Subway superintendent, Lloyd London, was in charge of a small group of transit workers when two of them were stuck by a train, killing one. A new report found that London was partly responsible for the death of transit worker, Marvin Franklin.

The investigation found that Mr. London had told the workers that he would act as a flagman and watch for oncoming trains, but then failed to do so. [NY Times]

In carrying the equipment across the tracks, the men were breaking multiple safety regulations. It was found that London should have ordered the men to take a safer route around to get the gear.

While the investigator’s report makes the results more “official,” we knew this to be the case back in May. Kristen, Franklin’s step-daughter, wrote a comment here on SUBWAYblogger about what had really happened.

I find it troubling that you put the blame on the workers. I am Mr. Franklin’s stepdaughter and if you knew anything you would get the facts straight and not believe everything the media spews at you. Mr. Hill came to my stepfather’s funeral and gave a very detailed account of what happened and by his account, they were following the instructions of their supervisor. This man has been part of my life for over 25 years and a transit worker for 22 years. He didn’t not take safety lightly. His supervisor failed to flag for him and his coworker. So, yes, it is an unfortunate tragedy but a tragedy that could have been avoided if his supervisor alerted them that #1 the track was active and #2 flagged the oncoming train that there were workers down there. – Kristen

So it seems that the majority of responsibility falls on the shoulders of London as supervisor for telling the men to get the gear. However, it seems that smaller amount of responsibility is being placed on the men themselves for breaking known safety regulations.

Photo of transit workers working on tracks via flickr.