Melissa White Earns UP’s Top Safety Honor
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
The 2022 J.C. Kenefick Safety Award winner Melissa White with, from left, Eric Gehringer, UP Executive Vice President-Operations; fellow UP employee Kent Jones; and UP Chairman, President and CEO Lance Fritz. (Caption and Photograph Courtesy of UP)
Union Pacific (UP) Total Safety Culture Coordinator Melissa White of North Platte, Neb., has earned the Class I railroad’s 2022 J.C. Kenefick Safety Award.
The annual award was presented at UP’s recent Leadership Conference in Omaha, Neb. Named for former UP CEO John C. Kenefick* and established in 1986, the award is the railroad’s highest safety honor given to an agreement employee.
“Mission Zero is possible,” White reported on the “Inside Track” section of UP’s website. “We have parts of our service unit that have been injury free for over a year, so it can be achieved by all of us. We have to continue checking each risk to make sure it’s taken care of so everyone goes home safe.”
White is part of the Total Safety Culture program, which connects management with craft employees to enhance safety through training programs, observations and feedback, according to UP.
She and her team meet regularly with new hires, borrow-outs and experienced craft professionals to address potential concerns. This type of proactive outreach is effective, and has sometimes resulted in “extraordinary measures,” according to UP. For example, since the team added balloons and glitter to Bailey Yard’s most run-through switch, it hasn’t tallied a single human-factor derailment in more than a year.
“The biggest reason I’m in Safety is not only because of my family at home, it’s also because of my family here,” White said. “We work with these people all the time. If something happens to them, it’s not just their family that hurts—it’s all of us that hurt, too.”
In 2021, there were 22 reported injuries in North Platte; in 2022, there were seven, a 68% decrease and a new record for the Great Plains Service Unit, UP reported.
Those who know White best credit the improved metrics and No. 1 safety ranking in the Northern Region to her approachability, open-mindedness and active listening skills, according to UP.
“There’s a lot more cohesiveness now,” said Jerry Ochoa, Senior Manager-Train Operations. “When you have a team collectively spearheading safety, it works well for everyone.”
“Everyone is committed to continuously improving our performance,” added Ryan Long, Superintendent-Train Operations. “Whether it be person, environment or behavior, she [White] and her crew are on top of it.”
“She’s not just there to check a box,” summed up Joe Books, yardperson and fellow Total Safety Culture teammate. “She’s in this position because she truly cares about people and their safety.”
According to UP, Tracy Jones, an electrician in Roseville, Calif., and Lenson Riggs Jr., a brakeperson in Houston, Tex., were 2022 J.C. Kenefick Safety Award finalists.
UP Track Supervisor Lakish Vanzant of Chicago received the 2021 J.C. Kenefick Safety Award.
* Kenefick “guided the company into the era deregulation after the passage of the Staggers Act in 1980,” and worked to more than double the railroad’s size through acquisitions and to gain access to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, UP noted on its website.
