Railroad worker injuries are covered under the Federal Employees Liability Act which requires that a railroad maintains their fleet, ensuring that their trains are in good working order and free of defects. If a railroad does not comply with these standards, they may be liable for injuries to their workers. Damages railroad workers may receive include medical treatments, present and future lost wages and mental trauma. An injury on the railway can range from a minor sprain to a spinal injury so severe that it leads to death. Some of the most common injuries that affect railway workers are head trauma, knee injuries, back injuries, neck injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, brain trauma or spinal cord injuries. The Federal Employees Liability Act protects railroad workers and others as diverse as clerical employees whose day-to-day functions do not directly involve trains or outdoor activity.
Calumet is an unincorporated community in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Although the United States Census Bureau includes it in a census-designated place with the nearby community of Norvelt, they are in reality two very different communities, each reflecting a different chapter in how the Great Depression affected rural Pennsylvanians. Calumet was a typical "patch town", built by a single company to house coal miners as cheaply as possible. The closing of the Calumet mine during the Great Depression caused enormous hardship in an era when unemployment compensation and welfare payments were non-existent. On the other hand, Norvelt was created during the depression by the US federal government as a model community, intended to increase the standard of living of laid-off coal miners.