Powder River Coal’s North Antelope Rochelle Mine took the safety award in the large mine category, while fellow Campbell County, Wyoming-based L&H Industrial was bestowed the honour for large minesite contractor, according to local newspaper the Gillette News-Record.
With 800 employees, Rochelle has won several recent safety awards including the US Department of Labor’s Sentinels of Safety in 2004, according to owner Peabody Energy.
Having only 0.87 reportable injuries for every 200,000 man-hours worked in 2005 at the 82.7 million tonnes per annum operation, Peabody spokesperson Beth Sutton told the paper, “we work towards our goals ... that involved operating safety with zero lost time.”
L&H Industrial vice-president Jeff Wandler told the paper the company puts “a lot of emphasis on safety” and reported zero lost time accidents in 457,000 hours in 2005. Wandler added that workers compensation has also decreased over the last five years since taking on behavioural science technology to help increase safety efforts.
The awards, hosted by the Wyoming Department of Employment and state Governor Dave Freudenthal, highlighted 10 companies in various divisions of industry that proved their dedication to worker safety. All Wyoming companies were eligible for nomination and those honoured spanned the sectors of gas, oil, coal, construction and others.
The event drew about 300 guests with 32 companies submitting nominations for awards, and breakout sessions helped ensure the success of the unprecedented event, the sponsor agency said.
“All seminars were well received and added greatly to the success of the conference. We are already looking forward to and making the initial plans for next year’s Governor’s Safety Award Conference.”
