STRONGER TIES: A S H A R E D C O M M I T M E N T TO RAILWAY SAFETY Review of the Railway Safety Act November 2007 Published by Railway Safety Act Review Secretariat Ottawa, Canada K1A 0N5 This report is available at: www.tc.gc.ca/tcss/RSA_Review-Examen_LSF Funding for this publication was provided by Transport Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department. ISBN 978-0-662-05408-5 Catalogue No. T33-16/2008 © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Transport, 2007 This material may be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes provided that the source is acknowledged. Photo Credits: Chapters 1-10: Transport Canada; Appendix B: CP Images TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................1 1.1 Rationale for the 2006 Railway Safety Act Review . .2 1.2 Scope . 2 1.3 Process ....................................................................................3 1.3.1 Stakeholder Consultations . .4 1.3.2 Research . 6 1.3.3 Development of Recommendations .......................................6 1.4 Key Challenges for the Railway Industry and the Regulator.................7 1.5 A Word of Thanks .................................................................... 10 2. STATE OF RAIL SAFETY IN CANADA ...................................11 2.1 Accidents 1989-2006 ................................................................. 12 2.2 Categories of Accidents . 13 2.2.1 Main Track Accidents...................................................... 14 2.2.2 Non-Main Track Accidents ............................................... 15 2.2.3 Crossing and Trespasser Accidents . 15 2.2.4 Transportation of Dangerous Goods Accidents and Incidents . 17 2.3 Normalizing Accidents . 18 2.4 Comparing Rail Safety in Canada and the U.S. 18 3. GOVERNANCE . .20 3.1 Organizations, Roles and Responsibilities...................................... 20 3.1.1 Federal Departments and Agencies . 20 3.1.2 Provinces . 23 3.1.3 Railway Companies ........................................................ 23 3.1.4 Labour Unions . 24 3.1.5 Other Stakeholders . 24 3.2 Accountability Within Transport Canada . 25 3.2.1 Powers of Railway Safety Inspectors . 28 3.3 Consultation – Transparency and Communication . 30 3.4 Working With Other Levels of Government................................... 35 3.4.1 Agreements .................................................................. 38 4. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK.................................................40 4.1 Federal Legislation Affecting Railway Safety................................... 40 4.2 Provincial Railway Safety Legislation............................................ 43 4.3 Railway Safety Act Issues ............................................................ 44 4.3.1 Objectives of the Railway Safety Act.................................... 44 4.3.2 Application of the Railway Safety Act .................................. 46 4.3.3 Baseline Requirements for Operation . 48 4.3.4 Rules and Regulations . 50 4.3.5 Strengthening the Rule-Making Process .............................. 52 4.3.6 The Role of the Railway Association of Canada in Rule Making. 57 4.3.7 The Process for Extending a Rule to Additional Railways . 57 4.3.8 Enforcement Powers ....................................................... 58 4.3.9 Review of Orders............................................................ 61 4.3.10 Obsolete Provisions......................................................... 62 5. SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ......................................63 5.1 The SMS Concept .................................................................... 63 5.2 Implementation of Safety Management Systems............................. 67 5.3 Safety Culture.......................................................................... 68 5.3.1 Culture Change in the Railway Industry . 69 5.3.2 Employee Involvement in Occupational Health and Safety . 72 5.3.3 An Evaluation Tool for “Safety Culture” . 73 5.3.4 Culture Change in Transport Canada . 74 5.4 Oversight of Railway Safety Management Systems . 76 5.5 Risk Assessments...................................................................... 80 6. INFORMATION COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION ............................................................83 6.1 Responsibilities for Information Collection, Analysis and Dissemination . 83 6.1.1 Transport Canada .......................................................... 84 6.1.2 Provinces and Industry .................................................... 85 6.2 Data Deficiencies . 86 6.3 Data Collection........................................................................ 91 6.4 Data Analysis........................................................................... 97 6.5 Information Dissemination.......................................................100 7. PROXIMITY ISSUES . 103 7.1 New Development Near Railway Property....................................103 7.1.1 Current Process for New Development................................104 7.2 Crossing Safety . .108 7.2.1 Crossing Closures . 111 7.2.2 New Crossings . .111 7.2.3 Safety at Existing Crossings . .113 7.2.4 Blocked Crossings ..........................................................115 7.2.5 Grade Crossing Improvement Program . .116 7.2.6 Proposed Grade Crossing Regulations . 118 7.3 Community Outreach by Railways..............................................120 7.4 Trespassing and Public Education...............................................126 7.4.1 Trespassing . 126 7.4.2 Public Education...........................................................128 8. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND RESPONSE . 131 8.1 Environmental Legislation . 131 8.1.1 Transport Canada .........................................................132 8.1.2 Environment Canada.....................................................133 8.1.3 Provinces and Territories ................................................134 8.2 Accidents: Preparedness and Response ........................................135 8.2.1 Dangerous Goods Accidents . .137 8.2.2 Cheakamus River Accident . 139 8.2.3 Lake Wabamun Accident . 140 8.2.4 Towards a New Protocol..................................................142 8.2.5 Environmental and Emergency Response Standards...............144 8.3 Other Environmental Issues . 147 8.3.1 Pesticide Use . .147 8.3.2 Railway Yard Spills . .148 8.3.3 Air Emissions . 148 8.3.4 Grain Spills and Other “Littering” ....................................149 8.3.5 Noise .........................................................................150 8.3.6 Environmental Management Plans ...................................150 8.3.7 Fires Caused by Railways . 150 9. OPERATIONAL ISSUES .........................................................153 9.1 Fatigue Management . .153 9.2 Locomotive Event and Voice Recorders ........................................159 9.3 Rail Traffic Control..................................................................160 9.4 Engineering . .162 9.5 Training for Operating Crews . 163 9.6 Train Dynamics . 164 9.7 Drug and Alcohol Testing . .166 10. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION . 169 10.1 New Technologies – Research and Development............................169 10.2 The Role of Government . 172 10.3 Human-Technology Interface . 178 11. RESOURCES............................................................................180 11.1 Railway Companies . .180 11.1.1 Recruitment and Retention..............................................180 11.1.2 Training......................................................................181 11.1.3 Reporting Culture . .181 11.1.4 Investment . 182 11.2 Transport Canada . .183 11.2.1 Consultations ...............................................................184 11.2.2 Regulatory Framework . .185 11.2.3 Information Collection, Analysis and Dissemination..............186 11.2.4 Public Outreach............................................................186 11.2.5 Environmental Protection . .187 11.2.6 Research and Development..............................................187 11.2.7 U.S. Harmonization . 188 12. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS . 190 APPENDICES A. Terms of Reference: Railway Safety Act Review......................................194 B. Biographies of Advisory Panel Members..............................................197 C. Chronology of Public Consultations, Meetings and Site Visits..................198 D. Research Studies . .201 E. Profile of Railway Companies as of November 2007...............................202 F. Recommendations . 208 G. List of Submissions and Presentations.................................................216 H. Glossary of Acronyms ......................................................................221 I. Railway Safety Act Review Secretariat ..................................................224 FIGURES 2.1: Total Reported Rail Accidents (1989-2006) . 12 2.2: Distribution of Railway Accidents by Category (2006)............................. 13 2.3: Rail Accidents Excluding Crossing and Trespasser Accidents (1989-2006).... 14 2.4: Crossing and Trespasser Accidents (1989-2006) . 16 2.5: TSB Reportable Rail Accidents and Incidents Involving Dangerous Goods . 17 3.1: Transport Canada – Organizational Structure for Railway Safety ............... 26 5.1: Reason’s Model of Accident Causation . 64 PHOTOGRAPHS Public Consultation, Halifax, Nova Scotia, July 2007 ..........................................4 Montmagny, Quebec,