SECURITAS

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SECURITAS reports can lead to the TSB making formal recommendations to the Minister of Transport or issuing safety advisories to other government departments or industry organizations for action.

SECURITAS reports can help the TSB identify widespread safety issues.

By combining confidential report data with other accident and incident reports and studies, and by sharing safety information with other agencies in Canada and abroad, investigators gain greater insight into national and global transportation safety issues.

SECURITAS reports may support TSB studies and analyses on safety-related matters such as operating procedures, training, human performance, and equipment.

The Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act (CTAISB Act) protects the confidentiality of the statements that witnesses or those involved in transportation occurrences make, as well as the identity of persons who report confidentially to SECURITAS, so they can be frank with TSB investigators without any fear of reprisal, self incrimination, or embarrassment.

Letters, faxes, e-mails and telephone messages to SECURITAS come directly into the SECURITAS office and are handled only by authorized SECURITAS analysts. The analysts are specialists in aviation, marine, pipeline, and rail safety.

A confidential record is kept of the reporter’s name and contact information because the SECURITAS analyst may need to reach the reporter to follow up on the details of his or her report—but the reporter’s identity is kept confidential.

The CTAISB Act (Section 31) and the TSB Regulations to Transportation Safety Board Regulations prohibit the release of any information that could reveal a confidential reporter’s identity without the reporter’s written consent.

SECURITAS analysts examine each report and enter the pertinent information into the SECURITAS database. The TSB initiates action according to the gravity of the safety concern.

When the reported observation is confirmed to represent a safety deficiency, the TSB forwards the information, often with its suggestion for corrective action, to the appropriate regulatory authority. Sometimes the TSB contacts specific transportation organizations, companies and/or agencies directly if they are the ones best placed to correct the problem, but it will not take any action that might reveal the reporter’s identity.

By comparing SECURITAS reports with other reports of similar situations, the TSB can also identify systemic safety deficiencies.

SECURITAS is primarily concerned with unsafe acts and conditions in commercial and public transportation systems within federally regulated modes of transport (air, marine, pipeline, and rail).

Contact SECURITAS, and include the following in your message:

• your name, address, and phone number
• your profession and experience
• your involvement in the unsafe situation being reported
• where else you may have reported this unsafe situation or safety concern
• complete identification of the ship, pipeline, rolling stock or aircraft
• the name of the owner/operator of the equipment

Also, please describe the unsafe act or safety concern. For example:

• How was the unsafe act/condition discovered?
• If you are describing an event, tell SECURITAS
  • what happened;
  • where it happened;
  • when it happened (the date and the local time); and
  • why you think it happened.
• What actions/inactions resulted, or could have resulted?
• How do you think the situation could be corrected?

• Regulatory infractions or illegal activities that do not affect safety
• Customer service complaints
• Undesirable working conditions that do not affect transportation safety

False or misleading reports: Remember that it is an offence to knowingly give false or misleading statements to the TSB through SECURITAS. The purpose of your report should be to advance transportation safety through the identification of real safety deficiencies.

Who reports to SECURITAS?

You are a pilot, air traffic controller, dispatcher, flight service specialist, flight attendant, aircraft maintenance engineer, a passenger—or any other person with an interest in aviation safety.

What kind of situation should you report?

These are some examples of the types of situations that could affect air transportation safety and that your report might help correct.

Unsafe conditions

• Chronic lack of repair of aircraft, poor maintenance practices
• Unsafe runway or aerodrome conditions
• Inadequate or poor air traffic services in a particular area
• Poor reception of navigation signals, weak radio coverage, inadequate weather services
• Errors in aeronautical publications; unsafe procedures published in manuals of instructions for pilots, cabin crew, ground crew, or aircraft maintenance or air traffic services

Unsafe procedures and practices

• Routinely descending below minimum en route altitude or approach in instrument meteorological conditions
• Non-compliance with airworthiness directives, minimum equipment list
• Pilots flying in excess of regulatory flight-time limits
• Unsafe aircraft circuit procedures and/or communications
• Air traffic control practices that could jeopardize the safety of flight; e.g., use of non-standard phraseology, compromising separation criteria, inadequate manning and supervision
• Unsafe cabin baggage stowage procedures; unsafe passenger seating or cargo securing arrangements
• Aircraft maintenance procedures not completed correctly but signed off
• Shortcuts in following checklist procedures
• Crew scheduling problems: inadequate crew composition, unqualified crew, inadequate crew rest
• Scheduling personnel who are not professionally or medically qualified for the assigned duties
• The use of unapproved parts, time-expired equipment

Who reports to SECURITAS?

You are a ship’s officer or crew member, a shore repair crew or maintenance engineer, a harbour master, a wharfinger, a stevedore, a pilot, a passenger—or any other person with an interest in marine safety.

What kind of situation should you report?

These are some examples of the types of situations that could affect marine safety and that your report might help correct.

Unsafe conditions

• Deteriorated condition of the hull: extreme corrosion, perforation of plates and frames; sub-standard conditions of watertight hatches, doors and other openings
• Substandard condition of main or auxiliary machinery, or steering systems; malfunctioning alarm systems; inadequate life-saving equipment; defective fire protection, fire-prevention or fire-fighting systems; inadequate navigational equipment, charts or publications
• Inadequate skills and knowledge of crew members in language, seamanship, navigation, or safety
• Inadequately marked or charted obstructions to safe navigation; inadequate weather services; lack of traffic information
• Inadequate condition and inspection of life-saving equipment such as lifeboats, lifejackets, immersion suits; expired life-saving equipment certificates; inadequate fire and boat drills

Unsafe procedures and practices

• Unsafe navigational procedures and practices; deviating from established collision-avoidance procedures; inadequate passage planning; poor bridge procedures
• Crew-scheduling practices resulting in excess workload or fatigue; safety procedures being bypassed due to operational pressures
• Inadequately maintained hatches, openings, watertight doors, machinery, davits or other mechanical equipment
• Inadequate number, qualification or certification of deck or engine-room officers and crew members
• Systematic non-compliance with the provisions of the Collision Regulations; non compliance with regulations related to life-saving, safe manning, and safe working practices

Who reports to SECURITAS?

You are a pipeline engineer, surveyor, inspector, equipment operator, control centre employee, plant maintenance employee-or any other person with an interest in pipeline safety.

What kind of situation should you report?

These are some examples of the types of situations that could affect pipeline safety and that your report might help correct.

Unsafe conditions

• Poor equipment design or maintenance; failed safety control; worn components or corroded pipelines; inadequate safety appliances affecting the safe operation of pipelines
• Poor plant maintenance; poor protection of pipeline at roadway crossings; instability of subgrade/embankment above and below the pipeline
• Contradictory or ambiguous information in operating instructions or orders; inadequate communication
• Pipeline in service without the required mechanical, electrical and hydraulic safety inspections or other physical inspections

Unsafe procedures and practices

• Management procedures and/or practices that create an unsafe situation; e.g., conflicting expectations, conflicting instructions, or lack of procedures
• Poor vigilance: staffing levels during inspections; crew scheduling; inadequate crew rest
• Local operating practices that do not comply with safe operating procedures; e.g., not completing work properly, leaving valves unsecured or protective devices unarmed
• Personnel operating pipelines without the necessary training and/or certification
• Inadequate design, application or implementation of rules and/or regulations that affect the operation of pipelines and plants

Who reports to SECURITAS?

You are a locomotive engineer, conductor, trainperson, signal maintainer, rail traffic controller, track maintenance employee, equipment personnel, a passenger—or any other person with an interest in rail safety.

What kind of situation should you report?

These are some examples of the types of situations that could affect rail safety and that your report might help correct.

Unsafe conditions

• Poor equipment design or maintenance; failed reset safety control; worn components or flat wheels; inadequate safety appliances affecting the safe operation of rolling stock
• Poor track maintenance; poor sight-lines at public crossings instability of subgrade/embankment above and below the roadbed
• Contradictory or ambiguous information in timetable or orders; inadequate radio coverage
• Rolling stock in service without the required mechanical safety or other physical inspections

Unsafe procedures and practices

• Management procedures and/or practices that create an unsafe situation; e.g., conflicting expectations or instructions
• Poor vigilance: staffing levels during inspections; crew scheduling; inadequate crew rest
• Local operating practices that are not in compliance with safe operating procedures; e.g., not calling signals, leaving switches aligned for other than main track, not securing standing cars
• Personnel operating rolling stock without the necessary training and/or certification
• Inadequate design, application or implementation of rules and/or regulations that affect the operation of railway rolling stock, such as cars and locomotives, hi-rail equipment, snowplows, spreaders, railway cranes, and other on-track maintenance equipment

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will never reveal your identity or any information that could identify who you are. By reporting an unsafe act or condition, you can help make a real difference towards improving transportation safety.

Send your reports to SECURITAS

E-mail:

securitas@bst-tsb.gc.ca (preferred)

Call toll-free:

1-800-567-6865

Mail:

PO Box 1996 Station B
Gatineau QC J8X 3Z2