The West Hackberry crude oil storage site near Lake Charles, La., has become the first Department of Energy (DOE) facility to be named a STAR facility by OSHA.
Only one out of 10,000 eligible sites in the United States has qualified for a STAR designation.
In addition, the site also received a "Star among Stars" award from OSHA''s Region 6, recognizing the exceptional record of the West Hackberry employees in preventing work-related injuries and lost work days.
The awards are part of OSHA''s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), in which a company establishes a cooperative partnership with OSHA to ensure a healthy and safe work environment.
DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations Co. manages and operates the West Hackberry facility under contract to the
"The DOE will be a leader in maintaining a healthy and safe workplace for its employees," said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. "The OSHA recognition is a step toward that goal. I am especially proud of our employees at the West Hackberry site and their commitment to worker protection."
The site received its STAR status after a rigorous inspection last year.
To be accepted into the VPP program, DynMcDermott employees had to demonstrate that their workplace had an effective safety and health program that conformed to an established set of criteria and involved both management and nonmanagement employees.
The Star among Stars award recognizes participants from the five states that make up OSHA''s Region 6 -- Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
To achieve this recognition, West Hackberry personnel had to achieve an injury incident rate and lost workday injury rate that was at least 50 percent below the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) national average for the participant''s industry category.
To prepare for the OSHA inspection, a team of DynMcDermott employees spent more than three months preparing by conducting a series of employee awareness training sessions about workplace safety and health and the VPP.
by Virginia Sutcliffe