1.7 Million Injury-Free Hours Earn Award
Union Pacific machinist John Kirwan won the 2010 Harold F. Hammond Award for leading its Hinkle, Ore., facility to 1,400 injury-free days in 2010.
The Harold F. Hinkle Award has been presented to John Kirway, a Union Pacific machinist at its Hinkle, Ore., facility, for leading the effort to achieve 1,400 injury-free days in 2010. The facility has a Federal Railroad Administration reportable injury rate of zero since January 2007, the equivalent of more than 1.7 million working employee hours.
UP Chairman, President, and CEO Jim Young described Kirwan as a coach and mentor whose safety-first attitude is contagious and inspirational to other employees. The award was established in 1986 and honors an individual railroad employee who has demonstrated outstanding safety achievement during the prior year. It is named for the late Harold F. Hammond, former president of the Transportation Association of America, who served for many years as chairman of the Harriman Awards selection committee.
Kirwan is a Total Safety Culture facilitator. His zeal has helped to increased employee participation in the program from 33 percent to 96 percent in two years, according to UP.
Kirwan developed the facility's "Smoke Detector Program" based on the concept that analysis of employee safety observations can help to address small problems before they become big ones. He worked to implement a terminal-wide emergency alert system that will go online at the end of 2011. He participates in "LEAN" continuous improvement initiatives and in Hinkle's Critical 5 Team which establishes best practice procedures for safe working habits, according to the railroad’s announcement.
Seven other railroad employees received Association of American Railroads Certificates of Commendation for their work in enhancing safety:
- Nelson Beveridge, a conductor for CN
- Claude Fields, machinist with Amtrak
- John Hebda, carman with CSX Transportation
- Jesse Jackson, section foreman with Kansas City Southern Railway
- Rick Spears, locomotive engineer for BNSF Railway
- Monty Wilkerson, locomotive engineer with Norfolk Southern Corp.
- Bruce Wold, track inspector for Canadian Pacific