Safety in the railroad industry took a step backwards recently.
On March 13, the FRA deactivated the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) Working Group which was charged with exploring industry-wide implementation of the safety program known as Confidential Close Call Reporting, or C3RS.
C3RS allows railroad workers to confidentially report near-miss accidents and safety lapses without fear of reprisal. It also allows railroads, rail unions, and safety experts to collect data and spot areas of concern. The airline industry has successfully used confidential reporting to identify problems and improve safety for decades, and C3RS is currently used by 30 short line and passenger railroads, but Class I freight railroads have been slow to adopt the safety system.
Freight railroads in 2023 promised to join C3RS after the national media focused on Norfolk Southern’s train derailment and fire in East Palestine. However, they never kept their promise. A sweeping investigative report published by the New York Times exposed how freight railroads lobbied to try and weaken C3RS. The rail carriers expressed a desire to be allowed to discipline workers under a softened version of C3RS. Unions and workplace safety experts said the idea of disciplining workers who report safety concerns undermines the very purpose of creating such a safety program because workers won’t use it if they fear retribution.
In spite of the setback, BLET Vice President and National Legislative Representative Vince Verna said: “We aren’t giving up. The BLET believes C3RS is valuable and we will continue to promote the benefits of it, while we continue to work with the railroads who have chosen to adopt a C3RS program.”