AREMA NEWS Message from the President
Happy New Year!
David A. Becker, PE AREMA President 2016–2017
www.rtands.com
Happy New Year! I imagine many of you, like me, have found it hard to believe another year is already well underway. It seems like it was just a week ago that we were finally able to wrap up engineering projects and finish track or signal maintenance programs begun in early 2016. Once again, the cycle of planning and implementation in line with a seasonal calendar that so many AREMA members have involvement with has begun anew. In many organizations, January is a month where time is set aside to renew the focus on safety. The safety of our industry’s workforce and its rail operations never takes a moment off and the new year provides the perfect opportunity to recommit to the fundamentals of safety and take a fresh look at the procedures in place. Each year, new eyes and ears join the ranks of our industry. As part of our safety planning, it is important to stop and consider these new eyes and ears. These newcomers, while not as seasoned in all aspects of the work, may bring fresh views to many long-standing railroad engineering and maintenance processes. A worthwhile question is: “Am I properly training new workers and fully explaining the risk environment that they must manage as they perform their work?” One unintended (but positive) consequence of the industry’s long track record of safety improvement is that accidents are less frequent. Unfortunately (but thankfully), this also means resultant learning opportunities have reduced and the potential risk present in a task becomes more imperceptible for both super vision and the workforce. Soliciting their input and understanding how they view and interpret potential risks is an important planning step. The United States’ industry and its contractor support community will also need to begin planning in 2017 for the changes to the 49 CFR Part 243 Roadway Worker Protection rules that will be implemented in 2018. Members of AREMA’s Committee 40 - Engineering Safety are well positioned to help interpret these rule changes and bring awareness of the industry’s best practices in regards to the evolving roadway worker
safety landscape. Committee 24 – Education & Training is another valuable source of safetyrelated information via popular seminars that include; FRA 214: Roadway Worker On-Track Safety and Railroad Bridge Worker Safety (Fall Protection) Orientation for Shortlines, Contractors & Consultants. The new year is also a time to consider ways to incorporate new and emerging technologies relating to our work processes. Too often, the eagerness to get work started trumps serious consideration of potentially innovative options and we default to the tried and true methods. I am personally encouraging my engineering staff to seek out opportunities to integrate new products or innovative construction techniques into the projects we will be designing for implementation in 2017. Even if this effort only results in the creation of a test section to evaluate a product, it will still help move the needle of innovation forward. For those planning programs and projects for 2017, I would also encourage you to take time now to plan for the professional development needs of your team for the upcoming year. One of AREMA’s core missions is education and it is our desire to be a provider of first choice for both general railway education, as well as a go-to source for educational credits such as professional development hours, Practicing Institute of Engineering and the Florida Board of Professional Engineers for our Professional members. In 2017, AREMA will continue to present a variety of its core educational offerings, including the popular Bridge Inspection seminar and the Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering course. New content is also being developed. We are particularly excited about a new Bridge Repair course that will provide the ‘‘rest-of-thestory’’ for those who have attended the Bridge Inspection seminar. Now is also a great time to begin planning for your attendance at the AREMA 2017 Annual Conference that will be held in conjunction with Railway Interchange at the Indiana Convention Center, Sept. 17-20. Railway Interchange is held on
Railway Track & Structures
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