Confidential Close Call Reporting System

Questions and Answers — Protection from Discipline

1. Who receives protection?
2. Are there conditions for receiving protection?
3. When are reporting employees NOT protected?
4. When are carriers NOT protected?
5. Can the company punish me in retrospect?
6. Are managers eligible to receive protection from discipline?
7. If a dispatcher or control operator observes an event, such as an authority violation on the control machine, and reports it to a manager, is the event covered by C³RS?
8. When do carriers receive protection?
9. If one employee reports a close call event and has an accepted report receipt from BTS is the entire crew protected by C³RS?

1. Who receives protection?
   • Union employees observing a safety problem or experiencing a close call event and reporting it receive protection from carrier discipline and/or decertification and FRA enforcement.
   • Coworkers whose names you mention during your initial phone call to BTS and list on your written report also receive protection.
2. Are there conditions for receiving protection?
   Yes. For an employee to receive protection, the following conditions must be met:

   • The employee's action or lack of action was not intended to damage carrier operations, equipment, and/or personnel.
   • The employee reports the unsafe condition to BTS within 48 hours of noting it, and BTS accepts the report.
   • The employee mails a formal, written close call report to BTS within three calendar days after the phone call.
   • The employee's carrier has an active IMOU with FRA.
   • The employee violates a law, regulation, or operating rule under a direct order from a supervisor.
3. When are reporting employees NOT protected?
   • Action/lack of action was intended to damage carrier operations/equipment, injure other employees, or place others in danger.
   • Action/lack of action involved a criminal offense.
   • Employee behavior involved substance abuse.
   • Report contained falsified information.
   • Event resulted in a railroad accident/incident.
   • Event resulted in a release of hazardous material.
   • Event was observed in real time and reported to the carrier, or observed as part of OPS (Operating Practices) testing
4. When are carriers NOT protected?
   If their employee reporting the close call is not protected under the above conditions.
5. Can the company punish me in retrospect?
   No. Employees who file an accepted close call report are protected from the retrospective discovery of operating practice violations involving the reported event.
6. Are managers eligible to receive protection from discipline?
   No. Managers do not receive protection from discipline if they report a close call and it is discovered by the carrier or FRA.
7. If a dispatcher or control operator observes an event, such as an authority violation on the control machine, and reports it to a manager, is the event covered by C³RS?
   The event may still be reported as a close call but there will not be protection from carrier discipline or FRA decertification.
8. When do carriers receive protection?
   The carrier receives protection from FRA enforcement activities if the employee reporting the close call receives protection.
9. If one employee reports a close call event and has an accepted report receipt from BTS is the entire crew protected by C³RS?
   Only if each crew member is named on the report.

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