Union Pacific Railroad employees achieved the best first half of the year safety performance in the company’s nearly 150-year history. For the period January 1 through June 30, Union Pacific’s employee reportable injury rate was 1.01, a 23 percent improvement vs. 2010’s record 1.31 reportable injury rate.

In addition, Union Pacific’s 0.95 employee reportable injury rate for the second quarter 2011 was the best quarterly safety performance ever and represented a 33 percent improvement over the 1.41 reportable injury rate from the second quarter 2010.

A company’s employee injury rate is calculated using the number of injuries per 200,000 worker hours, which is equivalent to the number of hours worked by 100 full-time employees in a year.

“Working safely is the bedrock principle of our operations,” said Bob Grimaila, Union Pacific vice president - Safety, Security and Environment. “More employees than ever are participating in the Total Safety Culture initiative, which along with increased risk identification understanding and enhanced training played significant factors in our employees’ safety performance.

“While this is an important achievement of which all employees should be proud, we will continue to work to attain our ultimate goal of zero injuries.”

About Union Pacific
Union Pacific Corporation owns one of America's leading transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, links 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers and provides Americans with a fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly and safe mode of freight transportation. Union Pacific's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Energy, Industrial Products and Intermodal. The railroad emphasizes excellent customer service and offers competitive routes from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways. Union Pacific connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major gateways to Mexico.

For further information, contact Tom Lange at 402/544-3560 or tomlange@up.com.