Every railroad corporation, while engaged in commerce to which the regulative powers of the state extend, shall be liable in damages to any person suffering injury while that person is employed by such railroad corporation in such commerce, or in case of the death of such employee, to that employee’s personal representative for the benefit of the surviving widow, husband, or children of that employee, and if none, then for the next of kin dependent upon that employee, if such injury or death results in whole or in part from the negligence of any officer, agent, or employee of such railroad corporation, or by reason of any defect or insufficiency due to its negligence in any of its cars, engines, appliances, machinery, track, roadbed, works, or other equipment.