May 21. Additional information in parenthesis added by BLE editors.)
HERMISTON, Ore. — UTU member Tim Gettman of Local 473 in La Grande, Ore., lost his left arm in a switching accident yesterday afternoon (May 20) in the Union Pacific Railroad’s Hinkle Classification Yard, according to UTU’s Oregon State Legislative Director Delmer E. Hanson.
Brother Gettman was injured around 3 p.m. yesterday, and was taken by aircraft at about 6 p.m. to a hospital in Portland, Ore., about 180 miles away, where his left arm was amputated just below the shoulder, Hanson said.
Remote control operations are in place at the Hinkle Classification Yard. According to Hanson, the tilt feature on the remote control stopped the train movement.
(Sources with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers at Hinkle report that in addition to the loss of his arm, Brother Gettman also suffered two broken collar bones, broken ribs, two collapsed lungs, and a back injury, the severity of which has yet to be determined.)
(BLE members reported eight other incidents involving remote control at Hinkle Yard in 2002 — September 5, July 26, June 14, June 9, May 5, April 29, April 28 and April 20.)
A 30-year employee, Gettman is married and has three sons, Hanson said.
An investigation is pending.