Metro safety culture still needs work, board says

Metro’s safety culture came under scrutiny Tuesday as investigators disclosed that track workers were left vulnerable to train traffic or electric shock and other employees feared reprisal for raising concerns about safety. The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, an independent panel Congress created three years ago to monitor safety at the transit agency, issued findings at its meeting from three investigations conducted last fall. The probes emphasized Metro’s need to create, update and reinforce safety standards — something the agency has pledged after the release of a September audit that included 21 safety failures or concerns within its Rail Operations Control Center. The commission’s audit included several safety concerns that have gone unresolved for years, but also noted cultural issues that investigators say created an atmosphere of racial and sexual harassment, willful ignorance of safety protocols, and low morale that has contributed to an understaffed control center.