PPL Montana's Kerr Dam hydroelectric power plant received a top federal safety award for its outstanding health and safety programs during a ceremony at the facility this morning.
Kerr Dam is one of only three sites in the state to hold this designation, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Representatives from OSHA awarded the facility "Star" certification in the agency's Voluntary Protection Program. The program recognizes companies that go beyond compliance to protect worker health and safety. The VPP Star certification is the highest safety recognition given within the program.
"PPL Montana employees have the mindset that federal regulations are merely a starting point," said Brad Spencer, PPL Montana's vice president and chief operating officer. "Our goal is to set standards that protect employee safety and health. And through hard work and cooperation between management, labor and OSHA, the Kerr plant has done that."
VPP participant sites generally experience 60 percent fewer lost-workday injuries than average sites of similar size in their industries. Fewer than 1,400 of the more than 7 million sites that OSHA monitors nationwide have achieved VPP recognition.
"PPL Montana is a leader in this state when it comes to employee safety and health excellence," said Brad Baptiste, VPP manager of OSHA Region VIII, in presenting the award. "The Kerr Dam site is a model of what can be accomplished when management and labor work together toward excellence. I challenge all businesses to follow PPL Montana's lead."
Kerr Dam began the VPP process in February 2005 and is the second PPL Montana power plant to achieve OSHA's Star status. PPL Montana's Corette power plant in Billings was the first industrial site in the state to earn the VPP Star distinction.
"VPP Star certification is a validation of the company's safety rules and processes, and a tribute to the commitment employees have made to increase safety awareness," Spencer said.
"The true significance of this achievement is that our employees are committed to looking out for one another so that each one goes home safely to family and friends," he said. "In the process, they've made Kerr Dam a model of safety for other companies through the state and the country to follow. It's a tremendous accomplishment."
OSHA evaluates the following components of a safety and health program to determine if a facility is worthy of VPP Star status: management leadership, employee involvement, work-site analysis, training, and hazard prevention and control. An OSHA team re-evaluates VPP Star sites every three to five years for recertification. To be recertified, sites must continue to show improvement in their safety and health programs.
Kerr Dam, a 177-megawatt* hydroelectric facility located on the Flathead River eight miles southwest of Polson, is co-licensed by PPL Montana and the Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Nation.
PPL has 500 employees in Montana who generate and sell electricity. PPL Montana operates coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric power plants along Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of about 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale and retail energy market. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL).
*winter capacity rating