At CN, safety is our top priority. Our systematic approach leaves nothing to chance, and we continuously aim to improve our safety culture through leadership coaching, training, and resources for our employees and our customers.

As part of our continuous improvement process, we’ve added new information to our CN Customer Safety Handbook, a key resource that helps our customers identify and correct potential safety issues before they happen.

The updated version of our Customer Safety Handbook is now available on the Customer Safety page. We recommend to our customers that they ensure their teams have read and understood the best practices outlined in the handbook. Included in our September version is a deeper dive into the Foul Zone, Fouling Point, and the importance of Clearance Markers.

“Fouling” is leaving equipment on a track too close to a switch, such that a movement on an adjacent track does not have sufficient clearance to pass safely. This includes personnel riding the side of a railcar. It’s important to clearly identify this hazardous area to keep our teams and customers’ teams safe. Leaving railcars in the foul zone can lead to collisions, derailments, and, more critically, to injuries or death.

The fouling point is the point beyond which railcars must be placed to prevent their being struck by railcars running on an adjacent track from which the switch diverges. CN strongly recommends using bright green paint to create a clearance marker located xx meters / 16 feet or as far as reasonably possible beyond the fouling point.

This diagram will help you identify the fouling point, the foul zone, and the recommended guideline for painting a visual indicator of where railcars will be in the clear.

To learn more, read our Customer Safety Handbook