NTL Record

Title A Pilot Examination of a Joint Railroad Management-Labor Approach to Root Cause Analysis of Accidents, Incidents, and Close Calls in a Diesel and Car Repair Shop Environment [Research Results]
Record ID 42853
Personal Name
Creator
Raslear, Thomas
Corporate
Contributor
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
Publisher United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
Publication Date 20060800
Language English
Abstract A 1-year (yr) pilot study investigated the feasibility and practicality of a joint railroad management-labor approach to root cause analysis (RCA) of accidents, incidents, and close calls in a diesel and car repair shop environment. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the adequacy and utility of a joint railroad management-labor RCA process. Participating labor and management identified seven RCA opportunities during the study period; however, only one led to investigation. Participants identified a number of barriers that made it difficult for the project to succeed in its current form. Key barriers included a lack of study leadership; poor interaction and communication between labor and management participants and between participants and the employees involved in the accidents, incidents, and close calls; challenges with employee participation; perceived minimal opportunity to conduct RCAs; and complexity of the RCA tools and process. Participants also identified a number of suggestions to address these barriers. Finally, this study identifies additional lessons learned and offers recommendations for future implementation of a joint labor-management RCA process.
Rosap ID dot:40516
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/40516
TRT Terms Crash investigation; Crashes; Diesel engines; Railroad safety; Railcar shops
General Subjects Administration and Management; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; I10: Economics and Administration; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor
Geographical
Coverage
United States
TRIS Online
Accession No
1475776
Report Number RR06-18
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/42000/42800/42853/rr0618.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository