Madam Chair, I'd like about nine or 10 minutes to go through a quick statement. I hit the key points that were asked of us to come here and discuss. I'm sure there are probably some others and we'll be here to answer whatever questions.
Safety is an important subject to CN. I got it. We're tight for time, but if you could let me go through this as quickly as possible, I will go quickly and if anybody has any questions, please ask me. But I'm going to go as quickly as possible because I want to cover off a number of points.
The introductions have been made. I did not bring Sean Finn because I was worried about having a lawyer here, but he deals with public and government affairs and that's what he's here for more than anything. Two important people, one is Michael Farkouh, who is responsible for, basically, the operation of the railroad from east of Winnipeg or so to Halifax. To my right is Sam Berrada, who is responsible for safety and sustainability for the company, for the whole of CN, which goes from New Orleans, Halifax, and all the way to Prince Rupert and Vancouver.
I really appreciate having the opportunity to come here and talk about a very important subject, which is safety for the railroads.
From the outset, I want to make it clear that nothing is more important at CN than safety. Our commitment to safety is unwavering and drives everything we do. Our focus on safety begins with our senior executives and extends to every employee at CN, even those not directly involved in operations. Running a safe railway is, of course, the right thing to do and the responsible thing to do, but frankly, it also makes good business sense and enables CN to fulfill its role as a backbone of the economy.
Accidents are extremely damaging to our business on every level. Canadians rely on us to get their goods to destination in a timely manner. This is why we choose to exceed regulatory requirements in many areas and continuously search for and implement new lines of defence, focusing on people, process, technology, and investment. You'll hear me repeat those four segments.
The truth is, Canadian railroads have never been safer. Our accident rates have decreased significantly over the past 10 years. At CN, our main track accidents are down almost 60% over the same period. The advances in technology have been dramatic and enable us to spot problems early and make repairs before accidents happen.
In addition, the focus on safety and the training of our employees is at a level far beyond where it was, even a few years ago. CN operates state-of-the-art training facilities in Winnipeg and Chicago where all of our employees are trained and our long-term employees upgrade their skills. Some 15,000 employees have completed training at these two facilities since they opened in 2014, so 15,000 out of a total workforce of just over 22,000. Building and operating these campuses was an expensive undertaking, but we believe that the benefits they provide in ensuring our employees are trained in a consistent manner with a focus on staying safe and looking out for their employees is well worth the cost.
Crossing safety is a high priority for CN. CN, along with Operation Lifesaver, works on an ongoing basis to prevent collisions at grade crossings and accidents linked to trespassing. We conduct monthly enforcement initiatives at crossings, including joint operations with local police forces.
We strategically deploy equipment and technology to reduce risk at high-risk crossings and we deliver safety presentations to high-risk groups in communities across our network. CN also engages with municipal, provincial, and federal officials in identifying and eliminating crossing hazards.
Quickly, I would like to move over and say a few words about our safety management system. I've heard a lot of people talk about safety management in the last year. First, I want to assure you that SMS is most certainly not self-regulation. SMS was developed in Canada and is a system whereby regulations are added on top of the many rules and regulations that govern operations, track, and rolling stock.
Railways are still heavily regulated by Transport Canada. The regulations remain in place and their inspectors are active on our property ensuring that the rules and regulations are properly followed.
SMS is an additional platform that complements government regulations. It puts the responsibility on us to ensure that a culture of safety pervades our entire operation. It enables us to do more than the regulations require, not less. At CN, our safety management system focuses on a variety of initiatives in the areas of people, process, technology, and investments.
With our people, it involves the training I just mentioned. It also includes CN's “looking out for each other” program, a program through which our employees are taught and encouraged to integrate a safety culture into their daily practices. The goal, of course, is to ensure everyone goes home safely at the end of the day.
Process refers to such things as risk assessments and mitigation and safety audits. It also involves ongoing engagement with the communities we serve. We meet with our first responders, providing them with training and information to ensure they are able to deal with any situation that could arise. To date we have met with over 300 municipalities and have engaged with information with another 1,200 across our system and our network.
In 2015 CN invested $2.7 billion in our capital spending program. This year the plan is to spend $2.9 billion, in spite of soft economic conditions. Of that program, $1.5 billion of the $2.9 billion is attached to maintaining and upgrading our track infrastructure. CN is investing for the long term and we are maintaining a capital program to support a safe and fluid railway network and to raise the bar on efficiency and customer service.
We are also constantly investing in new technologies. CN employs a wide range of technologies to monitor the conditions of our track and rolling stock to proactively minimize risks. CN has the densest network of wayside detection technology in North America, having increased the number of detectors on our network by more than 30% in the past decade. In that period we have also increased the number of wheel impact load detectors by 60% and doubled the frequency of ultrasound, which tests rail flaw detection. This is an example of where, using our safety management system, we go well beyond what is required by the regulations. We employ more detectors and inspections than required and have also invested in new technologies not covered by the regulations. Again, we do this because it is the right thing to do and because it makes good business sense.
With regard to the movement of dangerous goods, CN moved ahead of the regulators to implement new rules for key trains. We encouraged the minister to move quickly to upgrade tank car standards. Our operating procedures treat dangerous goods differently from other products, including operating trains at lower speeds. CN has dangerous goods officers strategically situated across our network. We also have additional employees trained as dangerous goods responders. We have specialized equipment located at key locations on our network and work closely with our customers' emergency response teams, specialized emergency response contractors, and local first responders.
CN has worked hard to engage municipalities to train their emergency responders and to provide real-time information on dangerous goods. CN led the way with a systematic approach to engaging municipalities, and many of our initiatives ultimately formed the basis for new regulations.
Together with CP and other railroads we developed AskRail, an app available to fire departments and first responders that provides them with real-time information and enables them to determine, live, the content of any railcar, and by extension, of all the cars in any train.
I know your committee has a particular focus on the area of fatigue management. This is a vital issue for CN and the unions and our individual employees. The regulations provide a solid foundation, and working with our employees beyond that we have a layered approach to ensure our personnel are able to get the rest they need. This includes fatigue management plans, consisting of education and numerous opportunities for employees to take rest beyond the requirements of work-rest rules. As well, a sizeable proportion of our employees work on set schedules, which provide consistency.
We continue to engage with our unions to reach agreements on additional measures that could be implemented to improve scheduling. Railroads operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We take one day off, and that's Christmas Day, so Christmas Eve to Christmas Day is the only time we get off. We understand that. This does present a challenge, but we have the measures in place to ensure our employees have the right to refuse work or stop work if they believe they are not well enough rested to work safely.
One proposal, which we believe has great potential to assist in this area, would be the use of inward-facing cameras. The use of this technology for safety monitoring and training would be a powerful tool for mitigating risk, including fatigue, when used within a safety management system. We'd love to have the processes put forward as we move ahead so we can use this technology properly. CN has worked with specialists who are developing visual recognition algorithms, which can be used with cameras to identify signs of fatigue.
You are also focusing on the use of locomotive remote control technology, commonly referred to as belt packs. First, I want to stress this is not a recent development. The technology was developed in Canada and is widely used across North America. At CN we have over 25 years' experience in using these devices safely. In fact, studies have shown—and this is fact, not people anecdotally giving you evidence—that for the sorts of movements where this technology is used, it is safer than conventional operations.
This is both because the positioning of the two conductors outside the locomotive provides them with better vision in all directions and also because it removes one step in communication between the employees, which reduces the potential for error. The technology includes numerous built-in safety features designed to further reduce the potential for error. These include regulated speeds and tilt detection. If an employee dropped for some reason or slipped and fell, the system automatically sends an alarm and tells you. If you're not wearing a belt pack it will not do it, so they regulate speeds and there's tilt detection, which immediately stops the movement of the locomotive.
The final area I want to touch on is risk assessment. CN has a robust system for preparing risk assessments for the corridors in which we operate. These assessments help us to identify what technologies and processes could be used to mitigate risk. We also work closely with communities to better ascertain the risks. Our processes are constantly being updated and have been reviewed by the University of Alberta’s Canadian rail research laboratory, who have helped us to further strengthen our methodology.
As you can tell, I'm very proud of all that we have done at CN to ensure the safety of our employees, our operations, and the communities we serve. I don’t, however, suggest that we are satisfied. While our accident numbers are down dramatically, I am convinced that they can and should be lower. We remain focused on this goal, and while it is not realistic to suggest that we can eliminate accidents, it won’t keep us from trying.
I'll end with that.
Hopefully I didn't go too fast. I went as quickly as possible, Chair, but hopefully I hit the high points of what I was trying to present. I probably saved all the questions, so if I'm all done I can just head off and head back towards Edmonton.
