E. H. Harriman Award


The E.H. Harriman Award was an annual award presented to American railroad companies in recognition for outstanding [occupational occupational safety and health|safety and health|safety] achievements.

History

The award was founded in 1913 by Mary Averell Harriman, wife of the late Edward H. Harriman. After her death, the award was presented by her sons E. Roland Harriman and W. Averell Harriman. Today the award is sponsored by the E.H. Harriman Memorial Awards Institute.
On January 5, 2012, Union Pacific Railroad announced to its employees that the Harriman award would be retired after the 2012 award ceremony. The Association of American Railroads made the decision to end the award presentation.

Criticism

While the awards were intended to encourage safe operating practices and safety enhancements, the awards were also occasionally the source of some labor disputes. Part of the award criteria included the number of workplace injuries reported to the Federal Railroad Administration, which has led some railroads to discipline or fire employees.
UP in particular was shown to have suppressed reporting of some accidents in the early 1970s, leading to its disqualification and withdrawal from consideration for the award over several years. UP then launched a safety program and again earned a Harriman gold medal in 1984.
Several rail labor unions objected to the criteria, going so far as to picket the award ceremonies. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes General Chairman Paul Beard created the "Harassment Award" as a satire of the Harriman Awards to raise awareness of management practices that bred intimidation and disciplinary actions against reporting accidents. In 1999 the FRA invited discussions with representatives of rail labor unions to discuss the problem.

Recipients

The rules stated that a railroad could not win a gold medal two years in a row. This practice ended in the 1970s when Santa Fe Railroad was selected as the gold medal recipient for several consecutive years.
Railroad companies are grouped into one of four categories:
  • Group A railroads are line-haul railroads with greater than 15 million employee hours per year.
  • Group B railroads are line-haul railroads with between 4 and 15 million employee hours per year.
  • Group C railroads are line-haul railroads with less than 4 million employee hours per year.
  • Group S&T railroads are switching and terminal railroads
Historically, the award recipients were notified in May of the year following the statistics calculation with the presentation ceremony in September or October. Later the award announcements and presentations were made in May of the year after the award designation; for example, the 2004 awards were presented in May 2005. Past recipients of the E.H. Harriman Award were: