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STEEL and CAB

FRA Recognizes Service Units' Risk-Reduction Safety Pilots

August 25, 2008 | 12:40 p.m. CDT

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently recognized UP's Livonia, San Antonio and North Platte service units with its Distinguished Public Service Award for their risk-reduction safety pilot projects. The honor was awarded at the FRA's annual RRP (Risk Reduction Program) Summit in Washington, D.C.

RRP encourages voluntary participation in an industry-wide initiative designed to improve safety and build strong safety cultures, by developing innovative methods, processes and technologies to identify and correct safety risk factors using predictive data.

Active since second quarter 2006, Livonia's STEEL (Safety Through Employees Exercising Leadership) project focuses primarily on safety-related practices in yard operations. The Avondale, Beaumont and Lake Charles yards actively participate in STEEL, and work to build trust throughout the craft, removing more than 75 safety barriers so far.

"It's a great honor to receive the award on behalf of the UTU and STEEL team in front of industry leaders representing all Class 1 railroads," said Greg Schnabel, brakeman and STEEL facilitator. "It proves that employees can take a leadership role in safety and have a positive impact without the traditional discipline-based approach."

Implemented first quarter 2005, San Antonio's CAB (Changing at Risk Behavior) process focuses primarily on safety-related behaviors in the locomotive cab while operating under constrained signals, as well as some yard operations. With more than 700 employees trained, the pilot has reduced reportable injuries by 35 percent since December 2004 and resulted in an 80 percent decline in targeted behavior. CAB proactively identifies safety risks before they become a potential problem and keeps safety a No. 1 priority at the service unit.

"We are proactively addressing behaviors that put our employees at risk," said Michael Byars, engineer and CAB facilitator. "It's mind boggling to know our efforts in San Antonio and STEEL's in Livonia could potentially help change the railroad industry's approach to safety, especially now with the FRA's support."

"Efforts such as CAB, STEEL, C3RS and Total Safety Culture require leadership at all levels," said Dennis Duffy, executive vice president-operations. "You have to be willing to take a risk on significant change, and my congratulations to those employees who were willing to take that risk to make things better for all Union Pacific employees."

This is the first in a two-part series recognizing UP service units achieving measurable success through risk-reduction pilot projects. North Platte's C3RS Process will be covered in a subsequent article coming soon.