Building a Culture of Safety, One Terminal at a Time

Since introducing its Critical Safety Rules three years ago – which target choices railroaders encounter daily – Union Pacific’s improved injury rate positions the team to reach its goal of being the safest Class I railroad in the United States.

At the helm of this transformation: Chief Safety Officer Rod Doerr.

“Safety isn’t a program,” Doerr said. “It’s a promise – one railroader to another – that we all go home safe at the end of the day.”

For Doerr, that promise began far from corporate headquarters, in a Montana locomotive shop. His early years rebuilding locomotive engines and freight cars taught lessons no classroom could.

“There were just a handful of us,” said Doerr. “You learn quickly what safe feels like – and what unsafe feels like.”

Over 36 years – from purchasing to operations, from Los Angeles to Omaha — Doerr saw how one-size-fits-all safety plans fall short.

“Our old way was to spread a safety program across the railroad like peanut butter,” Doerr said. “But the risks in LA aren’t the same as the risks in the Twin Cities, so you can’t treat them alike.”

That insight shaped one of the railroad’s signature programs: Safety Action Plans. Each terminal and service unit now creates its own plan, identifying unique risks and strategies for improvement while aligning to company-wide goals.

“We empowered our field teams to design how to achieve the objective,” Doerr said. “Then we go out, assess and coach. If they’re hitting the mark, great. If not, we dig in and figure out why.”

His field assessment team embodies this ‘trust but verify’ philosophy.

“If you tell me fire extinguishers are being checked, I should be able to walk up and see a current inspection date,” Doerr said. “Show me – don’t tell me.”

A turning point came when analyzing injury data. The team discovered that less than 30 out of 3,300 operating rules accounted for half of all serious incidents and injuries.

“That was the aha moment,” Doerr said. “Instead of trying to enforce all rules equally, we focus on the ones that really matter – the ones that save lives. And when we showed employees the data, it clicked. They saw the ‘why’ behind it.”

The Critical Safety Rules have addressed about half of serious injuries – but there’s still work to be done.

“The safety incidents we’re seeing now are a mile wide and an inch deep. They don’t group up neatly,” Doerr said. “So, the question becomes how do we reach those? Adding more rules won’t work. This next phase must be about shared responsibility: programs and practices that empower employees to help shape the solution.”

That mindset – practical, data-driven and deeply human – has become Doerr’s hallmark.

“We’ll never make safety perfect,” Doerr said. “But if every person here knows their voice matters, and knows the reason behind the rules, then we’re on the right track.”

Visit UP.com to learn more about Union Pacific’s commitment to rail safety.