MINUTES OF A PUBLIC MEETING OF THE METRA BOARD SAFETY COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUTER RAIL DIVISION OF THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY

Transcription

1 MINUTES OF A PUBLIC MEETING OF THE METRA BOARD SAFETY COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUTER RAIL DIVISION OF THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY The Metra Board Safety Committee of the Commuter Rail Division of the Regional Transportation Authority met in a public session for a Meeting on Friday, at 9:00 a.m. in the Metra Board Room, 547 W. Jackson Boulevard, Chicago Illinois, pursuant to notice. Committee Chairman Plante called the meeting to order and roll was taken. The Pledge of Allegiance followed. Roll Call Members Present: J. Anderson, H. Konczal, M. Munaretto, J. Zediker and Committee Chairman Plante Public Comment Safety at Metra Ø Overview 1. Safety 2. Risk Ø Discussion: How Safety and Risk Departments Serve the Organization Hilary Konczal, Director of Safety, explained that Metra s Safety Policy Statement, states that safety is the number one priority. Metra s safety philosophy encompasses four E s, engineering, education, enforcement and empowerment. Engineering controls are what they are able to implement, such as grade crossings improvements, underpasses, safety buffer zones, and warning devices. Education is the emergency response and the training of emergency responders. Enforcement is the regular checks for pedestrians and motorists around grade crossing. Metra partners with local communities for these checks. Lastly is empowerment of our employees. There are three safety officers in the Department who are split up by district. There is one for the Metra Electric District, which also includes Metra s corporate facility. The second one is for the Rock Island District, and lastly, there is a safety officer for the Milwaukee District. The safety officer for the Milwaukee District also handles the North Central Service, Heritage Corridor and SouthWest Service. The Safety department is responsible for accident investigations and safety audits. Accident investigations include fatalities, employee injuries, non-employee injuries, grade crossing incidents and trespasser incidents. His team also handles safety audits of maintenance facilities, storage yards, stations and platforms and maintenance and repair shops. The accident and incident reporting part can get quite extensive. The Metra safety team has to report on a wide array of incidents that occur, and there is a lot of data and documentation that has to be collected, processed and reviewed before they can report. The Safety department provides emergency response education to emergency responders to over 110 communities. They are trained to evacuate Metra

2 passenger trains. Also, they train new hires, train and engine crews and railroad dispatchers. Metra conducts annual disaster drills with police, fire and emergency responders, and has an agreement with the American Red Cross to provide disaster services for passengers and their families. Metra s Operation Lifesaver presenters present 1,000 Operation Lifesaver presentations annually. The presenters go out to schools, community events and hold presentations for professional drivers and school bus drivers. Metra also holds about 50 station safety blitz programs a year, where they distribute literature and talk to customers about warning devices and railroad safety. One of their newest safety initiatives was holding a live YouTube safety broadcast. Along with Illinois Secretary of State Jessie White, Don Orseno and others, an Operation Lifesaver presentation was streamed live from Tinley Park High School. The other piece of education is Metra s Safety Poster Contest, which is done annually. The poster contest goes out to grades K through high school. Along with community police departments, the Metra Police also conduct grade crossing enforcement blitzes on a regular basis. If they see someone violating the grade crossing warning devices, a ticket could be issued to that person. A big part of the safety program comes from the Labor Management Committee and employee safety. Under employee safety, Metra has a safety shoe/eyewear program, monthly safety meetings, safety alerts, and safety hotline and safety campaigns. Metra has probably one of the best Labor & Management processes in the United States. Under the Safety & Interactive Management program, there are 14 groups that work together on a monthly basis to solve safety issues and hazards within their workplace. This is a management and labor collaborative effort, and has really done a lot of good here at Metra. The Safety department also has safety training classes that include defensive driving, AED/CPR training and new hire safety orientations. Metra Safety department developed a handout for train crews in order to better understand the causes and effects of fatigue. They educate employees on worker fatigue and how to avoid it. They also have collaborated with labor and management on work schedules. In April, Metra adopted the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). This program helps to identify the unknown. If there is an incident that may be occurring out on the rails or workplace, the employee can confidentially report those incidents without the fear of retaliation. Metra has started to realize a lot of success from the employee engagement. Two Metra employees were recognized for The Partnership newsletter at the AAR 3 rd Annual Railroad Safety Leadership Forum. This Forum is attended by every Class One railroad in the nation, and Metra was the only commuter railroad recognized. He also explained that at the AAR s 2 nd Annual Railroad Safety Leadership Forum, the Elgin Safety and Interactive Management (SIM) committee was recognized for their commitment to safety in This group was also recognized by the Elgin City Council. Throughout the years, Metra has been recognized for safety by the railroad industry. Since 1986, Metra has received 15 Harriman Medals, and six certificates of commendation, which were awarded for best improved safety record over a one-year period. Some of the engineering projects that Metra has completed over the years to improve safety have been at the Belmont Road station in Downers Grove, where there was a complete grade separation. Also at the Lombard and Tinley Park 80 th Avenue Stations, pedestrian underpasses were installed to alleviate grade crossing incidents. The Metra Safety department has partnerships with several outside agencies, such as, DuPage Railroad Safety Council, the FRA, the ICC, AAR, APTA and the Operation Lifesaver group.

3 John Anderson, Assistant Deputy General Counsel and Senior Director of Litigation and Risk Management, discussed the Risk Management organization department and the roles members of the department have. Risk Management at Metra is fairly unique in the industry. It is unusual to have Claims, Insurance and Litigation housed under one roof. Traditionally true Risk Management means Risk Transfer and involved insurance under a Finance Department. The Metra Claims department adjusts claims arising from employee and non-employee injuries. They work closely with Metra s Safety and Police departments. The Claim Adjusters are on-call 24/7 to obtain statements, evidence, photographs/measurements, and medical records. Metra s Insurance department designs and builds the insurance program on an annual basis. The department is able to prepare and analyze statistical data for all the injuries that have occurred. They also meet annually with brokers and underwriters from the United States, London and Bermuda to discuss world-wide trends and solutions. The result is that Risk Management is a very proactive team. They work closely with other Metra departments to increase safety for both the employees and general public to reduce injuries. Metra Board s Safety Role Director Plante stated that these two departments make up Metra s safety program. The casualty data that they collect allows them to look at pictures of what is going on in the Metra territory, safety wise, whether it is employees or just the general public. This can help with adjusting the safety program to address those issues. This also allows them to be pro-active in approaching safety. Public transit as an industry prides itself as the safest means of transportation. Transit Board members have a responsibility to make sure that a safe trip and a safe working environment is being delivered. They are doing what they can to really create a positive safety culture at Metra. The Board s role is to lead in deciding what Metra should become and where it is headed. This gives the Board some oversight function to help shape high priority products and programs and to shape safety in everything else that they do. Under MAP-21 legislation, the responsibility for the oversight of safety and security to the Board level is discussed. While the FRA regulates safety for Metra, the MAP-21 concepts may not be strictly applicable, but it is very informative of how the Board might address regulatory matters. The concepts, such as Safety Management System, are not really required for Metra. However, SMS is really on the cutting edge of safety. Right now under the FRA regulations Metra has to have a system safety program, which we have and is something that Mr. Konczal is looking at to see what changes can be made. They are also aware, though, that SMS has not been adopted by the FAA. The Board needs to be apprised of what the greatest safety risks and the measures that should be implemented to mitigate the risks to the greatest extent practicable. The Board is informed by Safety and Risk on what those risks are out there. Engaging the employees and the general public, and empowering employees on the programs mentioned builds your basic safety culture. Safety performance measures validate what those safety risks are, and the effectiveness of the migration, whether it is the FTA Transit Database or our own reporting internally, it is a way of measuring and using those results to review and audit our safety program. They can then use that data so that all of the limited funding gets spent safely. In other words, they are mitigating safety issues as they go along, and when they fund something that component has been looked at to go forward in a safe manner. By applying MAP-21, the Board can add the greatest value to the current regulatory process, and be ready for any new regulatory process. The initial method for adding this value

4 would be to have the Board approve Metra s safety and asset management plans, which is something that they have been doing as they come up before the Board. He pointed out that the safety attitude that employees bring to the job dictates safety awareness. This is not just an employee acting safely, but then taking responsibility of the safety of others. One of the things that they are doing now is to include that safety performance data as part of the Board s routine review of Metra s performance, and including that of its Chief Executive Officer. In summary, the Board s roll is to adopt and ratify Metra s safety policy and plans. Make safety the preeminent consideration in all Board actions, monitor the safety performance of Metra and then to provide leadership in meeting safety challenges. This is part of what this Safety Committee is about in providing leadership to meet safety challenges. Safety should be kept in mind as budget decisions are made, making sure that the equipment is kept in a state of good repair, and staffing at levels to avoid employee fatigue. The Board should not only sign, but take ownership of Metra s system safety plan and understand what it calls for, just as all of the Board members should understand the applicable safety regulations. Finally, when bad things happen, the Board must understand the underlying causes and show the public that they are being dealt with. 7. Challenges Ø Safety Ø Risk Hilary Konczal explained that FRA CFR 49 Part 270 was regulated that each railroad shall adopt and fully implement a System Safety program (SSP). This regulation was released as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and is expected to go into effect either June or July of this year. The plan shall include a purpose and scope, which shall include the following: The safety philosophy and safety culture of the railroad, the railroad s management responsibilities within the SSP, identify how host railroads, contractor operators, contractors, etc., will support and participate in the railroads SSP, and to identify the roles and responsibilities of each position responsible for implementing the SSP. Some key elements of the SSP will include maintenance and inspections. They will have to conduct some maintenance and inspections mostly on the infrastructure and equipment directly affecting safety. This includes fixed facilities and equipment, rolling stock, signal and train control systems, track and right-of-way. The rule compliance and procedures review will be to identify and review how the railroad assess employee compliance with the railroad s operation and safety rules, maintenance procedures and FRA regulations. The safety system program for employee/contractor training will be for every employee that is responsible for implementing and supporting the plan and must be trained on the SSP. For the fatigue management plan each agency will develop and implement a plan for employees working safety sensitive positions. This is a risk based management approach program. Metra will have to have a system in place to analyze those risks and identify the hazards. The other caveat to this is the technology analysis. They will have to analyze the technology that is used with regard to safety and create an implantation plan. One of the current technologies that Metra is doing is positive train control. They will have to identify PTC and how it will reduce the hazards within the organization. This can also go into trespasser prevention technology, grade crossing warning and protection technology.

5 Under safety assurance, a change management policy must be adopted and will need to identify the process of how operational changes that affect railroad safety will be managed, as well as configuration management. The railroad shall establish a configuration management program and establish a process to ensure that all departments affected by the configuration changes are formally notified and approve the change. The FRA is requiring safety certification for each railroad. The railroad shall establish a process to ensure safety concerns and hazards are addressed prior to the initiation of operations and major projects to extend or modify an existing system or replace vehicles and equipment. The railroads will conduct safety assessments to ensure the elements of the SSP are being complied with. An annual report identifying the railroad s assessment findings and corrective actions must be filed with the RTA and certified by the agency s Chief Safety Officer or equivalent. Some of the challenges with the implementation of CFR 49 Part 270 will be to identify what additional resources will be needed to comply with the requirements. They will need to determine what requirements of FTA MAP-21 pertain to FRA regulated properties and what additional resources will be needed to comply with the requirements of MAP-21. The possible allocation of additional resources include: manpower, hazard management tracking software, training, technology and system upgrades (safety) and infrastructure improvements. Chairman Plante remarked that some of the things that were presented today shows that safety and risk involve the acquisition, compilation and mining of huge amounts of data, and as Mr. Konczal alluded to, they are looking at how best to do this. This is one of the things that folks will see them working on as they go forward on how to use this data to its full potential. There are things developing that are going to make the industry one of the safest forms of transportation. Mr. Orseno added that it is always Metra s goal to be number one in safety and will work hard to move into that direction. He asked for Mr. Anderson to comment on his discussions with the insurance companies. Mr. Anderson commented that they meet with underwriters every year, and as most people know the biggest underwriters are Lloyds of London, and many syndicates, some in Bermuda and some that are in the United States. There are an unlimited number of insurance companies that are unwilling to insure railroads because of the obvious risk. It is very important to develop relationships with these underwriters and the insurance companies. The underwriters/insurance companies tend to look at issues that may be of consequence to railroads, and he can say that he is able to answer their questions to a point of satisfaction that over the past three years, Metra s premiums are going down. Metra is very proactive on safety and has been able to show that to the underwriters, and he believes that Metra is ahead of the curve by the team that is at Metra. Mr. Orseno asked for Mr. Konczal to explain NPRM s and RSAC and how this process goes. Mr. Konczal explained that the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) meets to discuss the current regulations. This group is headed by the FRA and every railroad throughout the United States has input through the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee on new regulations that are up and coming. This new safety program that is now a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking went through the RSAC process, and there have been meetings on this, updating that and then creating the program for three and half years. Every railroad has had the opportunity to express their input into this regulation and the FRA will then take that information into account and make the appropriate adjustments to the proposed regulation. Once that process is complete, and there is consensus

6 through the RSAC group, then it becomes a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. It will hit the federal docket, and the railroads will have 60 days to comment on the NPRM. The FRA will look at any of those comments and decide whether to tweak the regulation or implement it as is. The comment period for the NPRM is finished, and they are waiting for the FRA to come out with the final rule with regards to the SSP process. 8. Adjourn Director Zediker moved and Director Munaretto seconded to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Elisabeth M. Murphy Assistant Secretary to the Metra Board