I'm sorry to hear that this lead to an injury. I would bet there is a railroad rule somewhere requiring each switch to be inspected to determine it is in safe condition without any obstructions before trying to throw it, making it the employee's fault. Remember - "ALL injuries and accidents are preventable" aka employees must get the work done without getting hurt because then it must be their fault for not working safely.

There are so many simple improvements that railroads could make at a minimum investment that would improve safety and prevent injuries.

Soo Line has small green targets on their hand thrown switches, which makes gives you an indication that the switch is properly lined, and allows you to find in the switch in the dark (either where to make a stop or not trip into it.) Yet I asked their saftey trainer why did not make an effort to create a switch path on at least one side of the track for a couple miles on each side of a detector. I got the company runarond as an answer. It obviously wasn't considered something cheap and flashy enough. I won't mention the "qualifications" of their safety trainer.

Also on targets, I know some railroads used red only for derails and mainline switches, yellow for auxiliary tracks. That made it clear that a red switch target was a bad thing to see at speed on the main, the targets on the derails being a different shape. Now it seems everything has a red target, except UP's purple targets for derails which soon fade so you don't notice them in the day against snow or sand.

Signals are another sore point with me. Ever notice how they manage to put them in the strangest places? I really like how you find left hand signals BETWEEN two tracks, staggered signals on a multiple track curve, or a dwarf for a mainline hidden between a pile of ties. And why can't every signal have some kind of reflectored sign on them so they stand out if they are dark? I also loke how you can get a high green at the end of two main tracks when you are hitting the diverging side of the switch. Is it too much to ask to get a red over green when there is a substantial speed reduction due to a switch as a reminder?

I think railroad rule and safety have deteriorated to a confusing mishmash that only exists to serve its own ego - kinda like our federal government. As long as you have completed the paperwork so they can prove anything wrong is your fault, you are doing it correctly.

(Sorry for the excess cynicism, but it does not need to be that hard to have a safe railroad.)