ASLRRA 2014 Safety Person of the Year: Billie Johnson, OmniTRAX

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

OmniTRAX Inc.'s Billie Johnson, general manager for Newburgh & South Shore Railroad and Northern Ohio & Western Railway, has been named the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's (ASLRRA) 2014 Safety Person of the Year. Johnson will receive the award at the ASLRRA Convention in Orlando, Fla., March 28-30.

 

“Billie continues to demonstrate the most outstanding safety achievements of any manager on our network of railroads,” said Kevin Shuba, chief executive officer of OmniTRAX.

 “She is dedicated to safe operations on the Newburgh & South Shore Railroad and Northern Ohio & Western Railway and emphasizes initiatives that improve associate safety in the workplace. I can’t think of a more deserving recipient of the ASLRRA Safety Person of the Year award.”

Johnson began her railroad career as a keypunch operator at the Chicago, Rock Island Railroad in 1969 and then rapidly was promoted to Terminal Manager. In 1981, she joined the Chicago Rail Link Railroad, transferred to the Newburgh & South Shore Railroad in 1991, working as a clerk, a conductor, a certified engineer and in 1995 ,was promoted to general manager of the Northern Ohio & Western Railroad and later added Newburgh & South Shore Railroad.

“In the18 years I’ve spent working with Billie, she has always been a source of honesty and knowledge. She is willing to help where needed and is a vital member of our leadership team. The fact that she has never had any type of workplace injury, much less an Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reportable injury, shows her dedication to safe operations,” said Bob Ellman, vice president of operations at OmniTRAX.

From 1995 to 2015, Northern Ohio & Western Railway had no FRA reportable derailments, 663-plus days since a human factor incident and is 4,050-plus days injury free.

During that same time period, Newburgh & South Shore Railroad is 748-plus days since the last human factor incident, 5,210-plus days since the last reportable derailment and has had 6,589-plus days since the last reportable injury.

“In the year I have worked with Billie, it has been very evident that her determination to develop her properties and employees to be the safest in the industry is extraordinary. She treats her team members like they are family and it shows in her results,” said Bill Kelly, vice president of safety for OmniTRAX.

 

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