The Missouri-based operator's Southern Appalachia Operations team took top billing overall in the event's combination mine rescue/first aid competition, as well as in the mine rescue category.

First place awards also went to its Federal No. 2 team in the first aid contest (third in the category was earned by Southern Appalachia). In the BG-4 Benchmen division, Peabody's Chuck Harvey of the Twentymile mine in Colorado was tops while Todd Beauchamp of the same operation took third.

"We're proud of our leadership in safety readiness, which is core to our commitment to achieving world-class safety results," company chief operating officer Eric Ford said.

There were almost 60 teams competing during the bi-annual contest, and the groups represented 12 US states.

The competition and conference was held August 30 through September 1 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in the Tennessee capital city.