WASHINGTON – June 23, 2020 – The Short Line Safety Institute welcomes Julia Leone, PhD as Manager, Research and Organizational Development. Ms. Leone will be responsible for working with senior leadership to establish and manage the priorities and goals for process improvements; building systems to monitor, evaluate, and report on progress; and direct efforts to ensure quality and consistency through the application of systematic approaches in its programmatic design and execution. She will also lead the research efforts of the Short Line Safety Institute.
“Our program expansion has come as a direct result of systemic analysis of Safety Culture Assessments performed over five years on short line railroads. Insightful analysis of the data has identified opportunity areas to increase safety culture on small railroads, and has led to new training programs such as the HazMat Training and Leadership Development Training to close those gaps at no cost to railroads,” said Tom Murta, Executive Director, Short Line Safety Institute. “Julia will be critical in assisting us in identifying and developing the next generation of programs, while ensuring that our current programs deliver on their objectives and support our mission to continuously increase Safety Culture on short line railroads across the U.S.”
Ms. Leone has conducted research on a variety of topics including decision making, social exclusion, and online learning. She has also worked with senior leaders in identifying best practices for managing a diverse workforce. Lastly, she is a contributing author to a textbook, Individual Motivation Within Groups.
“I am excited to be joining an organization with such a positive Mission – the continuous improvement of safety and safety culture,” said Julia Leone. “I am looking forward to learning from the data, and translating that information into knowledge and action, identifying additional ways that the SLSI can be a partner to the short line industry in driving safety culture forward.”
Ms. Leone holds a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, an MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and an MPhil in Psychology from the Graduate Center, CUNY, N.Y., and a BA in Psychology from Honors College, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.
The Short Line Safety Institute provides Hazardous Materials Training, Leadership Development Training, and Safety Culture Assessments at no cost to short line railroads. For more information, visit www.shortlinesafety.org.