The present research is vital as it will allow increasing safety of working conditions for workers employed at railway transport due to reducing impacts exerted by occupational risk factors. Our research goal was to perform comparative analysis of requirements to labor protection provided for railway workers. Our research was performed via non-systemic analysis of literature that involved searching through Elibrary, Pubmed and Cochrane databases as per certain key words. As a result, we showed that railway traffic involved exposure to numerous occupational risk factors; due to it, a significant number of workplaces, including those of enginemen and other railway workers, belonged to the 3rd (adverse) hazard category. Basic occupational risk factors included noise and vibration; psychoemotional loads borne by engine team workers and traffic controllers; exposure to industrial aerosols; electromagnetic irradiation; fluctuations in microclimatic parameters in engines’ cabs. All these occupational factors influence not only workers who are directly employed at railways but also people who live in close proximity to them. Therefore, in most countries there is legislative basis on health protection for people who may be exposed to occupational factors related to railway traffic. Our analysis revealed that in general the existing legislation in Russia corresponded to foreign one. Bases for harmonization of the domestic legislation with foreign one are fixed by the Federal Law issued on December 27, 2002 No. 184-FZ «On technical regulation». Harmonization of domestic and foreign legislation on reducing total exposure to occupational risk factors allows preserving long-term working ability and preventing work-related diseases.