Union Pacific employees achieved the best first half of the year safety performance in the company's nearly 150-year history. For the period Jan. 1 through June 30, UP's employee-reportable injury rate was 1.01, a 23 percent improvement versus 2010's record of a 1.31 reportable injury rate.

In addition, UP's 0.95 employee reportable injury rate for the second quarter of 2011 was the best quarterly safety performance ever and represented a 33 percent improvement over the 1.41 reportable injury rate from the second quarter 2010.

"More employees than ever are participating in the Total Safety Culture
initiative, which along with increased risk identification understanding and enhanced training played significant factors in our employees' safety performance," said Bob Grimaila, UP vice president of safety, security and environment.