Railroad Accidents, Their Cause and PreventionRichards, R. C. (Ralph Coffin)
History
Railroad Accidents, Their Cause and Prevention
Richards, R. C. (Ralph Coffin)
Railroad accidents
In addition to the suggestions which I have made in discussing the
different classes of accidents herein mentioned, there are several
others which, in a general way, I submit.
The most necessary thing in securing good results and as few
casualties as possible is to hire good, competent, careful and sober
men to do the work, and when the railroads have bureaus of employment
properly conducted to secure the best men and schools in which to
instruct them as to the rules under which railroads are operated, what
their duties are, and how to perform them, in conjunction with the
physical examination of applicants for employment they will have taken
the most important step to do away with accidents; and when they clear
their roundhouses, repair yards, coal stations, gate houses and all
other branches of the service connected with the transportation of
persons and property of men with whom neither other employees nor the
public can communicate because of their inability to understand or
talk the English language, they will have taken the next one.
When labor organizations and employees generally do what they can to
keep incompetent, careless men out of the service, not in it, and when
they are discovered in some careless act, or cause some accident, and
are discharged or suspended, instead of trying, through the influence
and power of their organization, to have the discharge or suspension
set aside, do all they can to sustain the order of suspension or
discharge, we will not have the list of casualties staring us in the
face that we do now, and the organizations will not have so many
crippled members asking for assistance, and the proportion of
employees killed and injured to the whole number won't be 36 and 80
per cent respectively.
Employees should read the newspapers, railroad as well as brotherhood,
so that they will get some of the theory of the business to fit them
for a better place. Familiarize yourselves with the advertisements of
the company, train schedules, maps, names of the officers and where
they are located, so that you can answer questions of patrons and
others. Treat everybody politely and decently, as by your conduct and
manners the corporation and management will be judged. Take advantage
of what others have learned by the greatest of all teachers--EXPERIENCE.
After getting good competent men we need good track and equipment and
sufficient and intelligent inspection to see that not only the track
and equipment are kept in good repair, but also that the men keep in
good physical and mental condition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account