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FEATURE STORY

Good Faith Challenge

By Tom Browne, Director Field Services

Some years ago, my army unit was visiting a military base for training on heavy
equipment maintenance. We were housed in a barracks that had a dining facility,
where our unit cooks prepared and served 3 meals a day. One of our front-line
leaders in the mess section was Sergeant Stark, nicknamed ‘Killer’. He was given
that nickname because he was small in stature and would quickly and loudly ad-
dress any violations of rules in HIS mess hall.
One day at lunch with over 150 soldiers eating, Killer suddenly shouted, “TROOP!,
get your hat off that table!” The room immediately quieted as all heads turned to
see Killer with his hands on his hips, staring at a table where a soldier had his hat
on the table, a big no-no for health safety reasons due to possible contamination.
The offending soldier turned in his seat to look at Killer. It was the Post Com-
mander, the highest-ranking person on base who was visiting our unit for lunch. It
was immediately apparent that this could turn into a bad situation for Killer, for
yelling at a Colonel, a high-ranking officer.
The Colonel paused and said to Killer, “But son, I OWN this mess hall.” Without skipping a beat, Killer snapped
back, “Well then you should know better, SIR!” After several seconds, the Colonel laughed, removed his hat from
the table, and all was well.
There are lessons from this story we can use that apply to our work at Loram. In the Loram Operating Rulebook
there is a procedure described in Section 4 titled, “Good Faith Challenge.” The purpose is to provide a process
that promotes the discussion of safety related questions in the performance of duties because,
“LORAM employees have the unquestioned right to initiate a good faith challenge regarding a
safety issue.”
It exists to ensure that all employees can elevate a safety concern that was ignored or not addressed locally, with-
out fear of retribution. Here are some guidelines on how it works:

1. Good faith challenge topics may include:
A. On-track safety procedures and protection.
B. Equipment compliance with FRA or other applicable regulations.

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