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Kansas City Southern recently conducted a blitz and launched a computerized desktop database to improve safety.

Last week, KCS and The Texas Mexican Railway Co. transportation department officials directed an around-the-clock, system-wide safety blitz designed to analyze work behaviors and procedures. All trainmasters, assistant trainmasters and operating practice managers rode trains and visited terminals to observe and test workers' compliance with safety awareness and winter preparedness policies, and operating rules.

"A safety blitz ensures that we are diligently observing and testing rules compliance to reduce risk of injury and derailment," said J.R. Thornell, general superintendent of field operations, in a prepared statement. "We approached the blitz with a focus on back to the basics, but in the process, we received ideas from crews on how to improve."

Last month, KCS officials also began a system-wide roll out of System Safety Meetings Database, a computerized desktop application designed to enable local safety committees to coordinate meetings, record meeting minutes, assign follow-up responsibilities, and track and address systemic issues or trends. The railroad piloted the Lotus Notes database in several key locations last year.