breezinup posted:Rich Melvin posted:Jimmy T posted:Just curious but passing orders this way seems lie a disaster in the making. Any stories of people losing fingers, hands or worse.
I knew that someone would eventually chime in with the, “Oh my God! That’s not safe!” mantra. This IS railroading. It is how it’s done. It was done this way for over 150 years.
We are becoming a society of wusses.
Well, there's no question that much of railroad-related activity is not done the same way as it was in past years. Railroads were at one time notoriously dangerous places to work. Institutionalization of safety, and investment in better training and equipment by railroads over the years, have made a large difference in worker safety. Safety has become of paramount importance and concern, and rightly so, not only in the operation of railroads, but most aspects of everyday life.
It now is realized that accidents result in a cost to society that is unacceptable, and raising concerns about safety is obviously an integral part of the effort to combat the occurrence of accidents. Thought about this has radically changed over the past 150 years.
So, for example, why are there laws that make us wear seatbelts? Well, if only wusses wear seatbelts, I guess I is one!
Agreed. Footboards were outlawed on locomotive pilots because slipping off meant getting run over. Ladders and roof walks were eliminated for the same reason. Push-poles were outlawed for safety. Even the introduction of the knuckle-coupler was mostly a safety initiative. Lots of people lost fingers and hands holding the link in position for link&pin couplers to come together. The conversion of all passenger cars to steam heat, electric lighting and steel bodies was mostly for safety (fire). Most railroad work rules are and have been safety related. Safety improvement is and has been woven into the evolution of railroading from the beginning.
I am assuredly a wuss. Dad and I installed seat belts in our then-new 1957 Plymouth because his employer (Alcoa) had just installed them in all company cars after studies showed they saved lives. I'm so wussy I've never-ever driven a car without the seat belts/shoulder harness buckled.
