Coal mine receives President’s safety award

Peabody Energy’s Twentymile Mine in Colorado has earned the President's Award for achieving the company's safest US performance for underground operations in 2014. Twentymile achieved a safety record of 1.03 for 2014 with 777 868 hr worked during the year and is being honoured for a third consecutive year for outstanding safety performance. Employees at Twentymile helped drive the best global safety results in Peabody's 132-year history. 

Twentymile has received the President's Award for Safety five times and holds the record for the recognition of outstanding safety performance among Peabody's underground mines. Previous recognition came for the best underground safety performance in 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2013.  

"Twentymile has earned its reputation as the state's largest coal mine that is perennially among the safest in the industry," said Peabody Energy - Americas President Kemal Williamson. "To consistently achieve results of this caliber, our employees must focus on safety each and every day. Every miner deserves to return home safely at the end of their shift, and I am very proud of their achievement and commitment to safety." 

Strong communication, looking out for one another and innovative ideas are hallmarks of the safety culture at Twentymile. Pat Sollars, General Manager of Operations at Twentymile, credited the Colorado team's success to strong safety values and commitment. "We value everyone's safety at Twentymile," said Sollars. "Our team is dedicated to best practice in safety performance. We constantly seek innovative solutions to eliminate risk, and for Twentymile employees, safety is not a statistic; it is a way of life." 

Sollars also pointed to Twentymile Mine's contribution to the region in terms of economic impact and community engagement. "While our safety record is our proudest accomplishment, we are also proud of our significant role in Northwest Colorado in terms of jobs and support of projects in our communities," said Sollars. Twentymile employs 335 full-time workers and annually injects more than US$182 million into the regional economy. 

Globally, Peabody achieved a 1.44 safety incidence rate per 200 000 hr worked, driving the best safety performance in the company's 132-year history.

Adapted from press re by Sam Dodson

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/mining/04022015/peabody-mine-receives-safety-award-1843/