Union Pacific to track employee absenteeism

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific Corp. has long used computers to track train crews. Now it wants to know whether they can track absenteeism for early indications of a disease outbreak or bioterrorism attack.

The University of Nebraska is seeking a grant through the Department of Homeland Security to study such a system, which would weed out common reasons for heavy employee absences, such as workers taking their children to the first day of school.

"Something different or wild would pop up right away," Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said. "If there as an episode of Asian flu or something we would see it almost immediately."

Detecting surges in doctor visits and pharmaceutical purchases have already been discussed, said David Siegrist, a researcher at the nonprofit Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.

But Dr. Steven Hinrichs, head of the University of Nebraska's Center of Biosecurity, said those surges would be apparent only after employees are too sick to go to work. "How long are you sick before you go to an emergency room or the doctor?" Hinrichs said. "Those two or three days could be a very significant time."