MTA tells workers to examine job safety Originally published: December 3, 2013 6:48 PM Updated: December 3, 2013 8:45 PM By ALFONSO A. CASTILLO alfonso.castillo@newsday The Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants its workers to drop what theyre doing and think of ways to do their jobs more safely. The MTA Tuesday announced plans for a safety stand-down across its transit agencies that would require workers to temporarily halt operations and use the time to consider safety practices. An MTA source said workers will be asked to take a fresh look at what they do, discuss how they do it, look for ways to improve safety, and reinforce that their job isnt just to follow the rules, but to operate with safety as their top priority at all times. MTA officials said the stand-down at its various agencies, including Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road, would begin later this week. In a letter sent yesterday to the MTA, Joseph Szabo, Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, called such a stand-down a visible first step to restoring public and employee confidence, but said more is needed. He called for the immediate implementation of a confidential close call reporting system in the MTA that would protect whistleblowers from disciplinary action if they report potentially dangerous conditions. Szabo said Sundays fatal derailment of a Metro-North train in the Bronx -- the fourth of an MTA train in seven months -- is simply unacceptable. We support any initiative to operate trains at a safe speed on the LIRR, said Michael Quinn, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Local 269, which represents LIRR engineers. Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) who chairs the state Senate Transportation Committee, Tuesday called on the MTA to expedite plans to install new accident-prevention technology on Metro-North and the LIRR. The MTA has said it does not think it will meet a federal deadline to have the positive train control system in place by December 2015. In a statement, the MTA said the size and complexity of its system make the 2015 deadline difficult to meet, but it will continue its efforts to install PTC as quickly as possible.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 04:25:44 +0000
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