The FELA act essentially requires the railroad to provide a safe place to work. The railroad's fault can be based on several theories of liability which include negligence, violations of the Safety Appliance Act, Boiler Inspection Act, Power Brake Law hours of service and/or OSHA Regulations.

Negligence is established when the railroad, through its officers, agents and/or employees, fails to act in a reasonable manner under the circumstances then existing. Specifically, the railroad has a responsibility to provide a safe work place which includes but is not limited to the duty to provide adequate manpower, adequate tools and equipment, to properly maintain its tools and equipment, make adequate inspections of off premises work areas and create and enforce work safety rules. In negligence cases, the railroad will often allege that the injured railroader was partially responsible for the accident. This legal defense is called "contributory negligence". While this defense does not completely defeat an injured railroader's claim, it can reduce the railroader's recovery. For example, if a jury were to determine that the injured railroader was entitled to $2,000,000.00 in damages but was 20% responsible for causing the accident, the railroader's damages would be reduced by 20%. Under this fact pattern, the railroad would be required to pay the injured railroader $1,400,000.00 in damages.

In contrast to a negligence claim, the Safety Appliance Act imposes an absolute duty upon the railroad to provide and keep in proper and safe condition certain safety appliances such as automatic couplers on its cars and engines, grab irons and sill steps, handbrakes, ladders and running boards. If there is an injury that is caused by even the slightest failure of a safety appliance, the railroad is strictly liable. This is different than a negligence theory of liability in that the railroad is not allowed to argue that the injured railroader was in anyway responsible for the accident. The Safety Appliance Act only applies to firemen, brakemen, and conductors who are on the road or in the switching yard. However, a car inspector injured while examining the above listed safety appliances may be protected by the Act. Any employees who are injured after a
Safety Appliance Act issue has been identified, will be limited to bringing a negligence claim.

The Boiler Inspect Act also places an absolute duty upon the railroad to provide and keep in proper and safe condition all locomotives, its boilers, tenders and all parts and appurtenances thereof. As with the Safety Appliance Act, any shop craft who are hurt after the defect has been discovered are not covered by the Boiler Inspection Act and must bring a negligence claim.

As with the Safety Appliance and Boiler Inspection Acts, in some instances, a railroad's violation of the Hours of Service Act or an Occupation Health and Safety Act regulation, which causes or contributes to a railroader's injury, will be sufficient to establish liability against the railroad without any offset for the railroader's contributory negligence.