PARTIES TO DISPUTE:

STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
(1) The five (5) days of suspension imposed upon Trackman M. M. Williams for "failure to wear a seat belt" on August 21, 1981 was excessive (System Locket 391D).


OPINION OF BOARD: Subsequent to an investigation, the Claimant was found guilty
 of violating the Carrier's safety rule requiring the use of
 a seat belt. He had been injured while riding in the front seat of a Carrier
 vehicle, and the Carrier found that the injury was caused by the Claimant's
 failure to wear a seat belt.
The Claimant admitted that he did not have the seat belt fastened about him at the time of the incident that lead to his injury. This admission was verified by the vehicle's driver. However, the Claimant asserts that the injury would not have been prevented by wearing the seat belt.
The controlling safety rule explicitly requires wearing of seat belts under the circumstances here. Moreover, on the basis of testimony adduced at the hearing, the Board finds that the Carrier's conclusion that the injury could have been prevented had the Claimant corn his seat belt is reasonable. Accordingly, a five-day suspension for violation of a fundamental safety rule is not excessive.




That the Carrier and the Employes involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as approved June 21, 1934;
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and


                    Docket Number MW-25361

                    A W A R D


        Claim denied.


                          NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

                          By Order of Third Division


                  r~


ATTEST:
        y

      " Nancy J. Dever Executive Secretary


Dated at Chicago, Illinois this 15th day of March 1985.