Collapse to view only § 243.3 - Application and responsibility for compliance.
- § 243.1 - Purpose and scope.
- § 243.3 - Application and responsibility for compliance.
- § 243.5 - Definitions.
- § 243.7 - Penalties and consequences for noncompliance.
§ 243.1 - Purpose and scope.
(a) The purpose of this part is to ensure that any person employed by a railroad or a contractor of a railroad as a safety-related railroad employee is trained and qualified to comply with any relevant Federal railroad safety laws, regulations, and orders, as well as any relevant railroad rules and procedures promulgated to implement those Federal railroad safety laws, regulations, and orders.
(b) This part contains the general minimum training and qualification requirements for each category and subcategory of safety-related railroad employee, regardless of whether the employee is employed by a railroad or a contractor of a railroad. Contractors shall coordinate with railroads and comply with the contents of this part, including those aspects of training that are specific to the contracting railroad's rules and procedures.
(c) The requirements in this part do not exempt any other requirement in this chapter.
(d) Unless otherwise noted, this part augments other training and qualification requirements contained in this chapter.
(e) The requirements in this part do not address hazardous materials training of “hazmat employees” as defined in 49 CFR 171.8 as such training is required pursuant to 49 CFR part 172, subpart H.
§ 243.3 - Application and responsibility for compliance.
(a) This part applies to all railroads, contractors of railroads, and training organizations or learning institutions that train safety-related railroad employees except:
(1) Railroads or contractors of railroads that operate only on track inside an installation that is not part of the general railroad system of transportation (i.e., plant railroads, as defined in § 243.5);
(2) Tourist, scenic, historic, or excursion operations that are not part of the general railroad system of transportation as defined in § 243.5; or
(3) Rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of transportation.
(b) Although the duties imposed by this part are generally stated in terms of the duty of a railroad, each person, including a contractor for a railroad, who performs any duty covered by this part, shall perform that duty in accordance with this part.
§ 243.5 - Definitions.
As used in this part—
Administrator means the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration or the Administrator's delegate.
Associate Administrator means the Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer of the Federal Railroad Administration or that person's delegate as designated in writing.
Calendar year means the period of time beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31 of each year.
Contractor means a person under contract with a railroad, including, but not limited to, a prime contractor or a subcontractor.
Designated instructor means a person designated as such by an employer, training organization, or learning institution, who has demonstrated, pursuant to the training program submitted by the employer, training organization, or learning institution, an adequate knowledge of the subject matter under instruction and, where applicable, has the necessary experience to effectively provide formal training of the subject matter.
Employer means a railroad or a contractor of a railroad that employs at least one safety-related railroad employee.
Formal training means training that has a structured and defined curriculum, and which provides an opportunity for training participants to have questions timely answered during the training or at a later date. In the context of this part, formal training may include, but is not limited to, classroom, computer-based, correspondence, on-the-job, simulator, or laboratory training.
Knowledge-based training is a type of formal training that is not task-based and is intended to convey information required for a safety-related railroad employee to comply with Federal railroad safety laws, regulations, and orders, as well as any relevant railroad rules and procedures promulgated to implement those Federal railroad safety laws, regulations, and orders.
On-the-job training (OJT) means job training that occurs in the workplace, i.e., the employee learns the job while doing the job.
Person means an entity of any type covered under 1 U.S.C. 1, including, but not limited to, the following: A railroad; a manager, supervisor, official, or other employee or agent of a railroad; any owner, manufacturer, lessor, or lessee of railroad equipment, track, or facilities; any independent contractor providing goods or services to a railroad; and any employee of such owner, manufacturer, lessor, lessee, or independent contractor.
Plant railroad means a plant or installation that owns or leases a locomotive, uses that locomotive to switch cars throughout the plant or installation, and is moving goods solely for use in the facility's own industrial processes. The plant or installation could include track immediately adjacent to the plant or installation if the plant railroad leases the track from the general system railroad and the lease provides for (and actual practice entails) the exclusive use of that trackage by the plant railroad and the general system railroad for purposes of moving only cars shipped to or from the plant. A plant or installation that operates a locomotive to switch or move cars for other entities, even if solely within the confines of the plant or installation, rather than for its own purposes or industrial processes, will not be considered a plant railroad because the performance of such activity makes the operation part of the general railroad system of transportation.
Qualified means that a person has successfully completed all instruction, training, and examination programs required by both the employer and this part, and that the person, therefore, may reasonably be expected to proficiently perform his or her duties in compliance with all Federal railroad safety laws, regulations, and orders.
Refresher training means periodic retraining required by an employer for each safety-related railroad employee to remain qualified.
Safety-related duty means either a safety-related task or a knowledge-based prohibition that a person meeting the definition of a safety-related railroad employee is required to comply with, when such duty is covered by any Federal railroad safety law, regulation, or order.
Safety-related railroad employee means an individual who is engaged or compensated by an employer to:
(1) Perform work covered under the hours of service laws found at 49 U.S.C. 21101, et seq.;
(2) Perform work as an operating railroad employee who is not subject to the hours of service laws found at 49 U.S.C. 21101, et seq.;
(3) In the application of parts 213 and 214 of this chapter, inspect, install, repair, or maintain track, roadbed, and signal and communication systems, including a roadway worker or railroad bridge worker as defined in § 214.7 of this chapter;
(4) Inspect, repair, or maintain locomotives, passenger cars or freight cars;
(5) Inspect, repair, or maintain other railroad on-track equipment when such equipment is in a service that constitutes a train movement under part 232 of this chapter;
(6) Determine that an on-track roadway maintenance machine or hi-rail vehicle may be used in accordance with part 214, subpart D of this chapter, without repair of a non-complying condition;
(7) Directly instruct, mentor, inspect, or test, as a primary duty, any person while that other person is engaged in a safety-related task; or
(8) Directly supervise the performance of safety-related duties in connection with periodic oversight in accordance with § 243.205.
Safety-related task means a task that a person meeting the definition of a safety-related railroad employee performs, when such task is covered by any Federal railroad safety law, regulation, or order.
Task-based training means a type of formal training with a primary focus on teaching the skills necessary to perform specific tasks that require some degree of neuromuscular coordination.
Tourist, scenic, historic, or excursion operations that are not part of the general railroad system of transportation means a tourist, scenic, historic, or excursion operation conducted only on track used exclusively for that purpose (i.e., there is no freight, intercity passenger, or commuter passenger railroad operation on the track).
§ 243.7 - Penalties and consequences for noncompliance.
(a) A person who violates any requirement of this part, or causes the violation of any such requirement, is subject to a civil penalty of at least $1,086 and not more than $35,516 per violation, except that: Penalties may be assessed against individuals only for willful violations, and, where a grossly negligent violation or a pattern of repeated violations has created an imminent hazard of death or injury to persons, or has caused death or injury, a penalty not to exceed $142,063 per violation may be assessed. Each day a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. See FRA's website at www.fra.dot.gov for a statement of agency civil penalty policy.
(b) A person who violates any requirement of this part or causes the violation of any such requirement may be subject to disqualification from all safety-sensitive service in accordance with part 209 of this chapter.
(c) A person who knowingly and willfully falsifies a record or report required by this part may be subject to criminal penalties under 49 U.S.C. 21311.