Why wind socks at switch yards?

[fuzzybroken]

Canadian Pacific has (had?) some nice bright-orange windsocks at its yards in Milwaukee and Sturtevant (and probably others) that say "S O F A" -- some sort of safety slogan, but I don't remember what it stands for exactly.

-Mark
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken

[cypriano]

About those wind socks in Milwaukee with S O F A on them......they're not so strange because before I was married, I had a sofa with W I N D S O C K on it.

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cypriano

About those wind socks in Milwaukee with S O F A on them......they're not so strange because before I was married, I had a sofa with W I N D S O C K on it.

LOL

The other day I had my wife sitting on my lap for a short trip (outside this country so it was legal, but not to be tried at home kiddies) .......anyway..........

I told her it must be true that she was an old airbag after all. [:D]

[edblysard]

Hi Mark,
S.O.F.A. is Switching Operations Fatality Analysis, a joint study group made up of members from the UTU, BLE, FRA, AAR and the carriers, trying to find out why, since 1992, 125 yard switchmen have been killed.
The statistics for march.
Since 1992, in the month of march, 8 switchmen were killed, average age 41, average years of service, 15.
Longest service, 21 years, youngest, 4 months.
All killed switching in yard service.
Three struck by moving equipment on another train, three struck by their own train, two struck by objects too close to the track.
Six were walking, two riding on the sides or cars.
Four of them were killed in daylight hours, four in darkness.
Both men killed while riding the cars happened in daylight.

What this tells us is that experienced men are getting killed violating simple operational safety rules, walking in the dead zone, with their backs to moving equipment, and riding on cars without looking at the adjacent track for high wide loads.
Both men killed riding cars were at the upper edge of the stats, meaning they had done this for over 15 years, and were aware of the possibility of finding shifted, or high wide loads on adjacent tracks.

The SOFA recomondation for march is that, at job breifings, the safety rules for the RED ZONE,(dead zone) and the rules about riding cars be discussed and reinforced.
SOFA's stated purpose is to find and identify operational praticies and actions that lead to fatal accidents, and to make recommondations as to how we can change or modify the manner in which we work to minimize these actions.
This is the group that came up with the RED ZONE, or three point protection when switchmen are inbetween cars still coupled to locomotives.
Carrier particapation in the SOFA program is voluntary.

Ed

QUOTE: Originally posted by fuzzybroken

Canadian Pacific has (had?) some nice bright-orange windsocks at its yards in Milwaukee and Sturtevant (and probably others) that say "S O F A" -- some sort of safety slogan, but I don't remember what it stands for exactly.

-Mark
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken