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10/19/2023
The Association of American Railroads has presented Railway Association of Canada's (RAC) Andy Ash with the 2023 Holden-Proefrock Award for career achievement in the area of hazmat safety and announced 27 recipients of the 2022 Non-Accident Release (NAR) Grand Slam Awards.
The awards are given annually to individuals, shippers and railroads operating in hazardous-material fields, according to an AAR press release.
For more than 45 years, the recently retired Ash was committed to keeping goods moving and Canadians safe. From his early time in CN's mechanical department, he was focused on maintaining safe operations through Canada’s "Chemical Valley" in Sarnia, Ontario. In 1999, he joined the RAC and later developed its dangerous goods team, which supports association members in safely moving hazardous materials.
Ash traveled across Canada to train first responders in how to safely manage a rail emergency. He also was central to developing one of the world's leading rail emergency-response training courses held each year in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.
The Holden-Proefrock Award is named in honor of Roy Holden, a former AAR employee and an innovator in tank-car design, damage assessment and safety; and Art Proefrock, a former Hulcher Emergency Services employee who pioneered hazardous-materials transportation emergency response.
The NAR Grand Slam Award is presented annually to companies that are exemplary shippers of hazardous materials. An award winner must have been recognized by at least four Class Is and have had zero non-accident releases involving their shipments the previous calendar year.
A hazardous materials non-accident release is an unintentional release of a hazardous material while in transportation but not involving an accident.
A list of the 2022 NAR Grand Slam Award winners can be found here.