Sponsor

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

Project Highlights

• Voluntary system for reporting events that could have resulted in harm
• Employees submit reports confidentially and receive protection from discipline
• Offers opportunity to learn about problems before harm occurs
• Labor, management and the regulator partner to solve problems
• Focus on problems with the system rather than the people.

Project Point of Contact

Jordan Multer
Project Manager - NEPA, EA, EIS
617.494.2573
jordan.multer@dot.gov

Introduction

The FRA has been experimenting with a variety of new approaches that go beyond traditional regulatory interventions to managing risk through partnerships with the railroad industry. The Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) is a systems-based approach that represents a cooperative effort between the railroad industry management, labor and the FRA to identify system vulnerabilities through employees' confidentially reporting close call events. C3RS enables employees to identify safety concerns in a way where they can keep sensitive information confidential yet still share safety-related information so that the stakeholders can learn important lessons. C3RS provides an opportunity for the FRA and industry to jointly explore innovative ways to improve safety beyond the current methods.

Method

The FRA initiated a demonstration project to test out the impact of close call reporting on improving safety. The FRA is using the demonstration project to learn how best to implement a confidential reporting system that will meet the needs of the industry. Reporting of close calls began in February 2007 when the first of four railroads began submitting reports to a third party). The third party de-identifies the reports and sends them to the railroad where a Peer Review Team (PRT) consisting of carrier management, labor and the FRA analyze the reports to identify why these unsafe events occurred and recommend corrective actions to fix the identified problems. The carrier can decide how to address the identified problems and the corrective action recommendations identified by the PRT.

Coordination role among multiple stakeholders

Four railroads, two freight railroads and two passenger railroads are participating in the demonstration project. The participating railroads include: Union Pacific Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railway, New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak. Two government agencies, The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are participating as third parties to collect reports from employees. The Volpe Center is coordinating the implementation of the demonstration project and evaluating the impact of the system on carrier safety.