Metro train operators were using side tracks as bathrooms because they lacked time for breaks, according to an inspector general’s report. Transit agency employees had to clean out vending equipment infested with dead rodents “without the benefit of face masks or protective gloves in public areas in order not to alarm patrons,” the report also found.
| Train operators used pocket tracks, where trains turn around, as lavatories near the Mount Vernon Square, Southern Avenue and Grosvenor stations, which the report called “safety and health risks.” The inspector general urged Metro to review the schedules of train operators to make sure they have adequate breaks to use real bathrooms. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said a notice was issued and operators have been reminded about taking breaks. |
And workers with cracked hard helmets have been told replacements weren’t in stock.
The inspector general outlined those problems plus other major safety issues in the transit agency’s division of track and systems maintenance.
The report, issued in September but first reported Monday by the blog Unsuck DC Metro, comes even after the division received three deadly wake-up calls: four track workers killed in three incidents in the past two years. It shines a light on what has continued to happen beyond the station platforms, highlighting an underground system where workers still face poor lighting, dead zones on their radios and train operators who don’t slow down for them. The track workers log long hours of overtime, the report said, tiring them out and putting them further at risk.
Track workers also don’t have enough time to review and inspect the tracks adequately, the report found, and thus “rush” to complete inspections. Managers are closing out repair tickets without ensuring that the repairs actually have been completed, the report found.
“Employees’ concerns discussed in this report are not new and have been reported repeatedly over the years without resolution or feedback,” it said. “This may explain why some employees are frustrated and reluctant to report safety concerns and violations to management.”
Those who do raise safety concerns face retaliation, the report found. One employee was threatened when he voiced his concern after his supervisor raised him about 60 feet above ground in a lift on a windy day. “Because he felt unsafe, he asked the supervisor to lower him, and the supervisor then threatened his job,” the report said.
Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein called the report a “valuable tool” for the agency.
“Improving our safety culture has been one of our top priorities, and many of our actions have already been taken that address the issues that the inspector general’s assessment brought up,” she said.
She said the board of directors approved a new policy over the summer to protect whistleblowers and the agency developed a manual for track worker safety in the fall, among other steps.
