Safety

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Safety

Union Pacific Railroad Employees Achieve Record Safety Performance

February 3, 2011 Railfanning.org News Wire

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad’s 2010 employee safety performance was the best in the company’s nearly 150-year history, the railroad said. Union Pacific’s full-year employee reportable injury rate was 1.37, a 6 percent improvement over the previous best of 1.45 established in 2009. A company’s injury rate is calculated using the number of injuries per 200,000 worker hours, which is equivalent to the number of hours worked by 100 full-time employees in a year. “Employees being more aware of risk, improving and standardizing best practices and embracing Total Safety Culture were key factors in our 2010 performance,” said Bob Grimaila, Union Pacific vice president – Safety, Security and Environment.

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Commuter Rail

Hersman: Investigations Highlight Need for New Perspective on Safety Culture

January 26, 2011 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman said accident investigations highlight the need for a new perspective on safety culture, record-keeping and aging infrastructure. In a speech to the audience at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) conference, Hersman discussed four investigations across all modes of transportation. She highlighted several accidents that claimed the lives of dozens and encouraged attendees to embrace lessons learned to prevent future accidents. “If you’re going to build a transportation project that’s going to stand for decades, the foundation of future operating decisions may well be based on the original documentation. Make sure your records stand the test of time,” Hersman said. Hersman also emphasized the need for establishing a positive safety culture across

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FRA

New Rule Strengthens Railroad Bridge Safety Programs, Oversight

July 16, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Federal Railroad Administrator (FRA) Joseph Szabo has announced a Final Rule requiring railroad track owners to adopt and follow specific procedures to protect the safety of their bridges, and to strengthen federal oversight of railroad bridge maintenance programs. This rule is a requirement under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. “This Final Rule will help ensure the 100,000 railroad bridges in the United States are maintained and inspected to the standards accepted by sound engineering practices,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “The structural integrity of bridges that carry railroad tracks is vitally important to the safety of railroad employees and to the public.” The Final Rule requires

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Amtrak

Amtrak Joins DHS Rail Security Initiative

July 3, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano launched the first phase of DHS’ nationwide “See Something, Say Something” campaign and announced a new national information-sharing partnership with Amtrak as part of the Department’s nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) initiative during a whistlestop train tour—highlighting the public’s role in keeping our country safe and the Obama administration’s commitment to bolstering surface transportation security. “Implementing a national suspicious activity reporting partnership with Amtrak and expanding the ‘See Something, Say Something,’ campaign strengthens our ability to guard against terrorism and crime,” said Secretary Napolitano. “These initiatives enable us to provide frontline security personnel with the latest information and intelligence to recognize behaviors