	NTSB Has Made Progress in All Management Areas, but Further Actions Are Needed to Fully Implement Some Recommendations

Overall, NTSB has fully implemented or made significant progress in  following leading management practices in all eight areas that our  recommendations addressed in 2006 and 2008—communication, strategic  planning, IT, knowledge management, organizational structure, human  capital management, training, and financial management. Figure 1 summarizes NTSB’s progress in implementing our  management recommendations. In addition, NTSB has taken steps to  implement all three of our IT-related recommendations:    NTSB has fully implemented an IT strategic plan that addresses our  comments. NTSB officials  said that the first phase of the cost accounting system will be implemented  late in fiscal year 2010. As we have previously reported, diversity management is a  key aspect of strategic human capital management. As the table shows, the percentages of NTSB’s fiscal year 2008 workforce  that were women and minorities were lower than those of the federal  government. Furthermore, according to NTSB, none of NTSB’s current 15-member  career Senior Executive Service (SES) staff were members of minority  groups, and only 2 of them were women. NTSB Has Made Its Selection of Accident Investigations More Efficient, but Reporting Can Be Improved

We previously made four recommendations to NTSB to improve the  efficiency of its activities related to investigating accidents, such as  selecting accidents to investigate and tracking the status of its  recommendations, and increasing its use of safety studies (see fig. 3). Since our April 2008 report, NTSB has fully  implemented our recommendation to develop transparent policies  containing risk-based criteria for selecting which accidents to investigate. In April 2008, we reported that NTSB had also  developed a transparent, risk-based policy explaining which aviation, rail,  pipeline, and hazardous materials accidents to investigate. NTSB is deploying an agencywide  electronic information system based on Microsoft SharePoint that will  streamline and increase NTSB’s use of technology in closing out its  recommendations and in developing reports. Although NTSB has not completed any safety studies since we  made our recommendation in 2006, it has three studies in progress, one of  which is in final draft, and it has established a goal of developing two  safety study proposals and submitting them to its board for approval each  year. NTSB officials told us they would  like to broaden the term “safety studies” to include not only the current  studies of multiple accidents, but the research done for the other smaller  safety-related reports and data inquiries. NTSB also developed new guidelines to address its  completion of safety studies. The agency increased use of the center’s  classroom space from 10 percent in fiscal year 2006 to 80 percent in fiscal  year 2009. The Training  Center provides core training for NTSB investigators and trains others  from the transportation community to improve their practice of accident  investigation. The agency’s  actions to increase the center’s use also helped increase total Training  Center revenues from about $635,000 in fiscal year 2005 to about  $1,771,000 in fiscal year 2009. For example in 2008,  49 of the 68 courses offered at the Training Center were solely for NTSB  employees.
Why GAO Did This Study

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), whose reauthorization is the subject of today's hearing, plays a vital role in advancing transportation safety by investigating accidents, determining their causes, issuing safety recommendations, and conducting safety studies. To support the agency's mission, NTSB's Training Center provides training to NTSB investigators and others. From 2006 through 2008, GAO made 21 recommendations to NTSB that address management, information technology (IT), accident investigation criteria, safety studies, and Training Center use. This testimony addresses NTSB's progress in implementing recommendations that it (1) follow leading management practices, (2) conduct aspects of its accident investigations and safety studies more efficiently, and (3) increase the use of its Training Center. This testimony is based on GAO's assessment from July 2009 to October 2009 of plans and procedures NTSB developed to address these recommendations. NTSB provided technical comments that GAO incorporated as appropriate.

What GAO Found

NTSB hasfully implemented or made significant progress in adopting leading management practices in all areas in which GAO made prior recommendations. For example, as GAO recommended in 2006, NTSB issued agencywide plans for human capital management and IT management, as well as a strategic plan. In 2008, GAO identified opportunities for improvement in those plans, and NTSB has since issued revised human capital and IT plans and drafted a revised agencywide strategic plan and a new strategic training plan. NTBS has taken steps to improve its diversity management. However, the percentages of NTSB's fiscal year 2008 workforce that were women and minorities were lower than those of the federal government. In addition, no members of a minority group are part of NTSB's 15-member career Senior Executive Service. Since GAO's 2008 report, NTSB has continued to improve information security by installing encryption software on agency laptops and appropriately restricting users' access privileges. NTSB has obligated money to implement a full cost accounting system consistent with a prior GAO recommendation, but NTSB officials said that the system will not be implemented until late in fiscal year 2010. In 2008, GAO reported that NTSB had made significant progress in articulating risk-based criteria for selecting which accidents to investigate. Specifically, NTSB had established such criteria for identifying which rail, pipeline, hazardous materials, and aviation accidents to investigate at the scene. Since then, NTSB has adopted the remaining highway and marine criteria, and NTSB is streamlining and increasing it use of technology in closing-out recommendations. NTSB has three safety studies in progress and would like to broaden the term "safety studies" to include not only its current studies of multiple accidents, but also the research it does for other smaller safety-related reports and data inquiries. NTSB has continued to increase the use of its Training Center--from 10 percent in fiscal year 2006 to 80 percent in fiscal year 2009. As a result, revenues have increased and the center's overall deficit has declined from about $3.9 million in fiscal year 2005 to about $1.9 million in fiscal year 2009.