Safety Management Control

Process Safety Management (Control of Acute Hazards), Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), Washington, D.C., 1985. This booklet presents a number of ideas on hazard identification, hazard assessment, and hazard control in just 47 pages. 

The safety audit is a review by the FMCSA of the carrier s written procedures and records to validate the accuracy of information and certifications provided in the application and determine whether the carrier has established or exercised the basic safety management controls necessary to ensure safe operations. The FMCSA will evaluate the results of the safety audit using the criteria in Part 365, Subpart E, Appendix A. 

If the FMCSA determines (based on the safety audit) that the Mexico-domiciled motor carrier has adequate basic safety management controls, the FMCSA will provide the carrier written notice of this finding as soon as practicable, but not later than 45 days after the completion of the safety audit. 

The safety audit is also used to assess the basic safety management controls of Mexico-domiciled applicants for provisional operating authority to operate beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border under 365.507. 

The criteria used in a compliance review to determine whether a Mexico-domiciled motor carrier granted provisional operating authority under 365.507 exercises the necessary basic safety management controls are specified in Part 385, Appendix B. 

Unsatisfactory Rating — If a carrier is assigned an unsatisfactory safety rating following a compliance review or a safety audit determines that a carrier does not exercise the basic safety management controls necessary to ensure safe operations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) wOl provide the carrier written notice (as soon as practicable) that the carrier s registration wiU be suspended. 

Note A material error is defined as a mistake or series of mistakes that resulted in an erroneous safety rating or an erroneous determination that the carrier does not exercise the basic safety management controls. 

A safety audit determines that the carrier exercises basic safety management controls necessary for safety operations ... 

Roadside safety performance will be closely monitored to ensure basic safety management controls are operating effectively. 

A safety audit wiU be conducted on the new entrant, once it has been in operation for enough time to have sufficient records to allow FMCSA to evaluate the adequacy of its basic safety management controls. Generally, this period is at least 3 months. 

Under a notice ordering it to take specified actions to remedy its safety management controls. 

Lack of Safety Audit or Compliance Review — If a safety audit or compliance review has not been performed by the end of the 18-month period through no fault of the motor carrier, the carrier will be permitted to operate as a new entrant until a safety audit or compliance review is performed and a final determination is made regarding the adequacy of its safety management controls. 

Gather safety data needed to make an assessment of the new entrant s safety performance and adequacy of its basic safety management controls. 

If (after the safety audit) FMCSA determines the new entrant has adequate basic safety management controls, FMCSA will provide the new entrant written notice within 45 days that it has adequate basic safety management controls. The new entrant s safety performance will be closely monitored for the remainder of the 18-month period of new entrant registration. 

Administrative Review — If a new entrant receives a notice that its new entrant registration will be revoked, it may request FMCSA conduct an administrative review if the new entrant believes FMCSA has committed an error in determining that its basic safety management controls are inadequate. 

This request for administrative review should be submitted within 15 days of the notice that the new entrant s basic safety management controls are inadequate. Submitting the request within 15 days allows FMCSA to issue a written decision before prohibitions take effect. 

Submit evidence that it has corrected the deficiencies that resulted in revocation of its registration and ensime that it will have basic safety management controls in effect and... 

Noncompliance with acute regulations are quantitatively linked to inadequate safety management controls and usually higher than average accident rates. 

Parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and Hazardous Materials Regulations having similar characteristics are combined together into live regulatory factors and an accident factor. The factors, evaluated on the basis of the adequacy of the carrier s safety management controls, are ... 

Conditional safety rating A motor carrier does not have adequate safety management controls in place to ensure compliance with that portion of the safety fitness standard prescribed in 49 CFR 385.5. 

The second link in the accident sequence is lack of control. This lack of safety management control could be a weak safety systan in place, no safety system standards, noncompliance to the standards, or a total lack of a structured safety management system (SMS). This is often indicated by a negative or nonexistent safety culture. This triggers off the basic causes of accidents. If no formal SMS is in place, this would be classified as an inadequate control system. 

The pre-contact, contact, and post-contact safety management control actions can be measured. 

Safety management controls This is perhaps the most important definition for any motor carrier safety professional to know. Your safety management controls are your safety policies, procedures, plans, etc. In essence, they define how your daily activities are performed — they are your safety program. When a carrier is targeted for review, the inspecting agents are of course concerned with compliance. 

But they are even more concerned with how a carrier achieves and maintains compliance. A compliance review is little more than a detailed examination of your safety management controls. 

Collectively, these things are known as your safety management controls. In this section of the manual, we will review I Parts 40,380,382,383,390, 391,392, 395,396 and 397 of the FMCSRs. Specifically, we will ... 

Show you not only how to comply, hut also how to incorporate these regulations into yom safety policies and procedures (your safety management controls). 

This is because the FMCSA leaves it up to the company to decide when and how to institute and operate safety management controls. The FMCSA is only going to verify that the company has controls in place and that the company is operating safely and comphantfy (in other words, they will want to see that the controls are working). If the company is not operating compliantly and safely, it is said that the company does not have adequate safety management controls. 

If the company is not operating compliantly or safely and is I subjected to an investigative intervention under the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, the FMCSA is going to compare the compands safety management controls to the Safety Management Cycle (see below), and attempt to... 

Finally, remember that your safety and compKance programs (your safety management controls) are constantly being I tracked by the CSA Carrier Safety Measurement System... 

SMS). The SMS tracks violations (discovered at the roadside or during interventions) and crashes, both of which represent a failure of the carrier s safety management controls. Carriers that have a significantly higher violation and/or crash rate than their peers (as represented by their high scores in the SMS) are the carriers that will be subjected to an inter-I vention under the CSA program. 

In terms of safety management controls, this chapter provided you with guidance to develop the following ... 

What safety management controls do we have in place to ensure that drivers are being pre-employment tested and that no driver slips through the cracks ... 

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