Rail safety concerns? Questions? FRA all ears

CHICAGO — Here is an opportunity to voice your rail safety concerns directly to the administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.

A 90-minute town hall meeting on rail safety will be held Tuesday, Oct. 11, in Chicago. FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo will take questions and hear concerns as part of the agency’s outreach to rail labor.

Szabo, formerly the UTU’s Illinois state legislative director and a fifth-generation railroader, promises “a frank and often safety discussion.” He also will share with the audience details on the FRA’s risk reduction program, which is a non-punitive approach to addressing safety in advance of an accident or injury.

FRA Associate Administrator for Safety Jo Strang wrote of that program some months ago in an exclusive column that appeared in the UTU News and on the UTU website. A link to that column is provided below.

Here are the details of the town hall meeting:

WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 11, from 9-10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Chicago Laborers District Council, 999 McClintock Drive, Burr Ridge, Ill. Burr Ridge is 20 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.

To read the Jo Strang column on the FRA’s risk reduction program, click on the following link:

https://www.smart-union.org/news/help-fra-stop-harassment-improve-safety/