ATLANTA — Two rail workers were killed on the job in the past month in Alabama and North Carolina.
In a Feb. 15 statement, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division-International Brotherhood of Teamsters union said Brother Randall M. Howell, 41, was fatally struck by a ballast regulator machine while his CSX rail crew was making repairs on a railroad crossing in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
Two weeks earlier, Norfolk Southern engineer Christopher M. Wilson suffered fatal injuries after being thrown from his engine during operations in the company’s Decatur yard. The engine was struck by a rolling cut of cars disconnected from an engine.
The 55-year-old engineer had been a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 423 and worked at Norfolk Southern for 30 years.
“He was a great friend and would do anything for his union brothers and sisters,” BLET Division 423 Local Chairman Todd Sizemore said.
“This tragic loss underscores the safety risks present in railroading, even in the controlled environment of a rail yard,” BLET national President Eddie Hall said. He noted that Wilson’s death took place “one year since Norfolk Southern’s derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio.” Rail unions are actively fighting, alongside other workers and area residents, to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for cleaning up the toxic chemical spill. The unions are demanding more control over conditions, schedules and more on the railroads.
From 2014 through November 2023 the Federal Railroad Administration recorded nine deaths of Norfolk Southern rail workers on the job.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating both of the recent deaths. The government board projects filing a final report in one to two years.