TECHNOLOGY BY JUSTIN FRANZ departments. “We’re having a lot of success with it, and I think it’s been a really good thing for us,” Armpriester says. Learning from mistakes Craig Lefever, vice president and gener- al manager of the Strasburg, says while A decade after it started, FRA’s Confidential Close Call program wins praise labor and management may butt heads at larger railroads, that isn’t the case at the -based short line. However, being able to confidentially report mis- takes helps foster an environment of trust on both sides because everyone has the same goal in mind: keeping the railroad safe. “The program really focuses on cor- rective measures and not punishment,” Lefever says. Labor unions have also rallied around the program, says John Risch, national leg- islative director for the SMART Transpor- tation Division. He says it’s unfortunate that more freight railroads have not signed on to the program but that his union will continue to urge them to. “We believe that the Confidential Close Call Reporting Sys- tem can lead to a drastic improvement in rail safety nationwide,” he says. Castiglione says the FRA is actively promoting the program and hopes that more railroads sign on in the years to come. From 2007 through June 2015, the program received more than 5,100 reports. Many of those reports resulted in small safety improvements that Castiglione says add up over time. For example, one rail- road improved the visibility of its speed re- striction boards while another added an Passengers wait for a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority train at ’s 30th Street Station in September extra clip in the locomotive cab so engi- 2016. SEPTA, , and NJ Transit serve the station and participate in a special safety error reporting system. Trains: Steve Sweeney neers can better see their paperwork. The FRA eventually hopes to start pub- Ten years after launching a pilot have been used in the airline industry and includes representatives of railroad man- lishing the redacted incident reports so program, Federal Railroad Administration since the 1970s, the Aviation Safety Report- agement and labor that go through the re- that others in the industry can learn from officials say the Confidential Close Call ing System has received more than 1.2 mil- port to find ways to prevent the incident past mistakes and errors. Reporting System, or C3RS, has been an lion anonymous reports. In order to ensure from happening again. The original report Castiglione says after watching the pro- overwhelming success. that the identity of the reporting party is filed by the employee is destroyed and no gram for the last five years, he is now an ar- In years past, if a railroader made a never revealed, all reports are processed by a identifying information about the employ- dent believer. “I was a skeptic at first because mistake when no one was looking — such third party. In the case of the aviation and ees or trains involved is kept on file or in the railroad industry when you mess up as forgetting a speed restriction and pro- railroad industries, that independent organi- shared with the railroad. you get punished, but this program gives us ceeding above track speed — they could zation is NASA, the space agency. Some incidents are not eligible for the a great tool to learn from mistakes,” he says. either keep it to themselves or admit to it Employees can submit close call reports close call reporting program, including and be punished. But in 2007, the FRA de- any situation resulting in substantial dam- cided to take a page from other industries “NEAR MISSES AND CLOSE CALLS age or injury or any time drugs or alcohol and established a pilot program where rail- may have been a contributing factor. roaders could self-report a minor incident ARE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR The five-year pilot program began in without fear of punishment so that they RAILROADS AND RAILROADERS TO 2007 with four different railroads. After the and others could learn from it. FRA deemed it a success, the Confidential “Near misses and close calls are a great LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES.” Close Call Reporting System was expanded opportunity for railroads and railroaders nationwide and today eight railroads have to learn from their mistakes,” says Rob — ROB CASTIGLIONE, FRA signed on: NJ Transit, Amtrak, Southeast- Castiglione, staff director of the FRA’s ern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Human Performance Division. “The to NASA either online or via traditional Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, protection from punishment is a huge mail. Two different rail analysts at NASA Metra, Metro-North, Long Island Rail incentive to self report incidents.” read the report within three days of its Road, and Strasburg Rail Road. Castiglione says that for every major de- arrival and collect data about the incident. The Strasburg Rail Road joined the railment or incident that results in injury or The analysts will call the employee for an program in 2013 and locomotive shop su- Strasburg Rail Road’s former Norfolk & major damage, there are usually dozens or interview about the incident before writing pervisor Erich Armpriester says that since Western 4-8-0 No. 475 hooks on to local even hundreds of similar close calls that are a report that is sent to a peer review team then employees have filed about 40 reports freight in 2015. The railroad participates in never reported. Close call reporting systems back at the railroad. The peer review team from both the operating and mechanical the national safety project. D. Collin Reinhart

20 Trains FEBRUARY 2018 www.TrainsMag.com 21 © 2017 Trains magazine. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.TrainsMag.com © 2017 Trains magazine. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.TrainsMag.com