Safety issue clarified by Caltrain

The following is Caltrain's response to a San Bruno B.A.R.T. editorial complaining about unsafe practices of a Grade Separation subcontractor. It is posted here as it was received.

Dear Alice:

When you sent the previous email with your safety concerns, I spoke with Project Manager Rafael Bolon, who went out to the site to investigate the situation. I subsequently went to the site with him to look at it further. We discovered that the picture you sent showed a pedestrian who was in the parking lot on the eastern side of the tracks, and was proceeding away from the tracks. At this time, both pedestrian rail crossings are unobstructed and in full, safe operation. If the pedestrian was attempting to exit the parking lot at the driveway and that was blocked by the construction equipment, then we will again remind the contractor to make sure pedestrians have a way to get where they need to go and do so safely.

Caltrain takes safety very seriously. This is true for major construction projects, passenger operations, and right of way maintenance work. For this reason, Caltrain has several measures in place to ensure the safety of the workers, the pedestrians, and the motor vehicle traffic while we are constructing the San Bruno Grade Separation Project. Safety is the responsibility of all project staff, including Caltrain, the contractor, sub-contractors, Amtrak, and the construction management team. Caltrain has full-time safety officers who conduct weekly safety audits and continuously ensure that the work is in conformance with Caltrain safety requirements.

In accordance with contracting requirements, the contractor has submitted a comprehensive, site specific, Health and Safety Plan (HASP). The HASP was reviewed and approved by Caltrain and the City of San Bruno. The contractor is responsible for ensuring that all contractor personnel and all sub-contractors conform to the requirements of the HASP as well as all state and federal regulations.

The Contractor has designated a full-time dedicated person to perform the duties of Safety Officer. This person is headquartered at the contractor's field office in the lot at San Bruno and San Mateo avenues and is available at all times when work is being performed. The Project Superintendent is charged with enforcing safety during normal construction activities on an activity by activity basis. Each work day and each activity begins with a safety briefing.

In addition, to the contractor supplied Safety Officer, the construction management team has a designated project specific Safety Officer on site at all times. The Safety Officer reports directly to the Resident Engineer who also is headquartered at the construction site. Both the Resident Engineer and the Safety Officer are empowered to stop any work that is potentially unsafe and to direct the contractor to correct any unsafe condition.

I hope this clarifies the level of attention we have paid to your concern and any other concerns that are raised to us. We will continue to address those concerns and work with all of the project partners to ensure a safe environment for all involved.

Best regards,

Todd McIntyre is the Community Relations Manager for Caltrain's San Bruno Grade Separation Project.