Final Winners Selected for March Winter Freeze Bonuses

Nine Watco team members were selected to receive a Winter Freeze safety program bonus for March.

The Winter Freeze safety program focuses on rewarding team members for near-miss reporting and safety suggestions from Dec. 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020.

“By reporting near misses, safety suggestions, SAFE Observations, and acting on lessons learned from them, we can continue to drive to zero, and make this our safest year on record,” said Travis Herod, Senior Vice President of Safety and Training. “It needs to be a part of our lives, something we do daily.”

March Bonus Winners Phillip Spears, Jr., Jeffrey Hillabrand, Shawn Eller, Matt Nicol, Jeremy Schwarzhuber, Kenith Langsford, Rickey Moore, Ryan Johnsrud, and Jeff Hoagland.

Team member Phillip Spears, Jr., Railcar Coordinator, noticed a beehive in a tree outside of the railcar repair location’s parts storage building at the Hatton Quarry in Arkansas. This storage building is accessed frequently by the team to get material, and the beehive could have resulted in a bee sting, which can be dangerous to anyone who is allergic and painful for those who are not. The team member contacted the facility owner, who had pest control safely remove the beehive.

Phillip Spears, Jr. Railcar Coordinator Hatton, Arkansas

At the mechanical shop in Omaha, Nebraska, Jeffrey Hillabrand, Railcar Repairman, was assigned the task of removing running boards of a railcar. While performing his pre-work walk around, he saw a low-hanging electrical wire directly above the railcar. The team moved the railcar before working on it, and the shop’s leadership team implemented a practice to discontinue using the spot for that specific task.

Jeffrey Hillabrand Railcar Repairman Omaha, Nebraska

Shawn Eller Railcar Repairman Junction City, Kansas

Shawn Eller, Junction City Railcar Repairman, noticed a lessexperienced team member having difficulty with a centrifugal punch. Shawn used his Stop Work Authority to inspect the punch and determined it was worn and could break. The leadership team reinstructed all team members on pre-use inspections of equipment and included topics regarding inspections to perform when malfunctions occur. The team inspected other punches in the shop and repaired all worn punches.

Matt Nicol Trainmaster Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad

Jeremy Schwarzhuber Assistant Trainmaster Wisconsin & Southern Railroad

On the rail side, Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad Trainmaster Matt Nicol identified a sizeable concrete hole near the mainline that posed a hazard to the team and the public on and near the railroad’s right of way. The MOW team filled the hole, possibly an old well, with ballast and dirt, and then capped it off.

Jeremy Schwarzhuber, an Assistant Trainmaster at the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, noticed an unfamiliar vehicle enter the yard area where the team was working. When approached, the driver mentioned he was observing and had never been to that part of town before. The team member suggested installing private property signs to help with the security and safety of both the team members and the public by identifying areas that are not safe for the public to be.

At the Bogalusa Bayou Railroad, Crew Leader Kenith Langsford was performing a pre-switch inspection of cars and noticed a damaged piece of guard rail on a loading dock in a customer facility. It was hanging in a way that would be a hazard to equipment and team members. The pre-switch inspection identified the issue and allowed corrections, resulting in customer safety, with no damage or risk of injury.

Ricky Moore Operator Louisville, Kentucky

Ryan Johnsrud Pump Operator Fryburg, North Dakota

Jeff Hoagland Terminal Operator Omaha, Nebraska

Rickey Moore, an Operator at the Louisville, Kentucky, River Road terminal, noticed when he opened a fertilizer barge that the product, loaded by another party, was not what the customer was expecting. He confirmed the barge number then alerted the customer that the product was DAP (a type of fertilizer) instead of urea, the product they were expecting. Team members at the facility worked with the customer to resolve the issue.

Ryan Johnsrud, Pump Operator at the Fryburg, North Dakota, terminal, caught an issue at the terminal’s crude rack. He noticed the vent line was making a hissing noise, indicating a leak. He used his Stop Work Authority and contacted utility operations. They inspected and repaired the leak, and then loading resumed.

At the Omaha, Nebraska, terminal, Operator Jeff Hoagland noticed that drivers were hooking hoses to the ethanol loading rack while switch operations were being performed on the adjacent track. This was corrected and changed, eliminating a potential hazard.