Union Pacific three-peats as top railroad in employee safety

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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Union Pacific

Union Pacific remains the safest U.S. Class 1 railroad in employee safety for the third consecutive year.

 

The top-performing railroad had a 0.79 reportable injury rate in 2017, according to Federal Railroad Administration data. A railroad’s reportable injury rate represents total number of injuries reported per 200,000 employee work hours. The reportable injury rate in 2017 is up slightly from the 0.78 reportable injury rate in 2016, but remains much lower than the 0.88 reportable injury rate in 2015.

“Being the safest railroad for the third consecutive year reflects our employees’ consistent dedication to keeping each other safe,” said Rod Doerr, Union Pacific vice president and chief safety officer. “Our work isn’t finished and we will continue focusing on eliminating risks to accomplish our ultimate goal of operating in an incident-free environment.”

Union Pacific’s employee-driven safety initiatives include Courage to Care, a voluntary commitment introduced in 2012 that the railroad says empowers employees to look out for their peers and “stop the line” on operations that could result in an incident. Union Pacific also explains that the company stops work system-wide two times a year to hold safety stand downs, which give employees an opportunity to have candid discussions and share experiences to learn from each other.

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