Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern has made efforts to take proactive safety measures, but continues to use minimum standards in some areas, according to a Federal Railroad Administration report on the railroad’s safety culture.
The report comes more than six months after the fiery derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3. The Ohio wreck was followed by a series of other derailments and the death of a Norfolk Southern employee, prompting broader safety concerns, and the launch of the FRA safety assessment in March.
The federal agency said Norfolk Southern has made some improvements, including partnering with consultants to evaluate its safety culture, but found “considerable room for improvement in other areas,” including training, communications about safety and trust among the workforce.
“For example, data indicate there is a divide between NS leadership’s commitment to fostering trust throughout the railroad and the perceptions of the state of trust that exists today between employees and frontline supervisors, as well as within the railroad as a whole,” the FRA report said.
The safety assessment involved reviews of operations, evaluations of the railroad’s safety culture through interviews with employees and a visit to the Norfolk Southern training center in McDonough.
“While FRA recognizes the efforts that NS has taken to be responsive to FRA recommendations and take proactive safety measures, there are still areas where NS continues to use minimum standards set by regulations as a benchmark for efficacy,” the report said. “FRA recommends NS work to advance its safety culture maturity by setting policies and procedures that look to proactive measures and continuous improvement goals.”
Norfolk Southern issued a statement welcoming the results of the assessment.
“It’s important to understand where the FRA believes we can do better, and we appreciate that they identified positive areas where we are already making progress,” said Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw in a written statement. “We want feedback from our regulators, from the unions that represent our craft colleagues, and from outside our industry like the consultants we’ve hired with deep safety experience from Atkins Nuclear Secured.”
The FRA also made a series of recommendations to improve safety operations, on top of previous recommendations in a 2022 system audit after three Norfolk Southern employees suffered amputations while on duty. The FRA said the railroad didn’t respond comprehensively to those earlier recommendations.
In the report, the agency called the McDonough training center “an ideal platform to introduce NS safety culture initiatives to employees from the start of their employment.”
In areas where it found non-compliance with safety regulations, “FRA is considering enforcement actions against NS,” but the safety assessment is broader than rules and regulations.
Separately, the National Transportation Safety Board also launched a special investigation into Norfolk Southern’s corporate organization and safety culture.
Shaw, who met on Tuesday with FRA Administrator Amit Bose in Atlanta to review the findings, said he gave his “personal commitment that we are going to use this assessment to take further action.”
“We aren’t waiting,” Shaw added, saying the company sent the report to Atkins Nuclear Secured and will continue working on its safety plan and working with labor on safety.
