---
kind: "section"
citation: "49 C.F.R. § 271.105"
title: "49"
number: "271.105"
heading: "Safety performance evaluation."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/49/271.105"
---

# §271.105. Safety performance evaluation.

- (a) **General.** As part of its RRP, a railroad shall develop and maintain ongoing processes and systems for evaluating the safety performance of its system and identifying and analyzing its safety culture. A railroad's safety performance evaluation shall consist of both a safety monitoring and a safety assessment component.
- (b) **Safety monitoring.** A railroad shall monitor the safety performance of its system by, at a minimum, establishing processes and systems to acquire safety data and information from the following sources:
  - (1) Continuous monitoring of operational processes and systems (including any operational changes, system extensions, or system modifications);
  - (2) Periodic monitoring of the operational environment to detect changes that may generate new hazards;
  - (3) Investigations of accidents/incidents, injuries, fatalities, and other known indicators of hazards;
  - (4) Investigations of reports regarding potential non-compliance with Federal railroad safety laws or regulations, railroad operating rules and practices, or mitigation strategies established by the railroad; and
  - (5) A reporting system through which employees can report safety concerns (including, but not limited to, hazards, issues, occurrences, and incidents) and propose safety solutions and improvements.
- (c) **Safety assessment.** To assess the need for changes to a railroad's mitigation strategies or overall RRP, a railroad shall establish processes to analyze the data and information collected pursuant to [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section (as well as any other relevant data regarding its operations, products, and services). At a minimum, this assessment shall:
  - (1) Evaluate the overall effectiveness of the railroad's RRP in reducing the number and rates of railroad accidents/incidents, injuries, and fatalities;
  - (2) Evaluate the effectiveness of the railroad's RRP in meeting the goals described by its RRP plan (see [§ 271.203(c)](/cfr/49/271.203.md?p=c));
  - (3) Evaluate the effectiveness of risk mitigations in reducing the risk associated with an identified hazard. Any hazards associated with ineffective mitigation strategies shall be reevaluated through the railroad's risk-based HMP, as described in [§ 271.103](/cfr/49/271.103.md); and
  - (4) Identify new, potential, or previously unknown hazards, which shall then be evaluated by the railroad's risk-based HMP, as described in [§ 271.103](/cfr/49/271.103.md).

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 20103, 20106-20107, 20118-20119, 20156, 21301, 21304, 21311; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note; and 49 CFR 1.89.

### Source

Source: 85 FR 9314, Feb. 18, 2020, unless otherwise noted.