FRA Guide for Preparing Accidents/Incidents Reports U.S. Departm ent of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety ft DOT/FRA/RRS-22 Revised: October 1, 1992 [] Effective: January 1,1993 1 12 - Safety CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................... i Accident/Incident Reporting (Record-Keeping Requirements) . ........ I Definitions..........................................................II Railroad Injury and Illness Summary (Form 6180-55) .............. Ill Railroad Injury and Illness Summary (Continuation Sheet) (Form 6180-55a)................................................... IV Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Report (Form 6180-54) V Employee Human Factor Attachment (Form 6180-81) .................... VI Notice to Employee Involved in Human Factor Caused . Accident (Form 6180-78).......................................... VTI Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Accident/Incident Report (Form 6180-57) VIII Annual Railroad Report of Hours Worked by State (Form 6180-56) IX Annual Summary Report of Railroad Injury and Illness (Form 6180-45) X Appendices Appendix A - Railroad Codes ............... A Appendix B - State Codes .......................................... B Appendix C - Train Accident Cause Codes .............. C Appendix D - Employee Job Codes .................................... D Appendix E - Injury and Illness Codes .............................. E Appendix F - Casualty Occurrence Codes ............................ F Appendix G - Questions and Answers ...................... ..... G Appendix H - Computer Updates ...................................... H Appendix I - FRA Regional Offices .................................. I « Appendix J - Regulation .......................................... J Appendix K - F o r m s ...................................... K Introduction A railroad is required by 49 CFR Part 225 to use the current FRA Guide for Preparing Accident/Incident Reports when preparing its monthly report. The instructions contained in this publication are provided to assist railroads in meeting this obligation, and do not limit in any way those accidents/incidents that are to be reported. The overall reporting requirements remain unchanged. However, this edition contains additional clarification and guidance, including instructions and changes previously distributed by letter. A primary objective of this revision is to improve uniformity in reporting between railroads. By doing this, we will obtain a better understanding of why accidents/incidents occur, leading to solutions for their prevention. Although there have been many refinements throughout the guide, some of the more significant areas are: 1) The addition of an appendix containing questions and answers about reporting. 2) A new definition section. 3) Reporting responsibilities when an accident is alleged to have been the result of an employee human factor cause. 4) Inclusion of revised cause codes, and injury and illness codes. 5) Instructions on closing out reporting for a calendar year. 6) Improved readability. A vertical bar has been placed in the margin to identify areas of the guide where significant additions and modifications have occurred. The guide is organized into sections corresponding to the different reporting requirements. The first section is a general overview of reporting and recordkeeping requirements. The next section contains definitions. The final eight sections contain instructions for completing individual forms. Lastly, there are various appendices that contain copies of the forms, codes used when completing these, and other information. The Federal Railroad Administration would like to express its appreciation to the various groups and individuals who have provided material and comments for inclusion in the guide. i Accident/Incident Reporting 1. GENERAL A. Purpose. The purpose of reporting accidents/incidents is to provide the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) with information concerning hazardous conditions on the Nation's railroads. FRA needs this information to effectively carry out its regulatory responsibilities under various laws; chief among these are the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, and the Accidents Reports Act of 1910. The reporting rules are applicable to all railroads except those whose entire operations are confined within an industrial installation. They cover all activities of a railroad related to the performance of its rail transportation business. The term "railroad" as used in these instructions means all forms of non-highway ground transportation that run on rails or electro­ magnetic guideways, including (1) commuter or other short-haul rail passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area, and (2) high speed ground transportation systems that connect metropolitan areas, without regard to whether they use new technologies not associated with traditional railroads. Such term does not include rapid transit operations within an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of transportation. B. Primary groups of accidents/incidents. Accidents/incidents are divided into three major groups for reporting purposes. These correspond to different FRA forms and are: 1) Death, injury or occupational illness (Form FRA F 6180-55A) 2) Rail equipment accident/incident (Form FRA F 6180-54) Note: Accident reports citing an employee human factor as a cause must be accompanied by an Employee Human Factor Attachment (Form FRA F 6180-81). In addition, each implicated employee must be provided with a Notice to Railroad Employee involved in Rail Equipment Accident/incident Attributed to Employee Human Factor (Form FRA F 6180-78). 3) Highway-Rail crossing collisions (Form FRA F 6180-57) The specific requirements for the various types of accidents/incidents are described in the sections for completing the individual forms. A single form is usually sufficient to report most events, however, there are situations when multiple report forms are necessary. An example is a highway-rail crossing collision resulting in reportable injuries. An accident of this type would require the completion of both a Form FRA F 6180-57 and a Form FRA F 6180-55a. In addition, if reportable on-track equipment and track damage in this accident exceeds the current monetary threshold for train accidents, then a Form FRA F 6180-54 must also be prepared. I 1 Record-Keeping Requirements C. Doubtful casos. The reporting officer will ordinarily decide whether or not an incident is reportable. This decision cannot be an arbitrary one, but must be based on a thorough review of all evidence, as opposed to speculation, related to the event in question and be in accordance with the requirements of the Reports Act, 49 CFR 225, and the guidelines provided in this report. If you are certain that a particular situation is outside the scope of the reporting requirements, then the basis on which this determination was made must be documented and the case may be omitted from the monthly submission. When facts affecting the reportability of a case are in dispute, a report may be filed as "Claimed but not Admitted". An accident/incident reported under this provision must still be recorded on the appropriate form and be included as part of the report package for that month. A copy of all evidence relating to the event and a letter summarizing the reasons why it should be excluded from the file must be provided. FRA will examine all documentation. If the facts are sufficient to support the railroads position, the case will not be charged against the railroad; otherwise,, it will be added to the file. In either case, FRA will advise the railroad in writing of the agency's determination. If you need assistance in determining whether an incident should be reported, guidance may be obtained by contacting one of the field offices found in Appendix I. The fact that there were no witnesses to an accident/incident, or the refusal of the railroad to accept responsibility for an event, are not grounds for failing to report. A report must be made whenever there is information that a reportable situation may have occurred. Later, if you determine that the event was not reportable, a request to delete it from FRA's files is to be made. D. Record Retention. The logs, supplementary records, and annual summaries described in Section 3, must be retained for at least 5 years following the calendar year to which they apply. A copy of all monthly accident/incident reports forwarded to FRA and employee, statements received by the railroad in connection with human factor caused train accidents must be retained for a least 2 years following the calendar year to which they apply. E. Public examination and use of reports. The Office of Safety, on a written request basis, will provide copies or generate computer printouts of reports on file. A fee may be charged to cover expenses. Requests are to be mailed to the address listed in section I 2 (A) . Note: Section 4 of the Accidents Reports Act (36 Stat. 351, 45 U.S.C. 41) stipulates that monthly reports filed by railroads under the accident/incident reporting requirement may not be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any action f o r ....... damages growing out of any matters mentioned in these monthly reports. 1-2 Accident/Incident Reporting F. Penalties. Any person (including a railroad and any manager, supervisor, official, or other employee or agent of a railroad) who violates any requirement of this part or causes the violation of any such requirement