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casualty but does not cause reportable damage above the current threshold established for train accidents.
Work environment means the establishment and other locations where one or more railroad employees are
working or present as a condition of their employment. The work environment includes not only physical
locations, but also the equipment or materials processed or used by an employee during the course of his or her
work, and activities of a railroad employee associated with his or her work, whether on or off the railroad’s
property.
Work related means related to an event or exposure occurring within the work environment. An injury or illness
is presumed work-related if an event or exposure occurring in the work environment is a discernable cause of the
resulting condition or a discernable cause of a significant aggravation to a pre-existing injury or illness. The causal
event or exposure need not be peculiarly occupational so long as it occurs at work. For example, a causal event or
exposure may be outside the employer’s control, such as a lightning strike; involve activities that occur at work but
are not directly productive, such as horseplay; or involve activities that are not peculiar to work, such as walking on
a level floor, bending down, climbing stairs or sneezing. Such activities, along with other normal body movements,
are considered events. So long as the event or exposure occurred at work and is a discernable cause of the injury or
illness, the injury or illness is work-related. It does not matter whether there are other or bigger causes as well, or
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that the activity at work is no different from actions performed outside work. If an injury is within the presumption
of work-relatedness, the employer can rebut work-relatedness only by showing that the case falls within an
exception listed in § 225.15. In cases where it is not obvious whether a precipitating event or exposure occurred at
work or outside work, the employer must evaluate the employee’s work duties and environment and decide whether
it is more likely than not that an event or exposure at work was at least one of the causes of the injury of the injury
or illness.
§ 225.6 Consolidated reporting.
A parent corporation may request in writing that FRA treat its commonly controlled railroad carriers, which operate
as a single, seamless, integrated United States rail system, as a single railroad carrier for purposes of this part.
(a) The written request must include the following:
(1) A list of the subsidiary railroads controlled by the parent corporation; and
(2) An explanation as to how the subsidiary railroads operate as a single, seamless, integrated United States
railroad system.
(b) The request must be sent to the FRA Docket Clerk, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of
Transportation, RCC-10, Mail Stop 10, West Building 3rd Floor, Room W31-109, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.,
Washington, DC 20590. Each request received shall be acknowledged in writing. The acknowledgment shall
contain the docket number assigned to the request and state the date the request was received.
(c) FRA will notify the applicant parent corporation of the agency’s decision within 90 days of receipt of the
application.
(d) If FRA approves the request, the parent corporation must enter into a written agreement with FRA specifying
which subsidiaries are included in its railroad system, agreeing to assume responsibility for compliance with this
part for all named subsidiaries making up the system, and consenting to guarantee any monetary penalty
assessments or other liabilities owed to the United States government that are incurred by the named subsidiaries
for violating Federal accident/incident reporting requirements. Any change in the subsidiaries making up the
railroad system requires immediate notification to FRA and execution of an amended agreement. Executed
agreements will be published in the docket.
§ 225.7 Public examination and use of reports.
(a) Accident/Incident reports made by railroads in compliance with these rules shall be available to the public in the
manner prescribed by part 7 of this title. Accident/Incident reports may be inspected at the U.S. Department of
Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety, West Building 3rd Floor, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. Written requests for a copy of a report should be addressed to the Freedom
of Information Act Coordinator, Office of Chief Counsel, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of
Transportation, RCC-10, Mail Stop 10, West Building 3rd Floor, Room W33-437, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.,
Washington, DC 20590, and be accompanied by the appropriate fee prescribed in part 7 of this title. To facilitate
expedited handling, each request should be clearly marked "FOIA Request for Accident/Incident Report." For
additional information on submitting a FOIA request to FRA see FRA’s website at http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/foia.
(b) 49 U.S.C. 20903 provides that monthly reports filed by railroads under § 225.11 may not be admitted as
evidence or used for any purpose in any action for damages growing out of any matters mentioned in these monthly
reports. The Employee Human Factor Attachment, Notice, and Employee Supplement under § 225.12 are part of
the reporting railroad's accident report to FRA pursuant to the 49 U.S.C. 20901 and, as such, shall not ``be admitted
as evidence or used for any purpose in any suit or action for damages growing out of any matter mentioned in said
report * * *.'' 49 U.S.C. 20903.
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§ 225.9 Telephonic reports of certain accidents/incidents and other events.
(a) Types of accidents/incidents and other events to be reported--
(1) Certain deaths or injuries. Each railroad must report immediately, as prescribed in paragraphs (b)
through (d) of this section, whenever it learns of the occurrence of an accident/incident arising from the
operation of the railroad, or an event or exposure that may have arisen from the operation of the railroad,
that results in the--
(i) Death of a rail passenger or a railroad employee;
(ii) Death of an employee of a contractor to a railroad performing work for the railroad on property
owned, leased, or maintained by the contracting railroad; or
(iii) Death or injury of five or more persons.
(2) Certain train accidents or train incidents. Each railroad must report immediately, as prescribed in
paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section, whenever it learns of the occurrence of any of the following
events that arose from the operation of the railroad:
(i) A train accident that results in serious injury to two or more train crewmembers or passengers
requiring their admission to a hospital;
(ii) A train accident resulting in evacuation of a passenger train;
(iii) A fatality resulting from a train accident or train incident at a highway-rail grade crossing
when death occurs within 24 hours of the accident/incident;
(iv) A train accident resulting in damage (based on a preliminary gross estimate) of $150,000 or
more to railroad and nonrailroad property; or
(v) A train accident resulting in damage of $25,000 or more to a passenger train, including railroad
and nonrailroad property.
(3) Train accidents on or fouling passenger service main lines. The dispatching railroad must report
immediately, as prescribed in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section, whenever it learns of the
occurrence of any train accident reportable as a rail equipment accident/incident under § § 225.11 and
225.19(c)—
(i) That involves a collision or derailment on a main line that is used for scheduled passenger
service; or
(ii) That fouls a main line used for scheduled passenger service.
(b) Method of reporting.
(1) Telephonic reports required by this section shall be made by toll-free telephone to the National
Response Center, Area Code 800-424-8802 or 800-424-0201.
(2) Through one of the same telephone numbers (800-424-0201), the National Response Center (NRC) also
receives notifications of rail accidents for the National Transportation Safety Board (49 CFR part 840) and
the Research and Special Programs Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Hazardous
Materials Regulations, 49 CFR 171.15). FRA Locomotive Safety Standards require certain locomotive
accidents to be reported by telephone to the NRC at the same toll-free number (800-424-0201). 49 CFR
229.17.
(c) Contents of report. Each report must state the: