Supervisory Commission wants a stronger safety investigation body
Published: Friday, Nov 24th 2023, 11:30
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The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (Sust) is to work faster. In addition, the use of its reports by the criminal prosecution authorities should be clarified. This is what the National Council's Control Committee (CPC-N) demands in a new report.
Sust has the task of investigating accidents in the transportation sector. Its reports attract a great deal of public interest. The activities of the investigation body have also been criticized in some cases, particularly by players from the aviation industry.
The parliamentary oversight authority has a positive view of Sust's activities, according to a press release issued by the parliamentary services on Friday. The investigative body has a high level of expertise in its field. No systemic deficiencies were identified.
Many pending reports
However, the GPK-N is of the opinion that the resources of the Sust should be strengthened. It advocates an increase in the Sust Commission from three to five members. In addition, an increase in the resources of the Sust Investigation Service, which currently has 17 employees, should be examined.
According to the Supervisory Commission, this increase would ensure that Sust can complete its investigations within the statutory deadlines. At the end of 2021, 181 investigations were pending, 71 of which had been ongoing for more than three years. The vast majority of these concern air traffic.
The Commission has also dealt with the creation of a new service within the Uvek. The so-called Safety Office has the task of exercising systemic supervision in the area of safety. The GPK-N is asking the Federal Council to take stock of the activities of this service within the next two to three years.
More restrained formulations
The GPK-N also calls on the Federal Council to clarify the modalities for the forwarding of Sust reports to the prosecution authorities and for their use. However, it is not part of Sust's remit to answer questions of guilt and liability in individual cases.
Finally, the GPK-N requests the Federal Council to clarify the legal requirements for the follow-up of the implementation of the Sust safety recommendations. The Federal Council should comment on the report and the recommendations by February 21 at the latest.
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