UP 'safest' Class I for employees

Union Pacific Railroad is the safest Class I in employee safety for the third consecutive year based on Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) data, the company announced yesterday.

UP logged a 0.79 reportable injury rate for 2017. The Class I's reportable injury rate represents the total number of injuries reported per 200,000 employee work hours.

"Being the safest railroad for the third consecutive year reflects our employees' consistent dedication to keeping each other safe," said UP Vice President and Chief Safety Officer Rod Doerr in a press release. "Our work isn't finished and we will continue focusing on eliminating risks to accomplish our ultimate goal of operating in an incident-free environment."

UP's employee-driven safety initiatives include Courage to Care, a voluntary effort in which employees look out for the peers and "stop the line" on operations that could result in an incident.

Twice annually, the company stops work systemwide to hold safety stand downs, which gives employees a chance to have candid discussions and share experiences to learn from each other, UP officials said.