Drug tests pushed after rail accidents

Four commuter rail workers tested positive for drugs or alcohol after they were involved in the three most serious accidents that occurred since the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad took over the system in December 2003, according to a memo outlining a new safety agreement with federal officials.

As part of the one-year safety pact, the railroad company pledged a "good faith effort" to get the workers' union to agree to allow random drug and alcohol testing, and promised to give more training to supervisors on how to spot employees under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the memo sent to top railroad managers to inform them of the agreement.

The 276 members of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees who work for the railroad are not required under federal rules to undergo random testing, and commuter rail officials said they cannot force them to agree.

A spokesman, however, said yesterday that the union was willing to discuss the proposal and has scheduled a meeting with railroad officials on June 26. If the union agrees to random testing, the railroad should provide treatment for employees with problems, said union spokesman Rick Inclima.

The railroad and the Federal Railroad Administration negotiated the safety agreement after two workers were struck and killed and four were injured by a commuter train in Woburn in January. The talks began after federal officials criticized the railroad for failing to test three employees involved in that accident and for other failures in safety rules and procedures, according to the agreement.

The agreement said that all the employees who tested positive were maintenance-of-way employees who repair tracks and do other work. The railroad operates and maintains the commuter rail system under a $1 billion, five-year contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority that ends next year.

"One area of particular concern is the use of drugs and alcohol among MBCR employees, particularly in the Maintenance of Way department," railroad General Manager James F. O'Leary said in the memo, which was sent to top managers Monday and obtained by the Globe yesterday.

"The seriousness of these findings" cannot be overstated, he said.

One of the six track workers struck by a Boston-bound train in January in Woburn tested positive for marijuana, according to a source with knowledge of the crash investigation. Federal investigators have previously found that the work crew failed to install a required safety device on the tracks that activates signals that warn oncoming trains of workers in their path. The metal shunt was found in the crew's truck nearby. The investigators also found that a dispatcher mistakenly allowed the train to go through the work site.

Two of the employees involved in a June 2006 fatal accident in Gloucester, in which a track worker was crushed by machinery, also tested positive for drugs or alcohol, the agreement said. Federal officials are considering fining the railroad for not sending specimens from the dead worker for testing on time, according to the agreement.

A railroad worker involved in a nonfatal accident in Dorchester in 2005 also tested positive for marijuana, the source said.

No employees tested positive for drugs or alcohol after a worker was struck and killed as he cleared snow at the Wellesley Farms station platform in December 2003, the only other worker fatality on Massachusetts Bay's watch.

The memo represents the first time the line has publicly confirmed that any of its employees have tested positive for drugs or alcohol. In an interview yesterday, O'Leary said while there was no reason to believe that drug or alcohol use caused any of the accidents, the positive tests are worrisome and show the need for random testing.

"It's a matter of safety for everyone," he said. "Thank goodness we have not had any situations involving the public, but it's a matter of great public concern, as well."

But George T. Casey -- state legislative director for the United Transportation Union, which represents the railroad's conductors -- said that drug tests can be inaccurate and are being used by railroad officials to deflect attention from their own safety shortfalls.

"They're using this as a screen to detract from any attention being paid to the deficiencies in training and train dispatching," he said.

Inclima, the track workers union spokesman, said Massachusetts Bay has not made full use of drug testing now allowed under federal rules by making sure that supervisors are diligent in spotting workers who might be under the influence.

The program requires a supervisor to test a maintenance-of-way employee if there is reasonable suspicion that the employee violated alcohol or drug policies, contributed to a reportable accident, committed a rule violation, or committed an unsafe act that violated a company rule, according to the agreement.

"I don't think they've been doing it consistently," Inclima said.

Under the existing rules, all job applicants must pass drug and alcohol tests. After that, only employees in certain jobs involving passenger and public safety -- including conductors, engineers, and signal maintenance workers -- are subject to random yearly drug and alcohol testing. Half those employees are tested for drugs in a given year and one-quarter for alcohol. Rail line officials say that more than 3,000 tests have been conducted since 2003.

The Federal Railroad Administration required testing after a Maryland train wreck in 1987 killed 15 Amtrak passengers and the engineer. The crew of a freight train that collided with the passenger train was found to have been smoking marijuana.

Under the new agreement, which took effect May 29, the railroad promised to provide additional training to supervisors of track workers and dispatchers within 45 days on signs and symptoms of alcohol and drug use.

The railroad pledged to detail within 10 days how it will improve compliance with its testing program. It also agreed to give federal officials a list of the maintenance-of-way employees who have been tested and the dates of the tests.

O'Leary said the agreement calls for beefing up an employee- developed drug and alcohol awareness program that emphasizes peer outreach about abuse and counseling services.

O'Leary conceded that the railroad had let the drug awareness program slip. "It frankly was not something that was being widely supported by MBCR until recently," he said.

Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.