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The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) safety department recently received approval from the Tri-state Oversight Committee (TOC) to close 22 corrective action plans that address safety issues identified during internal and TOC safety audits.

Some of the closed plans included identifying and marking tripping hazards near tracks, evaluating and updating communication procedures for track workers, and developing standards for allowable rail-car wheel roughness and wheel repair, WMATA officials said in a prepared statement.
 
The agency also recently expanded its whistleblower protection policy to include new federal protections outlined in the National Transit Systems Security Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that prohibit reprisal against employees who report safety violations.

Other recent actions include appointing an on-call safety person for Metrorail and Metrobus to respond to accidents and incidents and begin an initial investigation, and awarding a contract to bring in additional safety consultants to help address Federal Transit Administration and TOC audit recommendations.

The safety audits and corrective action plans are a result of the scrutiny placed on WMATA and TOC since a June 2009 train accident on the Red Line.