FTA to MBTA: Act now to protect ROW workers

The Federal Transit Administration in a letter this week urged the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to take immediate action to protect right-of-way (ROW) workers from risk of serious injury or death.

During a safety management inspection of the MBTA conducted over the past year, FTA inspectors observed some progress in the transit agency's safety practices. But, the FTA remains "deeply concerned" with MBTA's ROW procedures and practices, wrote Joe DeLorenzo, FTA associate administrator and chief safety officer, in an April 18 letter to MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng.

MBTA recorded five near-miss events involving trains and workers between March 13 and April 14 this year, DeLorenzo wrote. On April 13, an employee was seriously injured while working on a ROW in a location where access had not been requested or granted — a major violation of MBTA's safety procedures.

FTA's on-site inspection teams observed deficient use of ROW safety rules, significant gaps in safety oversight and training, and lack of clarity in authority, accountability and responsibility for worker safety, DeLorenzo wrote. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU), which oversees safety at MBTA, also has reported concerns similar to the FTA's, he added.

In light of the recent near-misses and injury, "the results of FTA's on-site inspections, reports from DPU, and the MBTA’s backlog of maintenance work which necessitates continued track access for work crews, FTA finds that a combination of unsafe conditions and practices exist such that there is a substantial risk of death or personal injury," DeLorenzo wrote.

The FTA is prohibiting MBTA from granting ROW access to workers unless the transit agency immediately does the following:

• improve processes to monitor track access procedures, requiring MBTA to submit daily to FTA and DPU ROW access planning documents before the start of revenue service, and a report signed by MBTA executives detailing actual track access granted to work crews;
• assess how many work crews can safely access the ROW, requiring MBTA to submit evidence to FTA and DPU that it has analyzed and evaluated work crew capacity, work order language and communication;
• develop corrective actions that MBTA will take to follow ROW safety procedures; and
• revise ROW safety training materials.

Starting April 24, MBTA will be prohibited from allowing crews access to ROW unless the agency submits those documents, DeLorenzo wrote. Additionally, as of no later than June 15, ROW access will be prohibited unless MBTA trains its workers according to the new training materials and practices.