WMSC issues noncompliance notice over overdue fall-protection corrective action as audit subpoena dispute delays records

At its April public meeting the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC) reported it had issued a notice of noncompliance to Metro Rail on April 4 for corrective action plan C0240, which addresses fall-protection work around roadway maintenance machines (RMMs).

WMSC staff said C0240 contains five actionable items designed to mitigate a known hazard: Metro Rail acknowledged "inadequate fall protection for workers around RMMs" during a 2023 audit, but failed to deliver two later milestones (actionable items 2 and 3) that were due on July 10, 2024 and January 22, 2025. WMSC staff told commissioners Metro Rail initially submitted actionable item 1 on 02/23/2024, then paused submissions in an April 2024 email. The WMSC’s notice requires Metro Rail to provide the overdue deliverables to return to compliance.

Commissioners linked the stalled C0240 work to a broader dispute over an audit of fitness-for-duty and occupational health programs. Dr. Meyer and WMSC counsel briefed commissioners that Metro Rail refused to produce certain documents requested for that audit; after unsuccessful negotiation the WMSC filed a subpoena and then an enforcement action in court in late October 2024 to compel production. WMSC staff said Metro Rail has at times asserted the same legal objection to other deliverables, and that assertion has caused Metro to withhold information on a set of caps the agency now treats as part of the same legal dispute.

WMSC staff gave numerical context for corrective-action work across Metro Rail: Metro has 84 open corrective action plans (caps) and five additional caps in development — 89 in total — and since the last public meeting Metro has submitted 29 deliverables for review. Staff also highlighted eight caps closed since the last meeting (including C0136, C0137, C0155, C0156, C0168, C0224, C0225 and C0245), describing each closure as a fully implemented safety improvement.

Commissioners voiced concern about the operational and resource impacts of Metro’s withholding. Vice Chair raised concern that the practice of categorizing deliverables as subject to the occupational-health dispute could leave worker-safety hazards unmitigated and slow progress on other caps. Commissioner Rouse noted Metro told WMSC in April 2024 that eight specific caps were being treated by Metro as part of the occupational-safety legal dispute and therefore not being advanced, and staff confirmed three notices of noncompliance have been issued to date related to caps the agency has paused.

WMSC staff said they received an email from Metro acknowledging receipt of the noncompliance notice but had not received the overdue deliverables as of the meeting. Staff emphasized the commission retains all its enforcement tools and is considering next steps to compel compliance while continuing other oversight work.

The commission also described an ongoing triennial audit cycle and specific audits in progress: an audit of control center and rail operations (draft report being prepared), an elevators and escalators audit (exit conference held March 28; supplemental materials received April 4), a fitness-for-duty and occupational-health audit (documents withheld by Metro), and a communications-systems audit scheduled for on-site work starting mid-April.

WMSC staff said the draft of the WMSC program standard will be sent to Metro Rail for review and comment within the week and that the WMSC continues to draft its first strategic plan and its annual operations report.

WMSC said it will continue oversight and may escalate compliance actions if Metro Rail does not submit the missing C0240 deliverables.