ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996                TAG: 9605150107
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-8  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON 

NS JUDGED SAFEST LARGE RAILROAD FOR EMPLOYEES

For the seventh straight year, Norfolk Southern Corp. was judged the safest large railroad to work for by a leading railroad industry group.

The railroad on Tuesday won the E.H. Harriman Memorial Safety Award for 1995, despite it being the target of scores of employee lawsuits in Roanoke Circuit Court concerning falls, hearing loss and many other on-the-job injuries and ailments.

A higher proportion of injury cases against railroads go to court than in other industries. This is because railroad workers can't seek benefits under the workers compensation system.

The accident rate that won NS the contest is an average of one per day; the railroad employs 23,000 to 24,000 people. Only incidents reported to the Federal Railroad Administration were counted by the E.H. Harriman Memorial Awards Institute of Washington. The award was begun by the family of railroad pioneer Edward Harriman in 1913.

"We are bound by an uncompromising and unrelenting commitment to safety and - more importantly - to the belief that every accident and injury can be prevented," NS Chairman David Goode said in accepting the award.

NS has steadily improved its safety record, according to spokesman Bob Auman. In 1987, the company's accident rate was four times last year's level, he said.

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