Progress Through Unity

You are here: Home / Member’s Tools / C3RS / Discipline Protection

Discipline Protection

  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 NASA, 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 FRAenforcement.
    • Coworkers whose names you mention during your initial report to NASA.
  2. Are there conditions for receiving protection?
  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 NASA is the entire crew protected by C3RS?
    Only if each crew member is named on the report.