TBI in the railroad industry: FELA eligibility

In workplace settings, TBIs are a significant occupational hazard. Work-related TBIs account for approximately 20% to 25% of all work-related trauma, according to U.S. government safety research. Across U.S. industries, nearly 7,300 occupational TBI deaths occurred between 2003 and 2008, averaging about 0.8 fatal TBIs per 100,000 workers per year. Transportation and related sectors, which include railroad occupations, are among the industries where TBI fatalities are more frequent.

Railroad workers face TBI risk

The railroad industry involves heavy equipment, moving railcars, yard operations, and vehicle-train interactions. Workers are at risk of head trauma from collisions, falls, derailments, or being struck by objects. Although specific peer-reviewed national statistics isolating railroad worker TBIs are limited, railroad occupational injury reporting shows thousands of reported nonfatal injuries annually in the U.S. railroad industry, and many of these injuries involve head trauma from accidents and collisions.

TBI is recognized as a common injury type for railroad workers, alongside fractures, amputations, and crush injuries, in safety and injury compilations that list traumatic brain injury among typical railroad injuries eligible for FELA consideration. The classic occupational brain injury case in medical and legal literature, Phineas Gage, a railroad foreman whose skull was penetrated by a tamping iron, illustrates the historical linkage between railroad work and traumatic brain injury.

Railroad workers suffer TBIs from several common scenarios:

• Falls off locomotives, railcars, or platforms onto hard surfaces or tracks
• Derailments that throw workers against equipment or trap them under wreckage
• Being struck by moving railcars, equipment, or falling objects
• Equipment malfunctions during maintenance work that cause tools or machinery to strike workers on the head
• Collisions between trains or between trains and vehicles at grade crossings

FELA eligibility for TBI claims

Railroad workers who suffer TBIs can seek compensation under the Federal Employers' Liability Act when employer negligence played a role in their injuries. FELA TBI claims must meet three basic requirements.

The injury must occur in the course of employment. A railroad worker must show that the TBI occurred while performing job duties or otherwise during the employment relationship. FELA broadly covers on-the-job injuries sustained in the railroad industry.

Employer negligence must have contributed to the injury. FELA differs from workers' compensation by requiring proof that the railroad's negligence, even in a small part, played a role. This might include:

• Unsafe working conditions
• Defective equipment
• Insufficient training
• Failure to enforce safety protocols
• Other lapses that increased the risk of a head injury

How a TBI gets classified isn't important. Brain injuries from collisions, derailments, falls, being hit by something, or machinery accidents can all qualify for compensation if negligence was involved. Railroad claims documents specifically recognize traumatic brain injury as a FELA-covered injury.

Even concussions or mild TBIs with persistent symptoms like cognitive impairment or emotional changes can impact employment ability and quality of life long-term. If employer negligence played a part, these injuries can form the basis for pursuing damages.

Long-term impact of TBI on railroad workers

Symptoms from TBIs can happen immediately or emerge later, and how people recover varies significantly. Some individuals deal with:

• Memory and concentration difficulties
• Mood changes or emotional dysregulation
• Slowed processing speed
• Persistent headaches
• Long-term disability that prevents return to pre-injury duties

Because TBIs can be invisible but disabling, comprehensive medical documentation and expert testimony are often necessary to demonstrate both the injury and its connection to the workplace incident in a FELA claim. Workers may seem fine physically while struggling with mental deficits that prevent them from safely running equipment, understanding complex procedures, or maintaining the focus railroad work demands.

The financial toll of TBI goes way beyond what hospitals charge. Workers who can't do their railroad jobs anymore might face costs for learning new skills, earn less in different careers, or become unable to work at all. Families often become caregivers for workers whose personality transformations or mental impairments alter how the family operates.

Building a FELA claim for TBI

Supporting a FELA claim involving traumatic brain injury means gathering documentation of the accident and injury, including incident reports, witness statements, and photographs. Medical proof of the TBI and its impact on cognitive abilities, memory, and daily life needs to come from doctors and neurological experts who treated the worker.

Proving negligence means providing evidence of unsafe conditions, training failures, equipment defects, or other factors that contributed to how the head injury happened. Records could show that railroads:

• Failed to provide adequate fall protection
• Allowed defective equipment to remain in service
• Rushed workers through procedures without proper safety protocols
• Failed to enforce rules that would have prevented the accident

Because FELA lets injured workers recover if employer negligence was any part of what caused the injury, showing evidence of unsafe conditions connected to head trauma can prove liability even if other factors also contributed to the accident.

Discuss your TBI case with ELG Law

Brain injuries change lives in ways that are not always visible to others. ELG Law has helped injured workers for over 35 years build strong cases that account for both current symptoms and future complications. If you suffered a head injury working for a railroad, call us for a free consultation about your FELA claim.