Safety Is A Way of LifeOverview
Safety is a way of life at CSX. It's one of our core values and it affects every decision we make.The CSX Safety Culture says that we:
- Send every employee home safely every day.
- Treat public safety as our own.
- Protect our customers' freight.
Every employee is committed to safety in all aspects of company operations, by:
- Working relentlessly to prevent accidents and injuries.
- Focusing on enhancing and maintaining the rail network.
- Pledging to operating rule compliance and safe work practices.
Our obsession with safety is quantifiable and results-oriented:
- Train accident rates and employee injuries have declined significantly over the past decade. Our employee injury rate is among the lowest in American industry.
- FRA-reportable train accidents declined 23% from July 2008 to July 2009.- FRA-reportable injuries declined 12% between July 2008 and July 2009. - CSX spends more than $1 billion annually on track, equipment and structural improvements.
- Our industry-leading training programs and facilities provide the education our employees need to work safely and move customers' freight reliably.
- CSX has achieved a better-than 99.996% success rate in safely transporting hazardous material carloads.
Safety is completely integrated into everything we do. Employees at all levels are empowered by management to follow the motto, "No job is so important, no service so urgent, that we cannot take the time to perform all work safely."
Built on that solid foundation, CSX continues on its path to become the safest and most progressive freight transportation company in North America.
Community Safety
The CSX commitment to safety extends beyond our own employees and facilities, into the communities served by our rail network.Approximately every 2 hours somewhere in the United States, a vehicle and train collide at a highway-rail intersection. A freight train moving at 55 miles an hour can take a mile or more to stop -- that's the equivalent of nearly 18 football fields. With 5.3 million new drivers every year in CSX's service territory, grade crossing safety awareness is important for everyone.
- CSX strongly believes in public safety outreach, and works closely with Operation Lifesaver, an education and awareness organization dedicated to ending collisions, fatalities and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and railroad rights-of-way. Community groups, children, school bus drivers, police officers and other first responders learn the importance of staying away from railroad property and obeying safety warning signs at crossings. Operation Lifesaver provides free safety presentations to more than 1.3 million people every year. Learn more at www.oli.org
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- In July 2009, CSX, along with Operation Lifesaver, the U.S. DOT and other railroads, helped launch Common Sense, a public awareness campaign that educates the public about the risks of trespassing on railroad property. See ads, videos, safety tips, and other information at www.CommonSenseUseIt.com .
- CSX's Keep On Living programs bring together safety initiatives and the people and communities we serve. Through safety campaigns aimed at specific audiences, we target grade-crossing safety, and specific areas such as parks and college campuses directly impacted by CSX operations. We partner with local and national non-profit groups to keep people -- especially children -- safe in their homes and neighborhoods. See how we Keep on Living.
Hazardous Materials Safety
Rail is the safest way to transport goods over land. For every billion ton-miles of hazardous materials transported, trucks are involved in more than 16 times as many accidents as railroads.CSX transports approximately 350,000 loads of hazardous materials each year, and has achieved a 99.996% success rate for transporting these loads without incident.
To minimize the potential for accidents, CSX has developed some of the most effective programs in the rail industry aimed at moving these materials safely from shipper to destination. The low number of incidents illustrates our commitment to continuous improvement. As a result, CSX is a leader among rail carriers in train accident prevention.
We also reward our customers for their safety efforts. Our annual Chemical Safety Excellence Award recognizes shippers who consistently load and unload their rail cars safely, and maintain their fleet in safe working condition.
In the communities we serve, CSX provides emergency planning assistance and training to local fire, police and emergency response personnel.
Our hazardous materials group provides free training materials, like "Emergency Response to Railroad Incidents" books and videos, and our "Community Awareness Planning Guide," to emergency responders.
Request training materials now.
Track Maintenance and Crossing Safety
Maintenance of the railroad infrastructure is essential for reaching our goal of zero accidents and injuries. CSX spends more than $1 billion annually on improving and maintaining track, bridges, signal systems, equipment and operations.Employees work year-round to improve track and grade crossings:
- 4,800 employees -- nearly 15% of our workforce -- work full time to maintain CSX's 21,000 miles of track and 12,000 bridges. About 525 of those employees are dedicated to track inspection. These employees must complete a rules training program and pass an on-track certification every year.
- We continue to strengthen our infrastructure. For example, we're on target to install more crossties in 2009 than any previous year.
- CSX works to improve grade crossings equipped with passive warning signs (i.e., cross bucks), with a program to clear-cut trees and vegetation to give motorists a better view as they approach tracks.
- CSX was the first railroad in the United States to adopt a systemwide crossing sign program. Identification signs are posted at every crossing on CSX's system, enabling emergency personnel and all drivers to quickly and accurately report vehicles stalled on a crossing, which enables the railroad to take action to prevent an accident.
- CSX also uses highly visible advertising campaigns to raise public awareness of the potential hazards of grade crossings and trespassing on rail property.
The net effect of these and other safety initiatives is a 31% decline in highway-rail grade crossing incidents on the CSX network over the past 5 years. CSX continues to devote significant resources to further improvements in grade-crossing safety.
Employee Safety
CSX employees are dedicated to absolute compliance with safety and operating rules. Through comprehensive training programs and state-of-the-art facilities, employees gain the knowledge and skills to work safely and move customers' freight reliably.Employee safety and health programs focus on:
- Compliance with operating and safety rules.
- Correct and consistent use of all tools, Personal Protective Equipment (like hard hats, safety glasses and safety shoes) and established job procedures.
- Improving health and fitness through good nutrition and proper exercise. Our nationally recognized Health and Wellness program provides education, resources and facilities so employees have the resources and information to make the right health and lifestyle choices. CSX's staff of medical and wellness experts is dedicated to this mission.
- Proper reporting of all accidents and injuries as required by company policy and federal law. Accident and injury reporting is important for several reasons, not the least of which is the collection of data and root causes that can be used in an effective program of prevention.
Not only are these the right things to do, but when a company puts safety first, everyone benefits: the employees and their families, the customers, and the communities served.
CSX's Rail Security - Public Private Partnership (RS-P3)
CSX maintains a steadfast commitment to the safety and security of our network and the communities where we operate. As part of this effort, CSX has established several public-private partnerships to provide state homeland security officials information they can use to protect the communities they serve.CSX has pilot partnerships with the states of New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, Maryland, Indiana, Ohio and Georgia, and with the American Chemistry Council's Chemtrec call response center, and the Transportation Security Administration. These partnerships formalize and enhance our commitment to these states to share information, resources and strategies in order to better protect the communities in which we operate.
We hope that these partnerships -- the first of their kind in the rail industry -- serve as a model that can be replicated in other areas. The elements of RS-P3 include:
- CSX's SecureNOW System: A cornerstone of this partnership is CSX's sharing of its highly-specialized secure train and rail car monitoring system. Highlights of the SecureNOW System include:
- Joint law enforcement and emergency responder training: Law enforcement officials train with the CSX Police Rapid Response Team -- a group of highly-skilled police officers specifically trained to respond to security incidents. Additionally, state and community emergency first responders train alongside CSX's experts in hazardous materials and emergency response.
- Sharing of hazardous materials density studies: This data helps emergency response organizations plan their resources and identify the types of emergency response training applicable to their jurisdiction.
- Closer coordination of law enforcement operations in and around CSX yards: CSX can provide its partners with around-the-clock access to its rail security professionals.
- Developing better rail security policies: States and CSX continue to work with policymakers to identify important public policy issues that can impact and improve rail security.
- Enhanced Monitoring: Provides state homeland security and law enforcement officials with a tool to identify the status of CSX trains and rail cars in their state. Before, officials had to call CSX to access this information.
- Information Sharing: Helps security officials prepare for and, if needed, respond to emergency situations.
- Targeted Security: With additional information about what is carried on rails, state officials can more efficiently allocate law enforcement resources, coordinate with CSX security officials, and integrate rail security into on-going law enforcement operations.