Do you do surveys for the railroad? If so, I'm trying to determine if you are being asked to comply with 49 CFR Part 219.
These are new rules in effect as of June 12, 2017. If you were asked to comply, did you determine that surveying in the right of way was a covered activity?
49 CFR Part 219 is fairly burdensome for firms whose staff don't work a large percentage of their time on the RR. It requires contractors doing "regulated work" to comply with the D&A regulations. This includes having -
- Random testing plan
- Drug and Alcohol Policy
- Federal pre-employment drug testing
- Mandatory manager training
??219.5 Definitions.
As used in this part only??
- Regulated employee means a covered employee or maintenance-of-way employee who performs regulated service for a railroad subject to the requirements of this part.
- Regulated service means covered service or maintenance-of-way activities, the performance of which makes an employee subject to the requirements of this part.
The sample MODEL PART 219 RAILROAD CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE PLAN provided by FRA has the language "In accordance with the applicable Federal regulations, this company prohibits persons who perform work regulated by the Federal Hours of Service Laws (see 49 U.S.C. ???? 21101-21108) and performing duties as Maintenance-of-Way (MOW) workers as described in the definition of ??Roadway Worker? in ?? 214.7"
??214.7 Definitions.
Roadway worker means any employee of a railroad, or of a contractor to a railroad, whose duties include inspection, construction, maintenance or repair of railroad track, bridges, roadway, signal and communication systems, electric traction systems, roadway facilities or roadway maintenance machinery on or near track or with the potential of fouling a track, and flagmen and watchmen/lookouts as defined in this section.
I read this as NOT including surveyors performing surveys - was that your finding?
I don't mind complying if the law applies to us... I just don't want to spend the time and money if it's not required by the FRA. Naturally, every RR wants to be sure that they are covered so they would tend to be more inclusive as far as who they believe is required to participate.
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience with this.
That should all be defined in the scope and requirements portion of your contract with the RR.
A Harris, post: 435442, member: 81 wrote: That should all be defined in the scope and requirements portion of your contract with the RR.
It's a term contract in existence long before the recent reg change.
I suspect that others on the board have recently received/will be receiving notice about the change.
I do a significant amount of work for various railroads. I just asked this question of one of the engineering VP and was informed that they are applying it to our work. With the exception of working as a lone worker and thus being my own lookout, I don't see were surveyor's fit the FRA definition of RWW. But given the answer I received I need to start setting it up. Since I'm a one person show, who do I give myself a random test once a quarter?
John - I asked our RR client about this as shown here:
[INDENT]Regarding 49 CFR Part 219.
I reviewed the contractor guidance document at https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0345 . This page includes the language ??For purposes of Part 219, FRA has designated its safety-sensitive employees to be those who perform service covered under the hours of service laws (covered service) and effective on June 12, 2017, Maintenance of Way employees as defined as "Roadway Worker in Part 214.7 will also be subject to Part 219 requirements.??
The code defines Roadway Worker as:
??214.7 Definitions.
Roadway worker means any employee of a railroad, or of a contractor to a railroad, whose duties include inspection, construction, maintenance or repair of railroad track, bridges, roadway, signal and communication systems, electric traction systems, roadway facilities or roadway maintenance machinery on or near track or with the potential of fouling a track, and flagmen and watchmen/lookouts as defined in this section.
The definition limits roadway workers to those specific individuals ??whose duties include inspection, construction, maintenance or repair of???.
Our firm provides surveying and mapping services. Much of the work is in the office and some of it is in the field. Field activities include crossing the tracks and, occasionally, measuring the position and/or elevation of the tracks and related facilities. We don??t do any inspecting, constructing, maintaining, or repairing.
Additionally, we have not done, and don??t anticipate doing, construction staking (which may, or may not, be considered to be construction).
If I??m reading this right, it doesn??t look to me like we are subject to 49 CFR Part 219 as Roadway Workers.
It??s my understanding that the hours of service laws apply to ??train employees, dispatching service employees, and signal employees?. If that is correct, we wouldn??t be subject to 49 CFR Part 219 as those who perform service covered under the hours of service laws.[/INDENT]
The RR responded that upon review the RR believes that we don't fall under the rule.
Sorry to hear that you are going to have to go through the process - it looks like a time suck. Good luck managing yourself - be sure not to tip yourself off that you are going to be performing random drug testing.
Our RR says anyone working within fouling distance counts.
So, anyone being trained to get a rail worker safety card, as required by FRA, is subject to testing.
A client recently sent out what they called "contract agreement" to all the companies that do services for them.
They hire from many trades and professions to keep their corporation running and surveyors supply only a small portion of their needs.
Among their list was a requirement to have 3mil liability coverage plus some other costly items as compared to the amount of invoice I send them yearly.
Had to call their headquarters and discuss the situation with the person behind this list.
It took a month or so for it to sink into their corporate protection wall mindset that my liability was going to have to reach the millions before I would need that amount of insurance and unless they were intending upon sending that amount of surveying my way, it was not gonna happen.
We continue to have a good working relationship and I do not carry 3mil liability coverage to make reverse mortgage surveys for them.
On the other hand, when I take on a contract with certain corporations and companies and step foot on their turf, I must adhere to their policies and walk in the same shoes as they walk in.
They also pay accordingly and that is above the scale to make reverse mortgage surveys.
