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NARR:
(underlying sound from Columbus Circle)
About an hour and twenty minutes after Boggs started his 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift last Tuesday, he was at Columbus Circle, "flagging" for a construction job. That means he was was putting up lights to let train drivers know track workers were in the area. About 11:20 p.m., he was hit and killed by a downtown number 3 train. New York City Transit turned off power to several stations. Police officers, paramedics and transit workers descended on Columbus Circle. A paramedic standing at a subway entrance had the unpleasant job of telling people looking for a train home that the power was OFF- they would have to make other plans.
ACT: (old man) Can you tell me where the subway entrance is?
ACT: (paramedic) There isn't any at the moment.
ACT: (old man) There isn't any?
ACT: (paramedic) No subway, catch a cab. Go have a coffee and come back. It isn't going to be that much longer, at least on one side anyway.
ACT: (old man) Is the whole line out?
ACT: (paramedic) Dude, the whole line is shut down, okay? I know, it's a
drag. (last line with sarcasm)
NARR: At the platform for the Uptown 1 train, a policeman blocked one end of the long platform. Behind a cluster of officials at that far end of the platform, a bright blue body bag held Daniel Bogg's remains...Subway service in New York is non-stop. It's 24-hours a day, seven days a week, minus some service interruptions for repairs, so track workers often spend time on active tracks. A 13-year transit veteran who didn't want to give his name said he and his colleagues are always aware of the dangers they face.
ACT: (worker) Well every day you go onto the track, yes, you do have to worry, but I mean, hopefully you follow the guidelines, the safety guidelines, and trust that everything goes well.
NARR: The worker said experience keeps him from worrying too much about the dangers of working on the tracks.
ACT: (worker) No, I'm not really scared. I mean, we train and then you have years of experience so you know what to do, but I don't know, things can happen.
NARR: The next fatal accident happened just five days later. Track worker Marvin Franklin was hit and killed by a Queens-bound G train at a station in downtown Brooklyn. A second track worker was also hit and seriously injured. High-ranking transit officials were traveling to Daniel Boggs's wake Sunday when they heard about the accident in Brooklyn...
After the two fatal accidents, New York City Transit stopped all non-emergency work on the subway...and some track workers pondered on the job safety.
Jose Iglasias monitors nighttime track work for the Transit Workers Union. He said track workers have to rely on their supervisors to keep them out of harm's way. Iglasias said supervisors have a direct link to the subway command center, which directs train drivers. But workers can only communicate through the supervisors. He said they have to rely on their supervisor to tell them if plans have changed and a train is on its way. Iglasias says there aren't any "instantaneous" communications on the track. He said some supervisors can be in touch with the command center through phones mounted in subway tunnels, but he says some phones don't work, and that when trains are going by, you can't hear the phone ring. Iglasias said safety can be compromised on the tracks when supervisors just want the job to get done.
ACT: Supervision is more worried about productivity than really our safety...we're the ones doing the work....we're the one moving back and forth from track to track getting material and everything else. It could be much safer...
NARR: Iglasias, who was a track worker for 22 years, says some supervisors fail to reinforce safety guidelines to get done work more quickly, like the need for "flaggers" for jobs, track workers who put up lights to let train drivers know workers are in the area.
ACT: There's rules to be followed, but sometimes a supervisor'll say, just go do this.
NARR: And Iglasias says a lot of times rank and file workers don't speak up.
ACT: But people are scared, or don't want to look like they're starting trouble by saying, no, but I also need a flagger, too.
NARR: Iglasias says the disconnect between track workers and supervisors could be part of the reason for the two fatal accidents.
ACT: So if they were just to enforce their safety rules without making us feel like if we asked for safety, that we were wrong, or without making it feel like all we're doing is prolonging the work, or trying to make trouble, these tragedies would've most likely not happened.
NARR: A spokesman for New York City Transit declined to be interviewed on tape about the accidents. He said the transit authority stopped non-emergency track work so the 6,000 or so track workers could have a 2-hour safety refresher course. And beyond what's already been reported, he refused to discuss details of the two accidents. He says New York City Transit is investigating both accidents to determine exactly what occurred. He said no disciplinary action has been taken against anyone so far.
Last week, between the first and second deaths, a subway crew cleaned the tracks at 110th Street on the 1 line. A track worker, who didn't want to give his name, said one of the main safety issues in subway tunnels is noise.
ACT: See this is quiet, for cleaning it's quiet. But you go where they're doing the capital work- they've got numerous equipment going- you won't be able
to talk to each other.
NARR: The worker said you can avoid being hit- IF you know the train is coming.
ACT: If you fall now, where you go? Tell me, if you fell right now, where you going, the train's comin', where you gonna go?
NARR: Every morning when Daniel Boggs returned to his home in suburban Brewster after his overnight shift, he was surrounded by tall trees and low brush. Beyond the modest Cape Cod he shared with his wife and three children, there is a large lake. It's quiet and clean here, nothing like the places where Boggs worked in the subway system. Last week, less than 48 hours after the fatal accident, Daniel Bogg's brother, Thomas, is outside the house watching two of Daniel's children play basketball on the quiet street off of the family's driveway. Thomas also works for New York City Transit and he was the first to be notified of his brother's death. He then had to go to his sister-in-law's house to break the news...Thomas says that though the work was hard, his brother enjoyed his job. Daniel worked in capitol construction, and helped to remove and replace train tracks. According to Thomas, Daniel took a step up by getting a job in the subway.
ACT: He took an exam, I remember he was a security guard at Macy's prior to that, and I guess you see an opportunity like this, he liked to work with his hands, he was a hard worker, personally I think for a big guy like him working at Macy's wasn't really his forte. He liked to work, he was a hard worker, he had a good head on his shoulders, but at the same time, he liked to use his hands.
NARR: Daniel worked nights in the subway.
ACT: I know a lot of guys, you know, it's rough work, and a lot of guys knock the job. Maybe perhaps, they shouldn't be there. But him on the other hand, he really, he enjoyed going to work. I think he had a lot of respect, not just from his fellow workers, but I think there was a lot of people he worked under, supervisors and such, that they had respect for him as a good working man. You know, did his job, didn't complain so much, and took pride, took pride in his job...Even when I first came in, guys would rib me, oh your brother this and that, tease me, but at the end, the last sentence would always be, he's a good worker, respected, knew his work.
NARR: A funeral for Daniel Boggs was held on Monday. A viewing for the second track worker killed, Marvin Franklin, is to be held today. His funeral is scheduled for tomorrow. Aileen Humphreys, Columbia Radio News.