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.
Kearneysville is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. According to the 2000 census, Kearneysville and its surrounding community has a population of 6,716. Kearneysville is located along West Virginia Route 9 at its intersection with West Virginia Route 480 halfway between Martinsburg and Charles Town. Settlement in the area that later came to be known as Kearneysville began in the mid-1700s. Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron sold land to various settlers, the first of whom was Nicholas Lemen in 1756. The next settler was General Horatio Gates, an American Revolutionary War general who named his holdings Traveller's Rest. Following him were Uriah and James Kearney, Sr. , for whose family the village was named. The town grew slowly at first, but with the coming of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the 1830s, the population increased throughout the county and local farmers began to take advantage of this faster means of transportation. In 1876, Kearneysville was the site of Jefferson's first commercial apple orchard. Because of its central location in the Panhandle, today Kearneysville is home to the Burr and Bardane Industrial Parks and is one of the fastest growing areas of Jefferson County with its many expansive residential communities such as Chapel View and the Village of Washington Trail.