Metro Board Chair Peter Benjamin.

Some 30% of Metro employees don’t report safety hazards for fear of retaliation. That’s according to testimony from Metro General Manager Sarles at the most recent Metro Board meeting, which included the results of an employee survey of Metro’s safety culture.

If that isn’t alarming enough, the response of the Chair of the Metro Board will be. Board Chair Peter Benjamin effectively blamed the workers for their perceptions.

According to General Manager Sarles:

Approximately 60% of those surveyed said that they have observed a safety-concerned violation in the past year while on the job at Metro. This is concerning. But we also learned that of those observing concerns, approximately 70% are reporting their concerns with their first reporting channel being their supervisor.

That means that 42% of workers (70% of 60%) have reported a safety hazard in the past year. That’s alot of safety hazards reported. That also means that 30% of safety hazards noticed by workers aren’t being reported. Sarles then addresses the latter issue of fear of retaliation.

There is a strong concern about retaliation but in somewhat unexpected ways. Employees’ primary concerns are not that they would be fired or demoted. The strongest concerns that were cited were that it would be difficult for them to work among their peers, that the organization wouldn’t do anything about their report, and that the organization would not protect them against retaliation in their immediate working environment.

So, imagine that you are the Chair of the Board at this point. The NTSB has excoriated your Board for its lack of safety oversight following the Red Line crash that killed 9 people. Everyone is pushing Congress to let the FTA regulate transit agencies because of your Board’s failure in oversight.

You have responded to the NTSB and FTA by saying that you are now up to the task of safety oversight, and are modifying your mission statement in the very same meeting to place more focus on safety.

You would probably ask if the workers are correct that the organization wouldn’t do anything about their report. What does the organization do with reports of safety hazards, and is this process documented and audited? What has it done with the safety hazards reported by 42% of workers?

Board Chair Benjamin:

My reaction is that your report is impressive, it’s thorough, it’s in-depth, it’s exhaustive, and more than anything else it shows your leadership as a General Manager, and the combined efforts of a really dedicated senior staff, middle management and staff throughout this authority. It’s an extremely, extremely good report.

Huhh? What is “extremely, extremely good” about 60% of workers noticing safety hazards and 30% of workers fearing retaliation if they report safety hazards?

I would like to comment very briefly on the employee survey because it’s such an interesting set of results which reflect not necessarily reality but perception. And in this particular case, perception is so important. Because if what you are trying to do is revamp your culture, you have to know where you’re starting.

So, after lauding praise on management, Benjamin dismisses the workers’ perceptions as “not necessarily reality” and shows absolutely no interest in what has been done with the safety hazards noticed by 70% of workers and reported by 42% of workers.

This meeting exemplified the dangerous rut that Metro is in: (a) writing blank checks to demonstrate its response to NTSB recommendations designed to prevent a crash like the Red Line crash, while (b) placing their heads in the sand when anyone suggests that more safety hazards exist.

What exactly is the Board doing any differently than they did before the Red Line crash to demonstrate safety oversight?

Other than reviewing statistics of injuries and fatalities by month (which we all knew by reading the newspaper anyway), forming a Safety committee and changing the mission statement, it’s unclear what is happening that is supposed to resemble safety oversight.

Ken Archer is CTO of a software firm in Tysons Corner. He commutes to Tysons by bus from his home in Georgetown, where he lives with his wife and son.  Ken completed a Masters degree in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America.