CSX HAS LITTLE COMPANY IN CONTROLLING THERMOSTATS
[Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 11-17-03, from article in Richmond Times-Dispatch]
When it comes to setting workplace temperatures, CSX Corp. appears headed down a track all its own. Last week, The Times-Dispatch learned that the Florida-based railroad recently informed machinists at its local Acca Yard switching facility not to set thermostats in their shops and storerooms above 50 degrees.
A company memo obtained by the newspaper also included a ban on "supplementary heating," such as space heaters. A company spokesman explained that CSX - which has seen its operating costs rise this year - was seeking to set a uniform standard in its mechanical shops along the railroad's 23-state system.
The company cited standards set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. But the requirement has steamed some local employees, including one veteran machinist who called the 50-degree cap "just crazy." Workers are especially concerned about what the shops - which handle refueling and car repair - will feel like in the dead of winter. In the past, the machinists noted, they were allowed to use gas heaters to add a little warmth in the large shop at Acca Yard.
Norfolk Southern Corp., the other large Eastern railroad, said it doesn't set any kind of limit on heating its mechanical shops and does not ban space heaters. John Bromley, spokesman for Union Pacific Corp., the nation's largest railroad, said, "We don't have a thermostat policy in our mechanical facilities and have no plans to do so."
Amtrak also lacks such a policy. "But as a practical matter, shop thermostats are set no higher than 55 degrees Fahrenheit," said Cliff Black, media relations director. Black explained that shop doors are often open to admit deliveries and to move rail equipment in and out. "Attempting to keep shop temperatures above 55 in the winter is an excercise in both futility and huge fuel costs," he said. "Employees in these shops dress accordingly."
A random check with several area trucking companies found nothing like the CSX temperature controls. "There's no policy of any sort," said Patricia Garland, vice president of corporate communications for Estes Express Lines. "Basically, it's whatever is comfortable."
Overnite Transportation Co. also has no policy setting thermostat limits or prohibiting space heaters, a spokesman said.
Surely OSHA regulates workplace temperatures? Nope.
"There are no specifics for temperatures" in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, said Nancy Jakubec, director of cooperative programs for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry. However, she noted that OSHA may cite extreme temperatures if a workplace is investigated because the law requires a "safe and healthful workplace."
Word of the CSX workplace policy came at the same time as a major announcement of layoffs and cost-cutting measures. The third-largest U.S. railroad plans to lay off 800 to 1,000 management workers in coming months at a cost of $60-million to $80-million. The cuts would eliminate about 20 percent of CSX's 5,000 management employees, mostly at the Jacksonville, Fla., headquarters, company officials said.
[Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 11-17-03, from article in Richmond Times-Dispatch]