Chemical Transportation Safety and Responsible Care

Lincoln County (LincUP) Community Advisory Panel

LincUP provides open dialogue on health, safety and environmental issues between representatives of the community and Union Pacific Railroad to promote awareness and understanding for mutual benefit. For a complete listing of members, see 2013 LincUP Panelists.

Questions? Comments?

Contact the LincUP Facilitator, Lorre McKeone.

Minutes of Meeting: March 25, 2013

Present: Ron Bourne, Larry Campbell, Scott Castillo, Dan Czech, Erik Erickson, Jim Falcon, Cindy Halligan, Rich Hoaglund, Cory Johanson, Glenn Johnson, Orville Kaschke, Kim Keeling, Dwight Livingston, Sue Mulligan, Bryan Robinson, Gary Smith, Kathy Swain, Shelly Taylor, Dennis Thompson, Don Weber, Will Winchester, Glynn Wolar. Facilitator: Lorre McKeone. Guests: Tami Dugger (for Dan Guenthner), Clayton Barnhart, Shelly Enyeart, Misty Essman.

Absent: Marcia Bauman, Judy Clark, Bruce Dodson, Kellie Golden, Dan Guenthner, Shelly Penner

Meeting Notes

Announcements: Guests were introduced and welcomed: Clayton Barnhart is a student at North Platte High School and is interested in joining the panel. Misty Essman and Shelly Enyeart are the speakers for the evening. Tami Dugger is attending for Dan Guenthner who is still recovering from surgery.

Community Roundtable: Shelly Taylor distributed informational flyers about the Nebraska Youth Range Camp to be held June 10-14, at the Nebraska State 4H Camp in Halsey, Neb. The camp is designed to “educate tomorrow's leaders today in range and natural resource management and overall stewardship.” The camp is for 14 to 18 year olds. Applications are due May 24. For more information contact Shelly at 308-214-0065

UP Report

Erik Erickson reported that 7-day car loadings are about the same as last year. The 2013 goal was higher but coal volume continues to be flat. Velocity in the Northern Region (which includes the North Platte Service Unit) is on plan.

Velocity in the Western Region is on plan. Velocity is below plan in the Southern Region due to volume issues associated with crude oil shipments. Currently more than 1000 locomotives are stored systemwide with about 150 at Bailey Yard.

In the North Platte Service Unit, of the 125 workers currently laid off, 35 are on call back and by the end of May all employees should be back to work. To avoid losing valuable trained employees, some workers have been transferred temporarily or permanently to the Southern Region. New hiring in the future will be contingent on increased coal traffic in the transportation department. Some seasonal hiring will occur in maintenance of way as work on tracks increases over the warmer months. Mechanical also may be hiring.

Meeting Topic

UP Health and Wellness programs - Shelly Enyeart and Misty Essman (Occupational Health Nurses for Union Pacific)

Misty and Shelly work as occupational health nurses for the North Platte Service Unit. Five years ago, UP moved from using contract nurses to employee nurses. Three nurses work in the Service Unit and two in the Diesel Shop. Union Pacific believes that healthy employees are safe employees, so a high priority has been placed on health and wellness.

Occupational Health Nurses are Registered Nurses with a broad spectrum of experience from acute care to emergency medicine and occupational health. To work at the railroad, they must be licensed in the states they work in. The nurses at the North Platte Service Unit are also certified in BLS, ACLS and TNCC.

Their job is quite diverse, involving Promotion, Prevention and Response:

• Wellness Promotion: Wellness programs sponsored by UP include unlimited tobacco cessation assistance, well-being assessments, annual health fairs, and a weight loss program called the Ton Plunge.
  
  The nurses  also are responsible for the Employee Assistance Program that addresses personal problems that may be impacting job performance. They refer employees to appropriate programs to help address issues including Operation RedBlock, Peer support, Focus program. Friend-to-Friend or personal counseling for addictions and mental health issues.
  
  The nurses administer the Return to Work Program to facilitate return to work after an injury or illness. They also conduct regular hearing, vision and fitness tests as required by federal regulations.
• Prevention: UP nurses work closely with local health departments to administer vaccinations and flu shots. The “Warm up to Work” program encourages employees to stretch muscles before beginning their shift to avoid sprains and strains. All nurses must be CPR and AED (automated external defibulator) trained. UP has 28 AEDs strategically located throughout the North Platte Service Unit and nurses conduct regular Medic First Aid classes to maintain a trained and ready-response work force.
  
  SHIP II is a program that provides at-risk employees with a certified trainer for up to 6 hours to help them begin a regular workout regimen. In 2012 this program was utilized by 168 employees.
• Response: There is a UP Nurse on call 24/7 who usually will  respond to an injury call within 20 minutes. They assess the situation and refer to other local medical networks as needed (for things like cardiac, seizure, loss of consciousness, significant vision or hearing change). They also handle FFD (Fit for Duty) referrals from employees who express concern that another employee is unable to safely perform his/her job functions.
  
  As UP Nurses continue to build relationships with employees and managers, the number of incidents has decreased companywide, lost work days have decreased dramatically, and more employees are participating in company supported wellness programs.

Committees

Membership: Clay Barnhart has agreed to join the panel for the last open position. The committee reviewed attendance records and will visit with members who missed most of the meetings last year, to see if an alternative representative should be appointed.

Planning: Tentative topics for coming months: April - Locomotive Evacuation, May - UP Police, July - Operation Lifesaver, August - RR101, September - Tour of Bailey Yard.

Outreach: Sue Mulligan shared information she had assembled about agencies and others who might be called in an emergency. The group discussed the best ways to make referrals to these agencies and will investigate whether something like this already exists.

Summary and Strategy

Next meeting: 5:15 p.m. Monday,  April 22, 2013

Location: North Platte Community College, North Campus student lounge

Meeting Topic: Locomotive Evacuation, Dennis Thompson

Student Lounge, North Campus, North Platte Community College
1101 Halligan Drive, North Platte