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Language

Be A Leader in Safety

We look out for each other to ensure
we all go home safely to our loved ones

Employee Safety

At CN, we believe zero is possible - zero serious injuries, zero fatalities, zero harm. Safety is at the core of everything we do. We are committed to an incident and injury-free workplace. Our goal is to reduce serious injuries and fatalities to zero so that everyone goes home safely.

Our Policy

Safety is a core value at CN. Our ambition is to be the safest railroad in North America with an uncompromising commitment to the health and safety of our employees, the customers we serve and the communities and environment in which we operate, at all times. We aim to foster a culture of commitment to safety at all levels of our organization.

Training, leadership, and technology are the key pillars which support our safety culture. We aspire to zero — zero serious injuries, zero fatalities, zero harm. We are committed to providing the leadership, training, and resources necessary to achieve our goals.

CN uses a wide variety of processes and initiatives to maintain a safe workplace. This includes our Safety Management System, a formal framework for integrating safety into day‑to‑day railway operations. This applies to all Company employees and also governs CN’s relationship with contractors and other stakeholders while on CN property.

CN cooperates and engages with regulatory agencies and complies with all applicable regulations to maintain a safe, secure, and healthy workplace.

All employees are responsible for complying with Company safety policies, rules, standards, and procedures and for ensuring a workplace free from violence and harassment.

A Strong Safety Culture

Where every employee is committed to their personal safety and mental well being, to looking out for each other, and to prioritizing the safe transportation of our customers’ goods through the communities and environments in which we operate.

A Safety First Work Environment

Where all employees feel empowered to conduct operations safely, regardless of the nature, importance, or urgency of the job.

Safe Work Practices and Training

That ensure employees have the necessary tools and training to work safely and control exposures in the workplace.

Tracy Robinson

President and Chief Executive Officer

Derek Taylor

Executive Vice-President and Chief Field Operations Officer

Patrick Whitehead

Executive Vice-President and Chief Network Operating Officer

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SAFETY POLICY EMPLOYEE FAQ

Life Critical Rules

Among the safety rules we observe at CN are ones that, if not followed to the letter, can lead to serious injury or even death. These are called Life Critical Rules, and your life, your co-workers’ lives and the safety of the communities we serve depend on them.

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Introducing Life Critical Rules

Canada

U.S.

Canada

U.S.

Our Commitment to Life Critical Rules

Each and every one of us is committed to an incident- and injury-free workplace, and it is our number one priority to train our workforce on Life Critical Rules so we all go home safely, every single day. At CN, there are 10 groups where Life Critical Rules apply. You can find the groups and rules below.

Transportation Canada Transportation US

Engineering

Mechanical

Dangerous Goods

Intermodal

Automotive

Dock Operations

Warehousing

Transborder

COGEMA (Rail-Ferry)

FAQ Safety Questions For Employees

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What is the CN Safety Policy?

Our Safety Policy outlines our key measures for ensuring a safe and secure working environment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Safety Policy

Beyond Life Critical Rules, what additional safety leadership training do employees receive?

Safety leadership training is key to creating and successfully embedding a values-based culture of safety. CN has deployed safety leadership training for front line supervisors and management employees in partnership with global safety leadership experts. In addition, training to drive a safety leadership mindset is also included for many unionized positions in operations. Through workshops, in-field coaching and materials including a leader safety handbook and videos, leaders are trained on their role in sustaining a company-wide safety culture. A basic tenet: Leaders create the culture. Culture determines behaviour. Behaviour drives safety.

What is the Looking Out for Each Other safety mindset?

Looking Out for Each Other is an integral part of CN’s safety culture. It’s a vital safety mindset that employees are taught and integrate into their daily practices to ensure everyone goes home safely at the end of the day. This peer-to-peer engagement strategy trains employees to speak up about potential at-risk work practices (exposures) or physical hazards in the field to help others stay safe at work. Looking Out For Each Other is also an important part of the training curriculum for all new hires and an important driver of CN’s safety culture to help keep all our railroaders safe.

What daily and ongoing safety actions help keep employees safe?

Part of the ongoing safety actions are daily Job Safety Briefings – a series of interactions that focus on the specific safety requirements/instructions and exposures associated with a work tasks. There are also weekly field Exposure Reduction Discussions to eliminate or control exposures. Workplace hazard inspections are organized weekly to assess a location’s condition and conditional risks to employee safety with any corrective actions taken.

In addition, ongoing Safety Summits provide an opportunity to engage employees in strengthening CN’s safety culture. Summits promote effective two-way communications and the sharing of safety best practices. Safety Summits also provide a forum for employees to share their ideas and identify opportunities and challenges which can be addressed jointly. Of particular importance is the opportunity to discuss Life Critical Rules, controlling exposures and employee’s commitment to safety.

What are the CN Health and Safety Committees?

CN has more than 100 joint union-management committees across the network that are doing good work to improve local safety culture and engage the workforce on health and safety initiatives. The Committees work to resolve health and safety issues, review safety incidents to better understand causation and recommend corrective measures, connect with employees in the field and get ideas on where to improve.