FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway was presented with TRANSCAER’s National Achievement Award this week for enhancing community safety.
The TRANSCAER awards recognize companies for outstanding efforts to ensure the safe transportation of hazardous products. This is the 11th time BNSF has been recognized with the National Achievement Award since 1998. BNSF’s first responder training has helped train more than 60,000 emergency responders over its 32,000 mile network in 28 states.
TRANSCAER member companies train local emergency responders how to prepare for and respond to possible hazardous materials transportation incidents through a combination of hands-on activities, emergency planning assistance and community drills and exercises. The training includes the use of actual rail and truck equipment; table-top exercises, and whistle-stop tours that bring emergency preparedness training to response organizations and educates communities near major rail routes about rail equipment and chemical transportation.
“The safety of our employees and the communities in which we operate are of paramount importance to BNSF,” says Allen Stegman, BNSF general director, environmental and hazardous materials. “We are proud that our efforts have been recognized once again by TRANSCAER. This award highlights BNSF’s continued commitment to work closely with the emergency responder community to ensure safe and efficient responses to transportation incidents.”
“The TRANSCAER awards recognize those companies that have undertaken exceptional efforts to ensure the safe and secure transportation of potentially hazardous products,” said Rollie Shook, Chair of the National TRANSCAER Task Group and Global Emergency Services Leader, Emergency Services & Security Expertise Center for Dow Chemical Co. “BNSF has consistently demonstrated it’s commitment to protect the public and safeguard our communities with a goal of training a minimum of 2,500 emergency responders each year.”
In 2010 BNSF conducted 168 hazardous material training sessions reaching 3,260 emergency responders. These sessions were conducted throughout 18 states including major training tours in California and Montana, as well as special efforts in Utah, Oregon, Washington, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming.
