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Your responsibility:
To prevent injuries and fatalities
to employees by maintaining safe railroad clearances and
walkways in your rail yards and plants.
You must
WAC 296-860-20010
Post warning signs and train employees
about clearances approved before April 3, 1961.
You must
(1) Post warning signs near tracks
with clearances approved before April 3, 1961, so employees
are aware of the minimal clearances and their potential
hazards. The signs must:
- Be highly visible
- Be easy to read
- Alert employees to the danger
of railway equipment operating on your yard and plant
tracks.
(2) Include in your employee safety
and health training information about:
- Any minimal clearances and their
location
- Potential hazards associated
with them
- The location of any clearance
warning signs.
WAC
296-860-20020
Construct and maintain rail yard
walkways for employee safety.
Important:
- You have 2 years from October 01, 2002,
(the effective date of this rule construction requirements
of this section), unless the department determines
during an inspection that your walkways create
a serious safety hazard.
- If you aren't sure a serious safety
hazard exists in your workplace, you can request a free
consultation from the department by calling your local
L&I office.
Construction of walkways
You must
- Build walkways in rail yard areas where
employees regularly work on the ground.
- Construct rail yard walkways that can
be maintained in a safe condition:
- - With reasonably smooth walking surfaces
- - That won't interfere with track
drainage.
- Use any of the following materials
when constructing your walkway:
- - Crushed material that doesn't exceed
1 1/2 inches in size. For this rule, "1 1/2 inches
in size" means one of the following (percentages
refer to weight measurement and sieve size standard
in the industry):
| Percentage
of material passing through a sieve opening |
Sieve
opening size |
| 100 |
1
½ inch square |
| 90
- 100 |
1
inch square |
| 40
- 80 |
3/4
inch square |
| 15
- 60 |
1/2
inch square |
| 0
- 30 |
3/8
inch square |
| 0
- 10 |
#4 |
| 0
- 5 |
#8 |
| 0
- 0.5 |
#200 |
|
Smaller crushed material is preferred and should
be used where drainage and durability isn't an issue.
Crushed material that is 3/4 inch or less in size
is recommended for switching leads in yards.
- Asphalt, concrete, planking, grating,
or other similar material.
- Natural materials such as gravel or
dirt.
You must
- Construct walkways wide enough for employees
to safely perform their duties
- Construct walkways with a grade or slope
in any direction with not more than one inch of elevation
for each 8 inches of horizontal length, unless it is geographically
impractical.
Maintenance of walkways
You must
- Keep all walkways clear of vegetation,
debris, mud, or other obstructions that create a potential
hazard for employees.
- Remove all standing water from all walkways
as soon as reasonably possible.
- Reopen walkways temporarily closed
for a construction project within thirty days after the
project is completed.
- Repair walkways that have been damaged
and temporarily closed because of an emergency
within 30 days after the emergency ends.
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Definition:
Emergency: Any unforeseen
occurrence endangering life, limb, or property.
- Obtain a department variance before
permanently removing any bridge or trestle walkway
from use after September 1, 2002 (the effective
date of this rule).
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WAC
296-860-20030
Install radiation detectors according
to manufacturer's specifications.
Important:
This section applies only to those
private yards and plants where the installation of radiation
detectors beside railroad tracks is required due
to the nature of the business; for example, scrap metal
yards.
You must
- Install radiation detectors beside
the railroad tracks in your yard and/or plant according
to the manufacturer's specifications.
- Post signs on each radiation detector
installed less than 8 feet 6 inches from the centerline
of the track:
- - Warning employees that the side
clearances between the detector and the track centerline
are less than the required standard minimum side clearances
found in this chapter
- - Prohibiting employees from riding
on the side of any rail car passing through the detector.
WAC
296-860-20040
Maintain overhead clearances.
 |
Exemption:
Engine houses and car shops are
exempt from the overhead clearance requirements of
this section. |
You must
- Make sure overhead railroad clearances
are at least 22 feet 6 inches unless a clearance requirement
found in Table 1 applies.
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|
Note:
Clearance requirements are based
on the assumption that generally used rail equipment
in private yards and plants is no more than ten feet
ten inches wide by fifteen feet six inches high.
- WAC
296-860-20070 regulates the use of any rail
equipment that exceeds the above dimensions.
- Minimum vertical clearances for
all overhead wires are specified in Parts 1, 2,
and 3 of the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC)
as referenced in WAC
296-45-045, electrical workers safety rules,
NESC applicable. See NESC 231 and 232.
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Table 1 - Minimum Overhead Clearances for Buildings, Structures,
Tunnels, and Bridges
| If
your overhead clearance involves: |
Then
the minimum overhead clearance requirements
are: |
| An
entirely enclosed building |
18 feet
when tracks end inside an entirely enclosed
building. Also:
- The department must approve
any reduction from 22 feet 6 inches before
the reduction takes place.
- If an overhead clearance
is less than 22 feet 6 inches, all cars, locomotives
or other equipment must come to a full stop
before entering the building.
- See Illustration 1.
|
| All
other structures |
Defined
by the half-circumference of a circle whose:
- Radius is 8 feet 6 inches
AND
- Center is located on a
line perpendicular to the track's centerline
and 14 feet above the top of the highest rail.
- See Illustration 1.
|
| Tunnels,
over-crossings, and bridges |
Defined
by the half-circumference of a circle whose:
- Radius is 8 feet
AND
- Center is located on a
line perpendicular to the track's centerline
and 14 feet 6 inches above the top of the
highest rail.
- See Illustration 1.
|
|
Illustration 1 - Minimum Overhead Clearances
for Buildings, Structures, Tunnels, and Bridges
WAC
296-860-20050
Maintain side clearances.
You must
- Make sure side clearances are at least
8 feet 6 inches from the track centerline unless clearance
requirements found in Tables 2, 3, or 4 apply.
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|
Note:
All side clearances in Tables
2, 3, and 4 that reference the track centerline are
based on the assumption that private rail operations
generally use track that is standard gauge width (4
feet 8 1/2 inches). |
Table 2 -
Minimum Side Clearance for Platforms
| If
Your Platform Type is: |
Then
the Minimum Clearance Requirements Between the
Track Centerline and a Platform Edge are: |
| Type
1 |
4
feet 8 inches |
| Platforms
with heights of 8 inches or less above the top
of the rail. |
See
Illustration 2. |
| Type
2 |
7
feet 3 inches |
| Platforms
with heights of 4 feet or less above the top
of the rail. |
See
Illustration 2. |
| Type
3 |
8
feet |
| Platforms
with heights of 4 feet 6 inches or less above
the top of the rail and the platforms are used
primarily for loading and/or unloading refrigerator
cars. |
See
Illustration 2. |
| Type
4 |
7
feet 3 inches |
| Icing
platforms and supports. |
See
Illustration 2. |
| Type
5 Retractable platforms attached to permanent
structures. |
When not
in use, use the clearance requirements for a
platform of its height. |
| Type
6 Platforms that are a combination of Types
1 through 3. (Only Types 1 through 3 platforms
can be combined.) |
Platforms
may be combined if the Type 1 platform has a
level surface no more than 4 feet 8 inches from
the track centerline to the face of the platform
wall with which it is combined. |
|
Illustration 2 - Minimum Side Clearances for
Platforms
Table 3
- Minimum Side Clearances for Bridges, Tunnels and Related
Structures
| If
your side clearance requirement involves: |
Then
the minimum side clearance requirements between
the track centerline and the bridge, tunnel
or related structure are: |
| Bridge and
tunnel sides - lower section |
8 feet |
| Bridge and
tunnel sides - upper section |
Defined
by the half-circumference of a circle whose:
- Radius is 8 feet
AND
- Center is located on a line
perpendicular to the track's centerline and
14 feet 6 inches above the top of the highest
rail.
- See Illustration 3.
|
| Related
structures on bridges and in tunnels - lower
section structures (or portions of them) that
are no more than 4 feet above the top of the
rail. For example:
- Refuge platforms on bridges and trestles.
- Water columns, oil columns, and block signals.
- Cattle chutes.
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Defined
by lines extending:
- 5 feet laterally from the
track centerline to a point level with the
top of the rail and then diagonally upward
to another point 4 feet above the top of the
rail
AND
- 8 feet laterally from the
track centerline to a point 4 feet above the
top of the rail.
- See Illustration 3A. The
shaded portion of the illustration designates
the area that must be free of refuge platforms,
water columns, oil columns, block signals
and cattle chutes.
|
| Hand rails
and water barrels |
7 feet 6
inches |
| Fences of
cattle guards |
6 feet 9
inches |
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Exemption:
- Except for handrail and water
barrel clearances, the clearance requirements in
Table 3 don't apply to bridge decks where railroad
employees couple or uncouple cars on a switching
lead unless the department approves them.
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Illustration 3 - Minimum Side Clearances for
Bridges, Tunnels, and Related Structures
Illustration 3A - Minimum Side
Clearances for Certain Structures in or on the Lower Sections
of Bridges and Tunnels
Table
4 - Other Minimum Side Clearance Requirements.*
| If
your side clearance requirement involves: |
Then
the minimum side clearance requirements from
the track centerline are: |
| Type
A
Engine house and car repair shop doors. |
7
feet 6 inches |
| Type
B
Interlocking mechanism, switch boxes,
and other similar devices projecting no more
than 4 feet above the top of the rail. |
3
feet |
| Type
C
Poles supporting trolley contact. |
8
feet 3 inches |
| Type
D
Signals and switch stands no more than 3 feet
high and located between tracks where it isn't
possible to allow other clearances required
in this chapter. |
6
feet |
| Type
E
Signals and switch stands other than those
described in Type B and Type D. |
8
feet |
| Type
F
Material, merchandise, inventory, storage
bins or equipment stacked or stored on ground
or platforms adjacent to tracks. |
8
feet 6 inches
Note:
This requirement doesn't
apply to:
- Railroad maintenance operations
- Emergency situations
- Local conditions that
make compliance impossible.
|
| Type
G
Space adjacent to curved track. |
Increased
to equal tangent track clearances. As a general
rule, side clearances on curved track should
be increased 1-1/2” for each degree
of curvature. |
|
.*Table 4 doesn't have an accompanying
illustration.
|
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Note:
- The department must approve all
minimum clearances for car pulling units and related
structures.
- The requirements for filing a
variance are located in the Safety and health core
rules, and chapter
296-900 WAC, Administrative rules.
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WAC
296-860-20060
Maintain clearances between tracks.
You must
- Comply with the track clearance
requirements in Table 5.
Table
5 - Minimum Standard Gauge Track Clearances
| If
your track clearance involves: |
Then
the minimum clearance requirements between centerlines
of standard gauge parallel tracks are: |
| Main or
passing tracks used for transporting cars, locomotives,
motors, or like equipment |
14
feet |
| Any tracks
adjacent to main or passing tracks |
15
feet |
| Team, house,
or industry tracks |
13
feet |
| Yard tracks |
14
feet |
| Ladder and
other tracks |
20
feet |
|
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Note:
The following illustration will help you understand
the track clearance requirements discussed in this
section and WAC
296-860-20080 regulating narrow gauge rail operations. |
Standard Gauge Track Clearances
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Note:
Existing tracks may be extended at clearances lawfully
prescribed prior to the effective date of this order.
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WAC
296-860-20070
Move excessive height or width rail
car loads with care.
|
|
Note:
This section regulates rail cars whose dimensions
exceed ten feet ten inches wide by 15 feet 6 inches
high. |
You must
- Make sure your yard supervisor is given
advanced notice regarding the arrival of any excess height
or width cars so they can safeguard any employees working
in the yard.
- Make sure no one is allowed to ride
on the:
- - Roof of any excessive height car
- - Side of any excessive width car
- - Side of any car with a load extending
more than 5 feet 5 inches from the car's centerline.
WAC
296-860-20080
Follow these requirements to conduct
narrow gauge rail operations.
You must
- Base your clearance measurements upon
your widest narrow gauge cars.
- Make sure the distance between the cars
and objects on narrow gauge track is equal to or greater
than the distance required between ten foot ten inch wide
cars and other cars or objects on standard gauge track.
- Comply with all other applicable requirements
in this chapter.
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