Compensating Injured Railroad Workers Under the Federal Employers' Liability Act

Assesses the injury compensation system that has evolved under Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA) and compares it with the no-fault compensation systems that cover most U.S. workers. At the request of Congress, a TRB committee that produced this report compared FELA with other workers' compensation systems. Although the data for making such comparisons are imperfect, the committee concluded that the FELA process generally provides higher benefits but can result in delays in payments, involve higher transaction costs, and result in greater costs to railroads.