The handbook is “a key resource that helps our customers identify and correct potential safety issues before they happen,” CN reported on Sept. 8. It is part of the Class I railroad’s online “Safety Toolkit” for customers.
The September 2022 update (download below) covers fouling, which CN describes as “leaving equipment on a track too close to a switch, such that a movement on an adjacent track does not have sufficient clearance to pass safely. This includes personnel riding the side of a railcar.” The railroad noted it is “important to clearly identify this hazardous area to keep our teams and customers’ teams safe. Leaving railcars in the foul zone can lead to collisions, derailments, and, more critically, to injuries or death.”
The fouling point, CN explained, is the “point beyond which railcars must be placed to prevent their being struck by railcars running on an adjacent track from which the switch diverges.” The railroad said it “strongly recommends using bright green paint to create a clearance marker located xx meters / 16 feet or as far as reasonably possible beyond the fouling point.”
CN provided the following diagram to identify the fouling point and the foul zone, and the recommended guideline for painting a visual indicator of where railcars will be in the clear.
