WASHINGTON — Based on data collected from over five years of short line Safety Culture Assessments conducted, the Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) has developed and released a new resource for short line railroads, entitled Strong Safety Culture Best Practices. This first-of-its-kind guide is easily accessible on the website, and available to all short line railroads.
The SLSI’s flagship program, the Safety Culture Assessment, found to be the “most robust model for assessing safety culture in the U.S. railroad industry”, uses the Ten Core Elements of a Strong Safety Culture as defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safety Council to evaluate a railroad’s safety culture in practice. In the document released today, best practices in each of the Ten Elements are provided, along with examples of the practice in action, and an explanation of the rationale behind the best practice. In many cases, downloadable tools or additional resources are also provided.
“The data analyzed across completed Safety Culture Assessments, coupled with the 500-plus years of railroad safety experience on our team, has identified some clear actions in each of the Ten Core Elements to enhance a railroad’s safety culture,” said Tom Murta, Executive Director, SLSI. “The easy-to-use Best Practices guide will enable short lines to continuously elevate safety culture across all of these metrics.”
The Safety Culture Assessment is one of several programs provided at no cost to short line railroads by SLSI. The initial Assessment is just the beginning of the journey. Following an Assessment, railroads can tap into the SLSI staff for Technical Assistance on a specific challenge, or to schedule a follow-up Assessment to measure progress against objectives.
In addition to this new guide, short line railroads can access a variety of resources including Safety Tips for Safety Briefings, articles on safety culture and more on the website.
More information is available online.
— From an American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association news release. May 20, 2020.
All one has to do is watch railfan videos of shortline operations on YouTube to know that safety culture at some shortlines is lacking. Comments from professional railroaders abound on the number of FRA violations.