Current:Home > ContactRailroad BNSF stresses safety but is still held back by longstanding industry issues, report finds -前500条预览:
Railroad BNSF stresses safety but is still held back by longstanding industry issues, report finds
View
Date:2025-04-24 00:56:25
Freight railroad BNSF is generally striving to improve safety on a consistent basis, but that message doesn’t always reach front-line workers who often don’t feel comfortable reporting safety concerns for fear of being disciplined, according to an assessment released Wednesday by regulators.
The Federal Railroad Administration’s review of BNSF’s safety culture also found that the company continues to be held back by some of the same issues that have been common across the industry for years.
This new report is the second one the agency has completed to address railroad safety concerns following the disastrous February 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as it works to review all the major railroads.
The BNSF review is more positive than last summer’s Norfolk Southern report, which said executives at that railroad were too often satisfied with only doing the minimum for safety.
The FRA found that company leaders consistently stressed safety as a core value, but at the lower levels of the railroad, some managers still prioritize keeping the trains moving ahead of safety.
“Changes in messaging create doubt among front-line craft employees as to the true goals, priorities and commitments of the railroad,” the agency said in the report.
Regulators also reiterated their recommendation for BNSF and all the major freight railroads to sign on to the confidential federal safety reporting hotline for workers to report concerns without fear of being punished.
BNSF earned praise for launching a pilot program with that hotline for its dispatchers earlier this year, but the FRA said it needs to be available to all rail workers. The industry has a long history of retaliating against workers who report too many safety concerns, because those issues slow down the trains while repairs are made.
All the major railroads promised to join that federal reporting system after East Palestine, but so far only BNSF and Norfolk Southern have announced limited pilot programs.
“Effective reporting systems improve safety by reducing risks and allow for changes and repairs to be made so safety incidents do not recur,” according to the report.
BNSF didn’t immediately comment on the report after its public release early Wednesday.
BNSF is one of the nation’s largest railroads, with tracks crossing the Western United States. It is based in Fort Worth, Texas, and is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate of Omaha, Nebraska.
veryGood! (888)
Related
- Trump's 'stop
- 2024 People's Choice Country Awards Red Carpet Fashion: See Every Look as Stars Arrive
- Ulta Fall Haul Sale: 46 Celebrity Beauty Favorites from Kyle Richards & More—Starting at $3
- Kelsea Ballerini Reveals the Most Competitive Voice Coach
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Madonna’s Stepmother Joan Ciccone Dead at 81 After Cancer Battle
- SpaceX Crew-9, the mission that will return Starliner astronauts, prepares for launch
- Falling tree at a Michigan nature center fatally injures a boy who was on a field trip
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Kane Brown Got One Thing Right in His 2024 PCCAs Speech With Shoutout to Katelyn Brown and Kids
Ranking
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- Why Comedian Matt Rife Wants to Buy The Conjuring House
- The Bear's Jeremy Allen White Kisses Costar Molly Gordon While Out in Los Angeles
- Alan Eugene Miller becomes 2nd inmate in US to be executed with nitrogen gas
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- The Surprising Way Today’s Dylan Dreyer Found Out About Hoda Kotb’s Departure
- Mountain West Conference survives as 7 remaining schools sign agreement to stay in league
- Prosecutors file sealed brief detailing allegations against Trump in election interference case
Recommendation
North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
Missy Mazzoli’s ‘The Listeners’ portraying life in a cult gets U.S. premiere at Opera Philadelphia
Pregnant Mormon Wives' Star Whitney Leavitt Reveals Name of Baby No. 3 With Husband Connor Leavitt
Why Comedian Matt Rife Wants to Buy The Conjuring House
2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
NASA's Perseverance rover found an unusual stone on Mars: Check out the 'zebra rock'
How a Children’s Playground Is Helping With Flood Mitigation in a Small, Historic New Jersey City
Could Caitlin Clark be the WNBA all-time leading scorer? Here's when she could do it