Norfolk Southern files objection to OSHA decision

By Robert McCabe
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 9, 2011

NORFOLK

Norfolk Southern Corp. has filed objections to a decision last month by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that found the railroad violated the whistle-blower provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act by firing an employee who reported an on-the-job injury in 2009.

OSHA ordered Norfolk Southern to pay more than $122,000 in damages to the former employee, who was injured on May 13, 2009, in Jamestown, N.C., while pulling a spike from a rail line. The worker, who feared being fired, didn't report the injury until a re-injury occurred in October, according to OSHA. He later was fired for allegedly falsifying the injury.

Norfolk Southern filed objections with the chief administrative law judge at the U.S. Labor Department. An administrative law judge will conduct a fresh proceeding, examining OSHA's findings that the railroad retaliated against the employee for reporting a workplace injury, according to the company.

"Norfolk Southern takes very seriously its legal and ethical obligations for accurate injury reporting and fair treatment of employees," the company said in a statement.

In May, the railroad took the gold medal for the 22nd year in a row in the E.H. Harriman Memorial Awards for the best employee-safety record in 2010 among the largest U.S. railroads.

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Pressured Employees ----

Submitted by bobertbobert on Fri, 09/09/2011 at 10:28 am.

They fear rash and punitive supervisors who have authority to coerce and harass beyond enforcing fair job and workplace rules. Like absorbing a small vehicle damage cost, the lowly paid person has much to loose in pay if his job security vanishes. Managers and Supervisors are too, pressured to please demanding company officers and in the one area that Reagan's Trickle-Down Theory applies accurately, the person on the bottom catches it from above.