CSX Employee Wins Industry Lifetime Achievement Award for
Hazardous Material Safety
"CSX puts safety at the forefront of everything we do,
and Romano has personified this commitment through his leadership and
courage," said Skip Elliott, vice president, public safety, health and
environment. "Romano's achievements, especially his visionary leadership
of safety training programs, have made a lasting impact on our culture and our
relationships with the communities we serve."
Over the course of more than 30 combined years with CSX and
Conrail, DeSimone developed significant response experience with hazardous
materials, including his tenure as a Field Hazmat responder in New York and his
first-response efforts at various rail incidents. He also led CSX's chemical
safety team, where he focused on improving the safe loading and unloading of
chemicals at customer sites.
Currently, DeSimone serves as director, hazardous materials,
where he leads CSX's team of Hazardous Materials Managers and has maintained an
injury free record for his team's response efforts over 25 years.
DeSimone has become a recognized leader for equipping
emergency responders with the information and skills needed for safe and
effective responses to rail-related incidents. While he was a Board Member of
the Firefighters Education and Training Foundation, he spearheaded the
development of Safety Train programs to bring hands-on training to local
communities. Through the Safety Train, DeSimone and his team have provided
thousands of first responders, law enforcement, short line railroads, and
customers with information and experience to improve their readiness in case of
an incident. Most recently, his team led the CSX Safety Train: Emergency
Preparedness Program in 2014, which trained more than 2,000 emergency first
responders in 18 cities along CSX's crude oil routes.
The award was presented on Tuesday morning in Addison , Texas at the
28th Hazmat Seminar hosted by the AAR and
Bureau of Explosives. It is named for Roy Holden and Art Proefrock, pioneers in
the safe rail transportation of hazardous materials, and is awarded annually to
recognize lifetime achievement in this field. DeSimone is the fourth CSX
employee to receive the Holden-Proefrock Award.
At the same ceremony, DeSimone and CSX employee Harry Hopes
also received the TRANSCAER (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency
Response) Torch award, which is given to retiring members who have made a
significant contribution to this voluntary national outreach effort focused on
preparation and response for hazardous material transportation incidents.
About CSX
CSX, based in Jacksonville ,
Florida United States , where nearly
two-thirds of the nation's population resides.
It also links more than 240 short-line railroads and more than 70 ocean,
river and lake ports with major population centers and farming towns
alike. More information about CSX
Corporation and its subsidiaries is available at www.csx.com. Like us on Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/OfficialCSX) and follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/CSX).
Contact:
Kaitlyn Barrett
(904) 359-1037