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Rail News Home Safety

4/14/2005



Rail News: Safety

KCS stresses 'no blind shoves' to maintain safety performance momentum


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During the first quarter, Kansas City Southern lowered its safety ratio to 2.9 injuries per 200,000 manhours. The Class I’s quarterly Federal Railroad Administration-reportable injuries dropped 36.4 percent, total injuries declined 23.5 percent and lost workdays plummeted 84 percent compared with first-quarter 2004 despite record freight volume and a limited number of crews, according to a prepared statement.

To continue lowering the safety ratio, transportation department officials are trying to increase awareness and eliminate “blind shoves.” Also known as a failure to protect the point, a blind shove refers to a locomotive moving cars without a train crew member on the leading end of the cars to inform the engineer (via radio or hand signals) about conditions on the track ahead. Blind shoves, which can cause injuries and damage equipment, are preventable, said Director of Safety and Training Brett Strickland.

Field operating personnel are meeting with train crews system-wide and distributing "No Blind Shoves" caps to promote awareness.