Two UTU members have died in separate on-duty rail accidents over the Labor Day period in Mobile, Ala., and near the southern New Jersey town of Paulsboro, a suburb of Philadelphia.

These two on-duty fatalities bring rail-employee on-duty fatalities for 2010 to 13, which is three more than the 10 reported on-duty fatalities for all of 2009; and bring UTU-member on-duty rail fatalities to eight for 2010, which is equal the 12-month total in 2009.

In Mobile, conductor Josh Roper, 27, died in an accident Saturday, Sept. 4, at Mcduffie Coal Terminal while working a conventional switching job with Alabama State Docks Terminal Railroad. He had been furloughed by CSX before hiring on with the state-owned railroad. Roper was member of UTU Local 598. He is survived by his wife, Cassie, and two-year-old daughter.

The Mobile Press-Register newspaper reported that there were no witnesses to the accident. The newspaper reported that when "co-workers found [Roper], they said it appeared he had been struck by a railcar." The accident is being investigated by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Near Paulsboro, N.J., a Conrail Shared Assets conductor and member of UTU Local 1390 died Thursday, Sept. 2, during what FRA investigators report was a two-man conventional switching move into an industrial facility. The FRA said the move was observed by a surveillance camera "seconds before impact." The name of the deceased, reportedly 57 years old, has not been released.

A third on-duty rail fatality occurred Wednesday, Sept. 1, near Minneapolis, when a BNSF maintenance worker -- not a UTU member -- was struck by a Northstar commuter train.

The UTU participates in the Switching Operations Fatalities Analysis(SOFA) working group, a coordinated effort with the FRA, carriers and labor organizations to develop safe practices that reduce fatalities and career ending injuries in yard switching operations.

To learn more about SOFA safe practices, go to www.utu.org and click on the "Transportation Safety Link" in the blue tile box on the left.

That link also provides information on UTU Transportation Safety Team, which assists the National Transportation Safety Board in accident investigation; and the UTU Rail Safety Task Force, which works with general chairpersons, state legislative directors, local officers and members to develop safe practices and techniques to improve -- and keep at its highest level -- situational awareness in yard and road operations.