Labor & Industries (L&I), Washington State

Railroad Clearances and Walkways in Private Rail Yards and Plants

Chapter 296-860, WAC

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):

• 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.

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.

Table 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.

Table 2 - Minimum Side Clearance for Platforms

Illustration 2 - Minimum Side Clearances for Platforms

Table 3 - Minimum Side Clearances for Bridges, Tunnels and Related Structures

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.

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.*

.*Table 4 doesn't have an accompanying illustration.

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

Standard Gauge Track Clearances

WAC 296-860-20070

Move excessive height or width rail car loads with care.

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.