Category Archives: Governance, Risk & Compliance

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Amtrak Positive About Meeting PTC Deadline

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Earlier this month, Amtrak President Richard Anderson told the House railroads subcommittee that his company is on target to complete installation of positive train control (PTC) on the infrastructure it controls and on all of its equipment by the Dec. 31, 2018 federal deadline. He warned, however, that trains without PTC by the deadline could not use Amtrak’s tracks.

“We believe that PTC should ultimately be in place for all Amtrak routes and, as a matter of U.S. policy, PTC should be required for all passenger rail trips in America,” Anderson told the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.

PTC is designed to eliminate human error by using four components: GPS satellite data, onboard locomotive equipment, the dispatching office and wayside interface units. The system communicates with the train’s onboard computer, allowing it to audibly warn the engineer and display the train’s safe braking distance based on its speed, length, width and weight, as well as the grade and curvature of the track, according to railroad operator Metrolink.

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If the engineer does not respond to the warning, the onboard computer will activate the brakes and safely stop the train.

Anderson’s testimony poses a challenge for major transportation providers like NJ Transit, whose trains run on the Northeast Corridor east of the Hudson River tunnels to New York City. Committee members have noted that NJ Transit “hasn’t even started” the process of installing PTC, while the company’s spokeswoman maintains that despite delays attributed to software compatibility, she believes they can meet the deadline. According to a Federal Railroad Administration progress report, 8% of NJ Transit’s locomotives and none of its tracks were updated with PTC as of the end of 2017.

After Congress passed the PTC Enforcement and Implementation Act of 2015 it also authorized the FAST Act, which allocated $199 million in PTC grant funding and specifically prioritized PTC installation projects for Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing funding. The Association of American Railroads estimates that freight railroads will spend $10.6 billion implementing PTC, with additional hundreds of millions each year to maintain. The American Public Transportation Association has estimated that the commuter and passenger railroads will have to spend nearly .

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6 billion on PTC.

“Without PTC, the system is too vulnerable to single points of failure, many of which are dependent upon the memory of a single human being interacting with a big, complicated system,” Anderson said. “When an engineer loses situational awareness or forgets a rule, we have no systems to assist them and help them prevent that error.”

He also noted that Amtrak is taking additional steps, such as installing inward-facing cameras. “These cameras monitor locomotive and engineer performance and are installed in Amtrak trains along routes in the northeast, midwest, and west and we are actively working to install them on Amtrak trains nationwide. Reviewing the data from these cameras, coupled with the data from our efficiency testing programs, provides us an excellent view of operational issues to be addressed in future training programs.”

Efforts to upgrade train technology has been a nationwide priority. The most recent major derailment occurred on Dec. 18, 2017 when an Amtrak train derailed near Tacoma, Washington, killing three passengers and injuring about 100. That crash was the result of excessive speed in a steep curve, which experts suggested could have been prevented with PTC’s automatic braking technology. Amtrak Train No. 501, on its inaugural run, was traveling 80 miles per hour in an area limited to 30 miles per hour when it derailed on an overpass, sending the train’s 12 coaches and one of its two engines careening onto the highway below.

As previously reported in Risk Management, a similar derailment in Philadelphia in May 2015 that killed eight, was also blamed on excessive speed and could have been avoided if PTC had been in place.

New Bill Would Toughen Calif. Dam Inspections

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DWR Photo: Lake Oroville on Jan. 19, 2018 with lake levels at 707 feet.

A year after the spillway collapse at the Oroville Dam, leading to evacuations of almost 200,000 residents and a beat-the-clock patching job to avoid a break in the tallest dam in the United States, new legislation to strengthen inspections of dams awaits approval of California Gov. Jerry Brown.

The bill would require annual inspections for high hazard dams, raise inspection standards and require consultation with independent experts every 10 years, according to ABC News.

As reported by Risk Management Magazine, problems at the Oroville Dam began when the dam’s main sluice was damaged after a winter season of record rain and snowfall, following five years of drought. Torrential rainfall caused water levels to rise so quickly that large amounts needed to be released to prevent the dam from rupturing and sending a wall of water to the communities below.

A recent report of the root-cause of the spillway failure by the Independent Forensic Team (IFC), which includes members of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials and the United States Society of Dams, notes that:

There was no single root cause of the Oroville Dam spillway incident, nor was there a simple chain of events that led to the failure of the service spillway chute slab, the subsequent overtopping of the emergency spillway crest structure, and the necessity of the evacuation order. Rather, the incident was caused by a complex interaction of relatively common physical, human, organizational, and industry factors, starting with the design of the project and continuing until the incident. The physical factors can be placed into two general categories:

  • Inherent vulnerabilities in the spillway designs and as-constructed conditions, and subsequent chute slab deterioration

  • Poor spillway foundation conditions in some locations

The IFC report concludes that all dam owners in the state need to “reassess current procedures” in light of its findings.

According to the IFC:

“The fact that this incident happened to the owner of the tallest dam in the United States, under regulation of a federal agency, with repeated evaluation by reputable outside consultants, in a state with the leading dam safety regulatory program, is a wake-up call for everyone involved in dam safety. Challenging current assumptions on what constitutes ‘best practice’ in our industry is overdue.”

Initial response to the spillway failure included erosion mitigation for both spillways during the incident, sediment removal and installation of temporary transmission lines at a cost of $160 million, According to the DWR. Phase-two includes removal of the original 730 feet of the upper chute, replacing it with structural concrete.

Workplace Sexual Harassment: More HR Guidance Needed

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From news anchors, to titans of the entertainment industry, to corporate executives, and elected officials, headlines show no one is above the fallout of sexual harassment in the workplace. Millions of dollars have been paid in settlements and the once mighty have fallen in disgrace.

Yet, a belated resignation or termination doesn’t absolve the employer from legal action—and often leaves the aggrieved and/or juries wondering how the employer might have handled the situation better.

How can risk managers, human resources (HR), executives and companies they serve help prevent sexual or other forms of harassment? The question becomes more pressing now with the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Harassment” bill. The proposed legislation voids forced arbitration and allows disputes to proceed in court rather than in a confidential arbitration setting. Proponents believe the prospect of making these cases public will reduce such activity in the workplace.

Smart employers aren’t waiting on legislation to make workplaces safer, however. They are planning and training now to reduce sexual harassment to mitigate risk, and therefore, potential damage claims affecting executives and employees across employer ranks. Ensuring such a workplace should result in fewer acts and reports of harassment and insurance claims. As all employers are interested in the bottom line as well as a positive work environment, a more defensible posture against future claims should be top-of-mind for every risk manager and HR Executive.

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Old policies prohibiting harassment must be dusted off, reviewed, updated and publicized. These policies protect those whose accusations are proven to have merit or are brought in good faith, they create consequences for those proven to have abused others, and should clearly define expectations and ramifications.

These strategies can help risk managers, HR teams, and employers keep their organizations out of the headlines:

  • Review internal policies and procedures. When was the last time your organization reviewed the HR policies and procedures manual? Older manuals may ineffectively address the issue, including under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance.
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    Once updated, make the document available to the workforce in print and online. However, a manual of policies is only the beginning.

  • Training is not a one-time event for select individuals. To paraphrase Aristotle, inclusion training in the workplace is not an act, but a habit. Hire a professional skilled in workplace diversity and inclusion training, and make courses mandatory from the rank and file to the C-suite. Refresh the training every few years, and make sure every new hire is trained as part of onboarding.
  • Create a “See something, say something” culture. Sexual harassment is avoided best in organizations with a culture of transparency and accountability. Management must welcome reports of unwanted sexual advances, and then investigate such claims. Such activity reported but not acted upon can worsen the environment, and become powerful evidence for claimants in harassment lawsuits.
  • Establish a realistic reporting procedure. If protocol urges an aggrieved employee to report harassment to a direct supervisor—and that supervisor is the alleged perpetrator—an obvious conflict arises. Encourage employees to speak directly to HR or a high level manager such as a division, general or plant manager. The reporting procedure should ensure that certain steps are taken so complaints are not swept aside.
  • Empower HR to investigate all claims. If HR receives a complaint, it has a legal obligation to investigate further. Even if the complainant fears an investigation could jeopardize the alleged harasser’s job, the law is clear that a prompt investigation occur to stop any alleged harassment from continuing. Termination or disciplinary action are not necessarily required; often, claimants just want the behavior to stop. It could be immature or otherwise benign playfulness that crossed the line—behavior a simple discussion could remedy.
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    Follow up with the complainant to ensure the behavior has stopped and to document that follow-up occurred.

Effective policies and procedures in place and rigorously followed can help employees know the organization takes sexual, racial, and other forms of harassment seriously; insurers know you’ve established policies designed to protect both employees and the organization against incidents of harassment; and for those who might see million-dollar claims in the news and think they could be next, that you’ve set up your defenses.

10 Steps to Effective Enterprise Risk Management

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Enterprise risk management (ERM) has emerged as a best practice in gaining an overview of strategic, financial and operational threats, and in determining how to mitigate and manage those risks.

A comprehensive approach to risk management is important because it helps management comprehend the true potential of threats and allows organizations to address the cumulative nature of risk.

The following steps can help your company achieve the ERM objective.

  1. Just Do It!
    The process of creating an ERM program is valuable, revealing much about your organization and the interrelatedness of elements within it.

    Document your efforts in your board minutes and share them with any auditors. You will generally find those parties willing to provide constructive feedback because they have a vested interest in the success of your efforts.

  1. Get a Champion
    Your board of directors is accountable to shareholders and the SEC (if your company is public)—and possibly to other entities by industry—for the adequacy of risk management procedures, controls and ultimately for the competence of management. A logical champion of your ERM efforts is the chairperson of your board audit or ERM committee, followed by the chair of the board and other board members. If these individuals understand that an ERM program can help them discharge their duties and protect them from personal financial risk, you will likely see top-level buy-in and a trickle-down effect through senior management.
  1. Merge the Silos
    If existing risk committees and sub-committees are functioning as intended and get consistently high marks from outside auditors, it’s unlikely that fundamental changes are needed. Yet it is important they understand where they fit in the bigger picture. A board-level champion can help provide this perspective, and reinforce the role of the ERM committee in setting the organization-wide level of acceptable risk.
  1. Weight the Risks
    Certain areas of risk have the potential to seriously harm your organization. Others, however, are less critical. When your management team assembles an ERM framework, create a logical mechanism for assigning relative weights to each area of risk, and to selected components within those areas.
  1. Create a Dashboard
    A dashboard containing a high-level summary of major risk elements supported by “drill-down” detail enables board members and senior managers to connect all the pieces of the risk management puzzle.A dashboard need not be complex. Some managers use Microsoft Excel to create multi-layered risk workbooks, which summarize details provided by the risk sub-committees into a single page of high-level information.

  1. Understand Risk and Reward
    Some risks are worth taking, because the reward is greater than the likelihood and consequences of failure. In other cases the reward does not outweigh the potential consequences. Then there are risks not worth considering, when the risk is a “bet-the-farm” proposition, or is illegal or immoral. Each risk committee and sub-committee should understand the risk-versus-reward proposition.
  1. Set Limits
    One important function of the board ERM committee is to work with management to establish limits to risk taking. Management should make recommendations to the board, supported by reasonable data and arguments, which establish the boundaries of the organization’s risk appetite. Management’s role is to advise and inform, with the ultimate decision resting with the board.
  1. Understand the Cumulative Nature of Risk
    An organization that could sustain itself through one or two major weaknesses, or several minor ones, will succumb under too many. For this reason, the board ERM committee should set limits for both individual risks and cumulatively.
  1. Make It Easy
    In the areas of setting limits and risk weighting, management should make it as easy as possible for board members to comprehend and participate in the process. Distill complex regulations, and use accepted business terminology.

    Implementing an ERM framework should be spread over several months, if possible. Give the board ERM committee two or three recommendations per month, in advance, so they can be reviewed, summarized, presented and adopted at the regular monthly meeting.

  1. Refine, Refine, Refine
    New risks emerge every day, and your process must be flexible enough to identify, quantify and incorporate them. The chief risk officer and other senior managers should devote time to researching emerging risks, imagining worst case scenarios and creating stress tests to understand the implications of critical failures.

A Top-To-Bottom Effort
It is possible for ERM practices to become part of your organizational culture. Global awareness of the process and a rank-and-file understanding of the board’s focus on effective risk management are critical to obtaining the buy-in of the entire organization. After all, risk management is everybody’s job—today more than ever.