§ 671.41 RWP training and qualification program.
(a) General. Each RTA must adopt an RWP training program.
(1) The RWP training program must address all transit workers responsible for on-track safety, by position, including roadway workers, operations control center personnel, rail transit vehicle operators, operators of on-track equipment and roadway maintenance machines, and any others with a role in providing on-track safety or fouling a track for the performance of work.
(2) The RWP training program must be completed for the relevant position before an RTA may assign a transit worker to perform the duties of a roadway worker, to oversee or supervise access to the track zone from the operations control center, or to operate vehicles, on-track equipment, and roadway maintenance machines on the rail transit system.
(3) The RWP training program must address RWP hazard recognition and mitigation, and lessons learned through the results of compliance testing, near-miss reports, reports of unsafe acts or conditions, and feedback received on the training program.
(4) The RWP training program must include initial and refresher training, by position. Refresher training must occur every two years at a minimum.
(5) The RTA must review and update its RWP training program not less than every two years, to reflect lessons learned in implementing the RWP program and information provided by the SSOA and FTA. The RTA must provide an opportunity for roadway worker involvement in the RWP training program review and update process.
(b) Required elements. The RWP training program must include interactive training with the opportunity to ask the RWP trainer questions and raise and discuss RWP issues.
(1) Initial training must include experience in a representative field setting.
(2) Initial and refresher training must include demonstrations and assessments to ensure the ability to comply with RWP instructions given by transit workers performing, or responsible for, on-track safety and RWP functions.
(c) Minimum contents for RWP training. The RWP training program must address, as applicable, the following minimum contents:
(1) How to interpret and use the RTA's RWP manual;
(2) How to challenge and refuse assignments in good faith;
(3) How to report unsafe acts, unsafe conditions, and near-misses after they occur, and the mandatory duty to make such reports;
(4) Recognition of the track zone and understanding of the space around tracks within which on-track safety is required, including use of the track access guide;
(5) The functions and responsibilities of all transit workers involved in on-track safety, by position;
(6) Proper compliance with on-track safety instructions given by transit workers performing or responsible for on-track safety functions;
(7) Signals and directions given by watchpersons, and the proper procedures upon receiving a rail transit vehicle approach warning from a watchperson;
(8) The hazards associated with working on or near rail transit tracks to include traction power, if applicable;
(9) Rules and procedures for redundant protections identified under § 671.37 and how they are applied to RWP; and
(10) Requirements for safely crossing rail transit tracks in yards and on the mainline.
(d) Specialized training and qualification for transit workers with additional responsibilities for on-track safety. The RWP training program must include additional training for watchpersons, flag persons, lone workers, roadway workers in charge, and other transit workers with responsibilities for establishing, supervising, and monitoring on-track safety.
(1) This training must cover the content and application of the additional RWP program requirements carried out by these positions and must address the relevant physical characteristics of the RTA's system where on-track safety may be established.
(2) This training must include demonstrations and assessments to confirm the transit worker's ability to perform these additional responsibilities.
(3) Refresher training on additional responsibilities for on-track safety, by position, must occur every two years at a minimum.
(e) Competency and qualification of training personnel. Each RTA must ensure that transit workers providing RWP training are qualified and have active RWP certification at the RTA to provide effective RWP training, and at a minimum must consider the following:
(1) A trainer's experience and knowledge of effective training techniques in the chosen learning environment;
(2) A trainer's experience with the RTA RWP program;
(3) A trainer's knowledge of the RTA RWP rules, operations, and operating environment, including applicable operating rules; and
(4) A trainer's knowledge of the training requirements specified in this part.