Union Pacific (UP) employees set an all-time reportable personal injury rate record in 2015, improving 11% from 2014 to 0.87, making UP the safest Class I railroad in the United States, according to data reported by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). A railroad's reportable injury rate is the total number of injuries reported to the FRA per 200,000 employee hours, which is equivalent to 100 employees working a full year.
"Successfully finding and addressing risk in the workplace clearly is having a positive impact, as we seek to achieve annual records on our way to an incident-free environment," said Cameron Scott, UP Executive Vice President-Operations.
UP’s relentless focus on creating an incident-free environment extends beyond employee safety, the railroad says. The company continuously looks for innovative approaches to enhance the safety and security of the communities in which it operates and the customers it serves.
In 2016, UP celebrates 20 years of Total Safety Culture (TSC)—a voluntary employee-led initiative that teaches employees safe behaviors while providing observations and feedback. Led and implemented by UP’s union employees, and fully supported by the company's senior management, TSC empowers employees to address at-risk behaviors. Additionally, employees continue demonstrating their Courage to Care. Introduced in 2012, the company's Courage to Care initiative represents employees' commitment to prioritize working safely and looking out for one another.