Commitment to Rail Safety
To report problems with a highway rail crossing:
For all other safety concerns:
Making Rail Safety a Priority
The safety of our employees and the communities we serve is a top priority at the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company (W&LE). Making safety our top priority plays an important role in the W&LE’s ability to continuously provide our customers with safe and reliable service.
Employee Safety
Our employees are our most important asset, and our goal is to provide our employees with a safe work environment. This is accomplished through yearly safety, operating rules, and security training and through the use of local safety committees. Employees participating in the local safety committees meet monthly to monitor safety issues specific to their areas. Issues needing immediate attention may be reported 24hrs a day via Safety Alert forms filled out online that when completed are emailed to appropriate personnel. Reporting may also be done telephonically utilizing a Safety Hotline.
Hazardous Materials Training
All employees involved with the transportation of hazardous materials are trained in basic hazardous materials regulations as required by federal law. W&LE has made a conscious effort to go well above the minimum federal requirements and has personnel trained to the levels of Tank Car Specialist, Advanced Tank Car Specialist, Operations, and Technician. These employees received their advanced training at the Emergency Response Training Center in Pueblo, Colorado and at the University of Findlay’s School of Environmental & Emergency Management in Findlay, Ohio.
Community Safety
W&LE’s commitment to safety also extends into the communities we serve.
Operation Lifesaver
W&LE is proud of our partnership with Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit public education program dedicated to preventing fatalities and injuries on or near railroad property. Every year our employees make presentations to students, bus drivers, driver’s education classes, civic organizations, and adult groups along with staffing displays at community events and health fairs in the communities we serve.
We have also partnered with Operation Lifesaver to conduct enforcement trains. An enforcement train is one where a law enforcement officer is positioned on the locomotive of a train to observe motorists violating grade crossing warning devices. The officer on the locomotive then radios ahead to officers on the road in order to apprehend the motorists.
W&LE has also partnered with Operation Lifesaver to conduct several mock train-bus collisions. These mock collisions are used to train school bus drivers as well as emergency response personnel. The dramatic simulations demonstrate the potentially deadly consequences of being careless at highway/railway crossings.
Emergency Response
Through partnerships with TRANSCAER (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) and the Firefighters Education and Training Foundation, W&LE has been able to provide hands on and classroom training to local fire, police, and emergency response personnel. This training focuses on assisting communities in preparing for and responding to a possible hazardous materials transportation incident involving rail or motor carriers.