Since the 1930s, major railroad companies across the United States have periodically come under scrutiny for the toxic hazards found in and around storage facilities, rail yards, and the other buildings railroads rely on. The problem is that railroad workers are often unaware of the diseases and dangers they face while doing their jobs. A hazard that causes no immediate symptoms can quietly do its damage over decades. A FELA attorney can help a worker who develops a serious illness understand whether the railroad is legally responsible.
Our firm has represented injured and ill railroad workers for decades, and this work is part of our foundation. The firm was started by a former Norfolk & Western railroad worker who was hurt on the job, then went to law school to represent other railroaders. If you worked for the railroad in any capacity and later developed a chronic illness, understanding these hazards is an important first step.
Why Heavy Industry Left Workers Exposed
Heavy industries like shipbuilding, mining, and railroading were built in an era when worker protection took a back seat to production. Many of these workplaces were, or still are, contaminated with one or more chemicals now known to cause cancer. What makes it worse is that many railroad companies took little meaningful action to protect workers from dangers proven to cause serious harm. Much of that suffering was preventable.
The illnesses these exposures cause tend to share a cruel feature: they develop slowly. A worker can spend a full career breathing a carcinogen and feel fine, only to receive a devastating diagnosis years after retirement. Below are some of the most significant hazards railroaders have faced.
Diesel Exhaust and Lung Cancer
One of the leading illnesses affecting railroad workers is lung cancer caused by inhaling diesel exhaust. A 2004 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, titled Lung Cancer in Railroad Workers Exposed to Diesel Exhaust, followed nearly 55,000 American railroad workers over several decades and found that the risk of dying from lung cancer rose with increasing years of exposure to diesel exhaust.
The science has only grown stronger since. In 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified diesel engine exhaust as a Group 1 carcinogen, its highest category, meaning there is sufficient evidence that it causes cancer in humans. Older rail yard locomotives, frequently operated with cab windows open, exposed generations of engineers and conductors to exactly this hazard.
Silica
Silica is another serious concern. According to research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, railroad track maintenance workers were vulnerable to health hazards from routine exposure to crystalline silica. Silica is a mineral found in the earth’s crust and a component of the clay and gravel products used as railway tie ballast. When ballast is disturbed, the resulting dust can be inhaled. The health hazards linked to silica exposure include lung cancer, silicosis, kidney disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Asbestos
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral and a known carcinogen once found throughout the railroad environment. It was heavily used in train gaskets, brake shoes, gears, clutch plates, and seals. When workers maintained or replaced those parts, asbestos fibers became airborne, and even short-term exposure can allow the fibers to lodge in the lungs. Decades later, that exposure can produce mesothelioma, a fatal cancer of the lining of the lungs that is associated almost exclusively with asbestos.
Creosote
Creosote exposure occurs when wooden railroad ties are replaced during routine maintenance. Creosote, a chemical produced by distilling tar, is used to preserve those wooden ties. Direct skin contact can cause serious burns, and inhaling it can lead to significant respiratory, liver, and kidney problems.
Benzene
Railroad workers can be exposed to benzene in several ways, most commonly by breathing diesel fuel fumes, since benzene is a component of the fuel. Benzene is another known carcinogen, used in the production of lubricants, plastics, pharmaceuticals, rubber products, and pesticides. Chronic benzene exposure is well established as a cause of blood cancers, including certain leukemias.
Glyphosate
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, has been used for track vegetation management since the late 1970s and sprayed over hundreds of thousands of miles of railroad track. In 2015, IARC classified glyphosate as a Group 2A “probable carcinogen,” noting an observed association with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The chemical is now at the center of sprawling nationwide litigation. Thousands of cases remain pending in federal court, several juries have returned large verdicts, and the manufacturer has proposed multibillion-dollar settlements to resolve claims, all while continuing to assert that glyphosate is safe. For a railroad worker who sprayed or worked around this herbicide for years and later developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the exposure history can be significant.
What FELA Means for a Sick Railroad Worker
Railroad worker illness claims are governed by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, or FELA, a federal law that differs significantly from state workers’ compensation. FELA is fault-based. It allows a worker, or the family of a worker who has died, to recover full damages when the railroad’s negligence played any part in causing the illness. A FELA attorney builds the case around that standard, which is more favorable to workers than the ordinary negligence rule, but it still requires proof.
Occupational disease claims in particular demand careful work. A worker generally must establish that the illness is the kind toxic exposure can cause, that the exposure actually occurred on the job, that the railroad knew or should have known of the danger, and that the exposure contributed to the disease. Meeting that burden takes industrial hygienists who can reconstruct workplace conditions, medical professionals who can connect the exposure to the diagnosis, and an understanding of what railroads knew about these hazards and when. There is also a deadline: FELA generally gives a worker three years to file, and for an occupational illness the clock typically starts when the worker learns, or should have learned, that the disease is work-related.
Despite billions in profits and hundreds of thousands of employees, many railroad companies fell short of even basic preventive measures. Our attorneys bring more than 100 years of combined legal experience to holding them accountable. That experience has produced significant results in toxic exposure cases, including an $11 million award for the estate of a CSX switchman who died of lung cancer after roughly 40 years of on-the-job toxic exposure, a case we fought through multiple appeals. Results depend on the specific facts of each case, but outcomes like that reflect the effort these claims require.
Diagnosed With Cancer After Railroad Work? Contact Us Today
If you worked for the railroad in any capacity and have been diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness, a FELA attorney at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp is prepared to take action against the railroad for endangering its most valuable asset, its workers. Contact us at 833-997-1774 for a free consultation. We have offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, and we are ready to put our railroad injury experience to work for you and your family.