By Treven Pyles on January 28th, 2026 in FELA
The railroad industry is inherently hazardous due to heavy trains, industrial equipment, and complex yard operations. Federal safety reporting shows that crushing injuries, where a worker's body is compressed by heavy objects, are a recognized category of injury in railroad incident data.
Older railroad safety reports showed that crushing injuries accounted for around 1.0% to 1.4% of reportable injuries, reflecting incidents where workers were pinned or caught by machinery or rolling stock.
Although these historical reports don't break out modern FELA-qualifying injuries, they show that crush hazards exist and that workers are regularly exposed to scenarios where crushing trauma can occur. When these injuries happen due to employer negligence, railroad workers can pursue compensation under the Federal Employers' Liability Act.
Legal sources describe railroad crush injuries as trauma from intense pressure that compresses the body, typically happening suddenly with devastating results. The forces involved in railroad work are huge. A single loaded railcar can weigh more than 100 tons, and even empty ones weigh tens of thousands of pounds. When this weight pins or crushes a worker's body, the consequences are catastrophic.
Common causes include getting pinned between railcars during switching or coupling, being caught in moving equipment like tie wagons or brake rigs, getting trapped by shifting loads or rolling stock in yards, and unexpected movements of railcars or machinery. These incidents frequently lead to fractures, nerve damage, chest compression injuries, limb loss, internal bleeding, and other severe outcomes.
Railroad workers are exposed to crush hazards because they routinely work between or around heavy railcars, perform switching and spotting operations where cars move unexpectedly, operate or maintain yard machinery or rolling stock, and work in congested yards with limited space and visibility.
Railroad workers, including carmen, yard crews, brakemen, and track maintenance, regularly work within striking distance of moving equipment. Improperly shifting equipment can catch and crush them. Coupling is inherently dangerous because it requires standing between cars. Tight switching areas become death traps when cars roll or when crews misunderstand each other.
Track maintenance work exposes workers to risk when railcars move without proper warnings or safeguards. Equipment problems like brake failures or broken couplers can cause cars to move unexpectedly, catching workers by surprise. Limited visibility in rail yards during night shifts or harsh weather makes spotting and avoiding moving equipment much harder.
Crush injuries in the railroad context can vary in severity but often include crushing fractures of bones, crushed hands, feet, or limbs, severe soft-tissue damage, internal organ injury, nerve damage or permanent disability, and amputations or loss of limb function.
Getting compressed in the chest can cause broken ribs, punctured lungs, and heart trauma. When railcars trap someone's torso, the pressure damages internal organs and can cause dangerous bleeding. Crushed limbs may need amputation even if they're still attached, since severe tissue and nerve destruction make them non-functional.
Such injuries often demand emergency surgery, prolonged rehab, and lifetime care. Severely injured workers may face several operations to fix damage, extended ICU hospitalizations, permanent disability ending their ability to work on railroads, chronic pain needing continuous care, and psychological trauma from the accident and what it brings.
FELA obligates railroads to provide a reasonably safe work environment and follow safety standards, including safe switching practices, proper communication, adequate safeguards, and reliable equipment. If these duties are violated and contribute to a crush injury, the worker can pursue a FELA claim.
Unlike workers' compensation, FELA demands proof that employer negligence contributed to the injury to any extent, allowing recovery even with comparative fault. This means railroads can be liable for crush injuries when they fail to maintain equipment properly, don't provide adequate switching and coupling training, let defective brakes or couplers remain in service, fail to establish clear yard communication protocols, or create unsafe conditions through understaffing or rushed operations.
Building a FELA crush injury claim requires injured workers and counsel to collect accident reports, scene and equipment photographs, witness or coworker statements, medical records showing the injury and lasting impacts, and training and safety documents revealing procedure or safeguard gaps.
Proving employer negligence centers on establishing how equipment failure, unsafe practices, or poor training contributed to the event. Expert testimony from safety and medical professionals often helps show both the accident's cause and the full extent of damages the worker will endure over their lifetime.
Crush injuries are among the most serious workplace accidents railroad employees face, and they often happen because railroads cut corners on safety or fail to enforce proper procedures. If railcars, equipment, or machinery pinned, caught, or crushed you while working for a railroad, you may qualify for full compensation under FELA. Get in touch with ELG Law to discuss your case with a railroad injury attorney.