E.H. Harriman Award
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The E.H. Harriman Award was an annual award presented to
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
railroad companies in recognition for outstanding safety achievements.


History

The award was founded in 1913 by
Mary Averell Harriman Mary Williamson Averell Harriman (July 22, 1851 – November 7, 1932) was an American philanthropist and the wife of railroad executive E. H. Harriman. Born in New York to a successful family, Averell married Harriman in 1879. Averell's father i ...
, wife of the late
Edward H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergyma ...
. After her death, the award was presented by her sons
E. Roland Harriman Edward Roland Noel "Bunny" Harriman (December 24, 1895 – February 16, 1978) was an American financier and philanthropist. Early life Harriman was born on December 24, 1895, in New York City.Kenneth T. Jackson, Lisa Keller, Nancy Flood, ''The En ...
and
W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...
. Today the award is sponsored by the
E.H. Harriman Memorial Awards Institute EH, Eh, or eh may refer to: Arts and media * "Eh", a song by Death Grips from the album '' Bottomless Pit'' * ''Eh?'' (play), a 1966 play by dramatist Henry Livings from London * ''English Hymnal'', published in 1906 for the Church of England * E ...
. On January 5, 2012, UP announced to its employees that for the first time in ninety-eight years the Harriman award would be retired after the 2012 award ceremony. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) made the decision to end the award presentation.


Criticism

While the awards were intended to encourage safe operating practices and safety enhancements, the awards have also occasionally been the source of some labor disputes. Part of the award criteria has been a count of the number of reported workplace injuries as tracked by the
Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
(FRA); this has led to disciplinary action and even dismissal for employees at some railroads. Union Pacific Railroad (UP), in particular, was shown to have suppressed reporting of some accidents in the early 1970s, leading to their disqualification and withdrawal from consideration for the award over several years. UP launched an intensive safety program and again earned a Harriman gold medal in 1984. Several rail
labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
s objected to the criteria, going so far as to picket the award ceremonies. Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE) 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 selection process included a rule that the same railroad company could not be selected for a gold medal in two consecutive years. 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:


References

;Citations ;Bibliography *Association of American Railroads (May 19, 2005),
Railroads Set Another Employee Safety Record in 2004. E. H. Harriman Memorial Awards Honors Outstanding Performance in Rail Safety
'. Retrieved January 11, 2006. *Belt Railway of Chicago (2005),

'. Retrieved January 11, 2006. *BNSF Railway (May 19, 2005),

'. Retrieved January 11, 2006. *Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (May 12, 2000),

'. Retrieved January 11, 2006. *Kansas City Southern (May 8, 2001),
KCS and Gateway Western Receive Gold E.H. Harriman Memorial Safety Awards
'. Retrieved January 11, 2006. *Metra (May 23, 2003),

'. Retrieved January 11, 2006. *Norfolk Southern Railway,

{Dead link, date=April 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes ''. Retrieved January 11, 2006. *Terminal Railroad Association
Harriman Gold Medal Award Winner
'. Retrieved January 11, 2006. Rail transportation in the United States Rail transport industry awards Awards established in 1913 1913 establishments in the United States Awards disestablished in 2012 Occupational safety and health awards