MONTREAL, March 14, 2016 /CNW/ - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) has joined the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA)  to promote farm safety as CASA's newest Safety Investor in the annual Canadian Agricultural Safety Week (CASW) from March 13-19.

"CN and Canadian farmers share a common commitment to safety," said Sam Berrada, CN vice-president safety and sustainability. "Maintaining a constant focus on working safely is absolutely essential when working with heavy machinery, which is part of daily life on both farm and railway. CN is proud to join the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association in its work to keep farm families safe, by encouraging farmers and their families to Be an AgSafe Family."

"We welcome CN as a Safety Investor, and appreciate its support as we teach the love of agriculture to our children in a safe and healthy way," said Marcel Hacault, executive director of CASA. "This year we are providing tools and safety advice on agsafetyweek.ca that can help make farms a safe place for children to grow up."

CASW is an annual public awareness campaign focusing on the importance of farm safety. Organizers provide farm families with the information they need to help keep kids safe on the farm while preserving the farming lifestyle. The campaign lasts for a week, but keeping kids safe is important all year long.

CN, which this week became a CASA member, will also join other agri-industry stakeholders as a Safety Investor in the 2017 and 2018 CASW campaigns. This CASW sponsorship will complement CN's existing Rural Safety Fund program - a joint partnership of CN and 4-H Canada that funds 4-H youth-led rural community safety initiatives across Canada.

"CN's rail network crosses thousands of farms from one end of Canada to the other, and farm families are routinely working in close proximity to rail operations," said Berrada. "These programs allow CN to further highlight the importance of being safe around railways."

This year, CASW organizers have published free resources that can help farm families keep kids safe. The tools include information about building a safe play area, determining safe agricultural tasks for children and a farm safety contract for kids and parents. As a part of CASW, a social media contest asks farm families how they are an #AgSafeFamily. By using the hashtag #AgSafeFamily and sharing their story of how they keep family members safe on the farm on social media, participants can win great prizes. For more information about the CASW resources and #AgSafeFamily contest, visit the campaign website at agsafetyweek.ca. Canadian Agricultural Safety Week takes place every year during the third week of March. For more information about CASW, media kits or Ontario launch activities, please visit agsafetyweek.ca.

Media kits include press releases, feature farmer stories, safety advice articles, public service announcements, graphics and more.

CN is a true backbone of the economy and transports more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries – serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information about CN, visit the Company's website at www.cn.ca.

SOURCE CN