FRA: NS Safety Culture at ‘Involving Level of Maturity‘
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
The Federal Railroad Administration on Aug. 9 issued its Norfolk Southern Safety Culture Assessment Report, undertaken in early March as a 60-day supplemental assessment following the East Palestine derailment and other safety incidents.
The 143-page report (download below) characterizes NS’s safety culture as at “an Involving level of maturity,” based on 10 “safety culture elements,” as illustrated in the following chart:
“Results from the NS Safety Assessment demonstrate that the NS safety culture is in the Involving level of maturity,” the agency said in its conclusion. ”While FRA recognizes the efforts that NS has taken to be responsive to FRA recommendations and take proactive safety measures, there are still areas where NS continues to use minimum standards set by regulations as a benchmark for efficacy. FRA recommends NS work to advance its safety culture maturity by setting policies and procedures that look to proactive measures and continuous improvement goals.
“FRA will continue to work in partnership with NS and is committed to assisting NS in reaching its goals to improve safety for the benefit of its operations, employees, and the communities where it operates. To assist NS in its safety goals, as part of the FRA Safety Management Team weekly meetings with NS leadership, FRA will follow up with the recommendations made as part of this Assessment. Additionally, FRA will continue to follow up with NS regarding the implementation status of programs, policies and procedures that were proposed to address previous FRA recommendations. FRA will continue to reiterate those recommendations that have previously been made to NS where NS has indicated they go beyond regulatory requirement as FRA believes implementing these recommendations is important for improved safety outcomes. Lastly, FRA will continue to work with NS, including its workers, as a safety partner and seek out ways to work collaboratively to strengthen NS safety culture and improve overall railroad safety.”
NS Responds
Norfolk Southern responded to the study by stating it “pledges action on the Federal Railroad Administration safety assessment.“ NS said it “welcomed the results of an assessment of the company’s safety programs and culture” and called the report “an important step on the path to becoming the gold standard for safety in the rail industry.”
“We are a safe railroad driven to become even safer,” said Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw. “To learn, we have to listen. It’s important to understand where the FRA believes we can do better, and we appreciate that they identified positive areas where we are already making progress. We want feedback from our regulators, from the unions that represent our craft colleagues, and from outside our industry like the consultants we’ve hired with deep safety experience from Atkins Nuclear Secured.”
Shaw and members of the company’s leadership team met with FRA Administrator Amit Bose in Atlanta on Aug. 8 to review the findings. “I gave Administrator Bose my personal commitment that we are going to use this assessment to take further action,” said Shaw. “We aren’t waiting. As an immediate first step, we delivered the report to Atkins Nuclear Secured, the consultant conducting an independent review of our safety program. We’ll continue making progress on our six-point safety plan. We’re also actively collaborating with labor on safety and we’re engaging with them on next steps to address the report’s findings.”
