City and County of San Francisco

Under general direction, the Transportation Safety Specialist develops and implements comprehensive system safety programs and procedures for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA); serves as a technical adviser to ensure agency-wide compliance with departmental, local, state and federal regulations and industry safety standards.

Positions in this job code are characterized by their responsibility for carrying out complex and difficult assignments, projects and special studies in more than one transportation safety program. This job code is distinguished from other specialized safety job codes by its primary emphasis on incident reduction and prevention and other transportation related safety issues.

None.

According to Civil Service Commission Rule 409, the duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

1. Plans and conducts internal safety audits and inspections to identify hazards in the use of equipment, procedures and systems, and unsafe operating conditions by reviewing incident patterns and causes, transit route characteristics, traffic data, and physical location characteristics, and develops preventive strategies, policies and procedures.

2. Investigates bus and rail incidents involving transit vehicles and non-revenue vehicles to identify causal factors; recommends corrective actions and prepares incident investigation reports for internal use and for review and approval by external agencies such as the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

3. Monitors, investigates and reports on operating procedures and unsafe operating conditions; identifies hazards of transit operating systems in the use of equipment, procedures, and systems, and provides recommendations to mitigate these hazards.

4. Reviews system safety statistics, and prepares reports on system performance using SFMTA’s transportation and safety-related databases; recommends corrective action to reduce potential for future incidents, and analyzes effectiveness of corrective actions.

5. Develops and implements new transportation safety programs and initiatives, including the development and implementation of safety standard operating procedures, and formulates related safety policies and procedures.

6. Evaluates the effectiveness of safety-related training programs and recommends modification where necessary; may provide direction or advice to training division staff in the development of new safety-related training programs.

7. Conducts training sessions for managers, supervisors and line staff in incident reduction and prevention, hazard  recognition and evaluation, the System Safety Program Plan, and other safety-related areas as needed and requested. This includes training Transit Supervisors in on-the-scene accident investigation techniques and procedures.

8. Evaluates various contracts, RFP's, engineering drawings and facility designs, plans for construction projects, future transit lines and changes to existing transit systems for regulatory compliance, potential safety issues and liability exposure.

9. Serves as a technical advisor regarding safety standards and system safety issues; participates in and/or chairs safety meetings and committees, and may serve on committees of outside agencies as assigned.

10. Ensures agency-wide safety standard compliance with departmental, local, state and federal regulations.

11. Performs related duties as assigned.

Knowledge of:  principles, procedures and standard practices of bus and rail system safety, including data analysis and evaluation techniques, recordkeeping and reporting requirements; investigative techniques; and federal, state and local rules and regulations relating to transportation/system safety.

Ability to: analyze, audit and inspect transportation system safety procedures and conditions to identify potential hazards and recommend corrective action; determine appropriate regulatory standards for the department including safety-related rules, policies and programs; conduct thorough accident/incident investigations to identify causal factors and hazards and complete follow up recommendations and documentation; apply logical, rational and supporting information to justify decisions and recommendations; read, interpret and apply technical information; compile and analyze complex reports, data, graphs, drawings and statistics; organize written information and use appropriate grammar, punctuation and syntax to write reports and other documents and advise management on safety issues in a clear and concise manner; effectively communicate verbally and in writing with all levels of management and employees; develop and present effective technical and safety training; interact with managers, supervisors, employees and others s in a tactful and effective manner; use a computer and work with spreadsheets, databases (including agency specific databases) and word processing software; possess a valid driver license in order to operate department vehicles while carrying out assigned duties.

These minimum qualifications are to be used as a guide for establishing the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license which may be required for employment in the class. Although these minimum qualifications are typical of the class, additional minimum qualifications and special conditions may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the job announcement.

Education:

1. . Baccalaureate degree in Engineering, Safety, Safety Management or a closely related field from an accredited college or university; or a baccalaureate degree in any field from an accredited college or university and a minimum of 12 continuing education credits in safety-related areas such as accident/incident investigation and system safety from an accredited college, university, or the Transportation Safety Institute (TSI).

Experience:

2a. Four (4) years of full-time verifiable professional experience in transportation/system safety and/or in a transit agency's safety program with responsibility for reviewing and/or conducting compliance audits, efficiency compliance checks, or transit accident investigations; OR

 2b. Four (4) years of full-time verifiable professional experience conducting vehicle accident investigations:  OR

2c. Four (4) years of full-time verifiable experience supervising the repair, replacement, and/or maintenance of transit vehicles, Railway Signals and/or Tracks of a Transportation Agency.

Substitution: Additional experience as described in minimum qualification #2a, #2b, or # 2c may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis.

Possession of a valid Class C driver license.

Nature of Work: Incumbents may be required to work in adverse work and weather conditions and be on-call for response during nights, weekends and holidays; climb ladders, bend, squat and crawl in tight spaces to safely access work sites; and use various computer programs and software applications.  

 

All City and County of San Francisco employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law (California Government Code Section 3100-3109). Employment with the City requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to complete all Disaster Service Worker-related training as assigned, and to return to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.