Safety Camps building alignment, momentum

COO John Orr speaks to Safety Camp participants.

Beginning last year, Safety Camps are essential leadership development opportunities for those managing people and teams across Norfolk Southern. The sessions continue to drive not only cultural transformation, but performance improvement throughout the network.

With approximately 1,400 managers participating so far, including many returning for their second and third time to serve as facilitators or table leaders, the message has taken hold: each one of us has a vital role in making Norfolk Southern safe and successful.

Here are a few key Safety Camp takeaways:

• Speak Up. Everyone should freely raise questions, identify risks, and share improvement ideas. Encourage open dialogue.
• Stop Work Authority. Every team member, regardless of role, has unilateral authority to halt work if they sense unprotected risks or uncertainty. Empowerment saves lives.
• Deeds Matter. Speaking up will lead to action. Our teams must trust that concerns will be heard, addressed, and, if needed, receive follow-up attention.

When put into action, these principles drive professional maturity, making Norfolk Southern an interdependent team with shared values and responsibility.

Safety Camps are one of the many ways we’re building alignment at every level of our organization, pairing our individual skills with the value of safety to ensure we operate with excellence.