BNSF Railway’s vision is to operate free of accidents and injuries. Train derailments and their impact are of particular concern for safety, customer service, community relations, and impact on the environment. The Engineering team has a goal to eliminate train derailments that are a result of track inspections. To support this goal and respond to federal regulation Track Safety Standards (49 CFR Section 213), BNSF developed a multi-phased program for Engineering Certification (TIER III) for assigned Engineering supervisors and union-represented Engineering employees.
Program Details
TIER III training is designed to ensure track inspectors understand the requirements of FRA track Safety Standards and critical Engineering Instruction (EI) requirements affecting track inspection. To address the business challenge, BNSF created a 36-hour, blended training program, TIER III, that includes:
- Instructor-Led Training (two days), including a 3-D virtual learning environment used to show students different types of track and replicate track challenges not easily available in the field environment.
- Field Learning and Practice (three days), which provides structured, hands-on experience.
- Qualification Audit (performed 90 days post-training), which certifies learning post-training. Participants must achieve 100 percent on 13 core competencies and 90 percent on remaining content areas. Once qualified, participants must recertify after five years.
- Remediation Process for employees who do not pass the exam (or the audit) the first time; they have one additional attempt to pass each test. Any employee who doesn’t pass the second attempt must wait 12 months before re-enrolling in BNSF Tier III.
- Requalification Process, which consists of a two-day field course and exam (minimum passing score of 85 percent); the process extends the TIER III qualification for another five-year period.
Training topic areas include:
- Purpose of Track Inspection
- Crossties
- Concrete Ties
- Rail Seat Abrasion
- Continuous Welded Rail (CWR)
- Signs and Symptoms of Tight Rail
- Geometry Car Defect Data
- Vertical Track Indications (VTI’s).
For train-the-trainer, BNSF trained 400-plus Engineering Field Supervisors on TIER III content and facilitation skills in 2013. BNSF also trained more than 241 union-represented employees in 2013. The company aims to train more than 2,800 employees by the end of 2015.
Results
While many factors contribute to a reduction in train derailments, BNSF believes its Engineering Certification Program (TIER III) has contributed to the following 2013 results:
- Track-related derailments (FRA Reportable) are down 25 percent year over year.
- Engineering Incidents Reportable per Million Train Miles are down from .48 to .40.
- All Engineering Incidents per Million Train Miles are down from 2.30 to 1.67.
The return on investment (ROI) for this program is significant at 921 percent. Details include:
Program cost: $252,500 (program design and materials)
Trainer/trainee labor: $923,000 (i.e., lost productivity)
Benefits: $12,000,000 (Reduction in expenses related to train derailments between 2012 and 2013)
