Railway Association of Canada honours 2015 Safety and Environment Award winners

The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) today recognized five of its members for their outstanding contributions to rail safety and environmental stewardship.

“This year’s award winners represent all of the different segments of Canada’s railway sector, demonstrating a truly collective commitment to safety and to the environment,” said RAC President and CEO, Michael Bourque. “We’re thrilled to recognize the initiatives of this year’s RAC Safety and Environment Award recipients.”

RAC’s Safety and Environment Awards recognize Canadian railways that have displayed outstanding leadership in the areas of safety and environmental stewardship, and are working to ensure that Canada’s rail network remains among the safest and most sustainable in the world.

Winners

The 2015 RAC Safety Award winners are:

Class 1 – Third-party incident

VIA Rail for its Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) system designed to proactively address potential safety risks. The program revolves around identifying and assessing key risks, adopting proactive measures to prevent threats and implementing corrective measures. For example, a railway uses Key Risk Indicators – a key feature of the ERM framework – to pre-emptively monitor changes in safety risk levels, allowing the company to take action before risk materializes and to ensure safety compliance.

Class 1 – Employee incident

CN for its Safety Culture Symposium, which provided a forum for experts from around the world to share best practices and experiences about improving safety culture. The two-day event featured presentations, case studies and a choice of interactive workshop sessions addressing key safety challenges facing the railway industry.

Non-class 1 – Third-party incident

GO Transit for its implementation of Crash Energy Management (CEM) technology into its new bi-level cab commuter rail cars. This technology provides more energy absorption in the case of low-speed collisions, to enhance passenger and crew safety. The 67 cars and 60 bi-level cars that GO Transit has equipped with the new CEM design are the first of their kind in Canada.

Non-class 1 – Employee incident

Central Maine and Quebec Railway for its Safety Culture Survey, aimed at understanding what improvements are required to cultivate and maintain a robust safety culture. With facilitation by RAC, the railway surveyed its employees and led focus-group sessions to learn about how it can enhance its safety culture. More than 100 employees, or 92 per cent of the company’s workforce, participated in the survey.

The 2015 RAC Environment Award winners are:

Class 1

Canadian Pacific (CP) for its Gateway Boulevard Berm Risk Assessment Methodology for Development near Freight Rail. Developed between CP, the City of Edmonton, AECOM and SMA Consulting, the initiative draws on research, best practices and industry guidelines to ensure that developments near freight rail property are conducted in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.

Non-class 1

GO Transit for its Transit Environmental Management System (EMS), which applies a consistent environmental standard to all aspects of rail operations. The initiative maintains consistency across divisions, while providing the flexibility required for each group to manage its unique environmental requirements. As a result, a company can effectively manage environmental aspects and impacts associated with railway services, such as fuel efficiency and maintenance activities.

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Contact:

Alex Paterson
Railway Association of Canada
613-564-8111
alexp@railcan.ca

About the Railway Association of Canada

The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) represents more than 50 freight and passenger railway companies that move 75 million people and $250 billion worth of goods in Canada each year. As the voice of Canada’s railway industry, RAC advocates on behalf of its members and associate members to ensure that the rail sector remains globally competitive, sustainable, and most importantly, safe. Learn more at www.railcan.ca. Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.