Union Pacific employees mark 2016 as safest year on record

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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Union Pacific achieved its best annual employee-safety rate in 2016, marking the safest year in its 154-year history.
Union Pacific

Union Pacific achieved its best annual employee-safety rate in 2016, improving on the record set in 2015 and making 2016 the safest year in the Class 1's 154-year history.

The company’s employee reportable injury rate, measure by injuries for every 200,000 employee hours worked, declined 14 percent from 0.87 in 2015 to 0.75 in 2016. In 2015, the employee reportable injury rate improved 11 percent from 2014.

“Union Pacific’s employees achieved an incredible milestone reflecting their dedication to operating safely in work areas and the communities we serve,” said Rod Doerr, Union Pacific vice president – Safety. “This unrelenting focus ensures everyone goes home safely as we work toward our ultimate goal of zero accidents.”

The company also made safety gains with an approximately three-percent improvement in its 2016 derailment rate compared with 2015. The reportable rail equipment incident rate per million train miles dropped from 3.10 in 2015 to 3.02 in 2016.

“While we made only a slight improvement on the reportable rate, enhanced [Train, Engine and Yard employee] training and continued infrastructure investment helped significantly reduce the absolute number of incidents, including those that did not meet the reportable threshold, generating a record low incident rate for the sixth consecutive year,” said Cameron Scott, executive vice president and chief operating officer, during Union Pacific’s 2016 fourth-quarter earnings call.

Union Pacific employs a variety of safety and risk mitigation activities, including the Courage to Care personal commitment, which empowers employees to look out for their peers and “stop the line” on any operation that could result in an incident. The company also occasionally pauses systemwide operations for safety stand-downs, during which employees have candid safety discussions and share experiences to learn from each other.

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