March 8, 2007
Norfolk Southern’s Harrisburg Division Sets Standard for Rail Worker
Safety
HARRISBURG, PA. - With the statistics tabulated and verified,
Norfolk Southern announced that its Harrisburg Division was the
safest operating division on the railroad’s 22-state network for
2006, with an injury ratio of .56. The Harrisburg Division’s
Transportation Department recorded the lowest operating department
injury ratio in the history of Norfolk Southern, with a ratio
of .31. The corporate goal for 2006 was a .89 injury ratio, which
also was bettered by the Harrisburg Division’s Maintenance of Way
and Structures Department, and Communications and Signals
Department. Rail industry injury ratios are based on Federal
Railroad Administration reportable incidents per 200,000 employee-
hours worked.
“Between the volume of train traffic on the division and the weather
in the Northeast, working injury-free cannot be taken for granted,”
said Jerry Hall, superintendent of Norfolk Southern’s Harrisburg
Division. “The division’s 2006 safety performance reflects the
tremendous focus our employees have on working safely, coupled with
comprehensive training and excellent working relationships between
labor and management.”
The Harrisburg Division is one of 11 operating divisions on Norfolk
Southern. With track and facilities in five Northeastern states, the
division has more than 1,800 main-line route miles of track and
includes major terminals in Allentown, Enola, Harrisburg,
Philadelphia and Reading, Pa.; Buffalo and Binghamton, N.Y.;
Baltimore, Md.; and Secaucus and Jersey City, N.J. The division has
approximately 2,100 employees, doing the work necessary to keep 260
daily trains carrying consumer and food products, automobiles, coal,
chemicals, lumber, steel, mail and packages moving on time.
For the