Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1150473 - Ohio Power Co Mitchell Plant

Inspection Information - Office: Charleston Area Office

Investigation Summary

A brakeman and a train engineer were moving coal cars to a thawing facility at an electric power generation plant. The train consisted of eighteen fully loaded coal cars plus a locomotive. The usual procedure was to move all eighteen cars north on the middle of three tracks until the front twelve cars were beyond a track switch, unhook the rear six cars, then move the front twelve cars into the thawing facility. The brakeman was supposed to board the moving train at the rear of the twelfth car, and then radio the engineer to halt the train at the point where the twelfth car had reached the track switch. The brakeman fell beneath the train at the rear of the twelfth car and was dragged a distance of about 78 as cars thirteen through eighteen ran over him. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The train was traveling about 5 to 7 kilometers per hour at the time of the accident. The temperature was about 1 degree Celsius under partly sunny skies. There was a ground cover of thawing snow and ice. The accident took place in the power plant coal yard.

Keywords: SLIP, BRAKEMAN, ELEC UTILITY WORK, FALL, RUN OVER, TRAIN, RAILROAD