On March 7, 2023, about 1:08 a.m. local time, a Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) conductor on NS train C75B106 was killed when the train collided with a dump truck as it entered a private highway-railroad grade crossing in the Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated steel plant in Cleveland, Ohio. The conductor was riding the lead railcar during a shoving movement when he was pinned between the railcar and the dump truck during the collision.
We determined that the probable cause of the March 7, 2023, Norfolk Southern Railway employee fatality was the crew not following Norfolk Southern Operating Rule 120 requiring a member of the crew to be on the ground at the private highway-railroad grade crossing to warn traffic. Contributing to the accident was the design of the intersection at the private highway-railroad grade crossing preventing adequate sight distance for the driver to be able to determine if it was safe to cross the tracks.
