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SAFETY FOCUS

SAFETY

Know Before You Go by Cliff Cagle, Manager Field Specialist

As we continue traveling down the tracks the safety focus in
July shifts to Know Before You Go. Loram’s Know Before You
Go process is vital to a safe operation on or about the tracks.

During Know Before You Go is a process, a series of steps and
actions that have been put into a checklist and 5 Life Savers:
1. Pre-plan the route with the customer.
2. Verify and understand your track authorities as you receive
them.
3. Know your on-track location at all times.
4. Obtain the commitment from your customer that track au-
thorities will not be released prior to notifying you.
5. Turn your “right to understand” into action.

Life saver 4 is a very important step in the Know Before You
Go process. Do you obtain that commitment from your pilot
every day or do you assume they will not drop tracks authori-
ties until you’re clear because you have worked with them for
some time? Mistakes made when releasing track authorities can
put an entire crew’s lives at risk.

Does Know Before
You Go only apply to
moving the machine
on track? Let me ask
this. If you do not
physically verify your
on-track protection
before boarding the machine or beginning work do you know your protect-
ed before you go? The answer to that is no. You may get a briefing from the
previous crew but until you verify that protection as per Loram rule 12.8
(A)(B)(C) you don’t know if you are protected.

Know Before You Go continues to be a major tool in your safety skill set.
Whether it’s a Close Call Report for an obstruction in the track, adverse track
conditions, a successful red flag stop test or on track protection changing with-
out our knowledge its evident that Know Before You Go continues to prevent
Out of Limits incidents daily. So, if it’s grinding, digging, highballing or heading
out for your maintenance shift I ask you this…....do you Know Before You Go?

JULY 2020 PAGE 4