ASLRRA announces Jake Award winners

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) yesterday announced the 308 railroad recipients of its annual Jake Awards, which recognize above-industry average safety performance in 2016.

To receive the award, an ASLRRA member railroad must perform better than the Class II and III industry average injury frequency rate as reported by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) during the prior year.

Of the 308 award recipients, 272 railroads will be honored with a Jake with Distinction designation, which recognizes FRA reportable, injury-free performance.

Nearly 90 percent of Jake Award recipients perform injury-free on an annual basis, said ASLRRA President Linda Bauer Darr in a press release.

"The Short Line Safety Institute is assisting in these efforts by addressing not only the compliance aspect of safety, but the people side of safety, or safety culture, working to continuously improve the safety record of the short-line industry," Bauer Darr said.

The Jake Awards are named for Lowell "Jake" Jacobson, the president and chief operating officer of the Copper Basin Railway. After achieving a perfect safety record for the railroad in 1993, Jacobson realized there was no award that recognized smaller railroads' safety records, ASLRRA officials said.

In 1999, the ASLRRA Safety Committee adopted the Jake Awards to continue Jacobson's legacy of safety.

This year's awards will be presented at each of the association's regional meetings in fall. Six member railroads in each of ASLRRA's four regions will receive the President's Award for the best safety performance based on operation man-hours in 2016.

The list of Jake Award winners can be found on the association's website.