ASLRRA issues record number of Jake Safety Award winners of distinction

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) today announced that 394 railroads earned a 2024 Jake Safety Award.

Most notably, 357 of the awardees are noted “with distinction” for zero reportable injuries in 2024, which is a record, ASLRRA officials said in a press release.

Nineteen member railroads will be further recognized by ASLRRA as President’s Safety Award winners for registering the lowest injury frequency rate in a variety of regions and person-hours worked categories. The list of those winners is available here.

To achieve a Jake Award, an ASLRRA member railroad must perform better than the average reportable injury frequency rate per 200,000 person-hours worked for railroads other than Class Is, transit agencies, commuter railroads and Amtrak as evidenced by railroad injury and illness summary forms submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for each month in 2024. 

In 2024, a Jake Award winner must have an injury frequency rate lower than the industry average of 2.31, a reduction from the prior year’s rate of 2.38.

"These results are a testament to the short line industry’s dedication to ‘Safety First, Every Day,’ and our commitment to investing in technology, infrastructure, and continuous training for employees to be ever-safer," said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker.

The Jake Awards are named for the late Lowell S. “Jake” Jacobson, the former president and general manager of the Copper Basin Railway who championed safety in the short-line industry. The full list of 2024 Jake Award winners can be found here. Jake Award winners with distinction can be read here.