BACKGROUND
A non-punitive employee safety reporting system is intended to improve overall safety by encouraging employees to voluntarily report information on unsafe conditions or acts that would otherwise not be known or detected by transit agency management. This type of reporting system requires an organizational culture where employees and management work together to understand and address underlying safety-related problems. Non-punitive employee safety reporting is an important element of the FTA’s proposed Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan Rule (PTASP) (49 CFR Part 673).
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research is to present the characteristics and elements of a non-punitive, employee safety reporting system to facilitate improved safety performance for rail and bus transit agencies. This research draws from lessons learned by other transportation modes, in particular the airline and railroad industries. Additionally, it builds on related research that has been conducted for the transit industry by organizations including, but not limited to FTA, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), Transportation Research Board (TRB), and the USDOT Volpe Center.
STATUS
The research has been completed. The final report has been released as TCRP Research Report 218. TCRP Research Report 218 is available here: www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/180858.aspx
