ORAU marks three million safe work hours

Oak Ridge Associated Universities and its subcontractors have marked a key safety milestone—three million safe work hours without any days away, restricted, or transferred (DART) due to injury.

The accomplishment occurred over a 10-month period, since the corporation’s last DART case in February 2012.

“When you consider the various environments that ORAU employees work in—cytogenetic, radiochemistry, and beryllium laboratories; radiation emergency response; and environmental cleanup, to name a few—this truly is a significant achievement,” said Andy Page, ORAU president and chief executive officer. “Because our employees are ever mindful of safety, regardless of the task, ORAU is able to demonstrate value to our customers by avoiding increased costs due to lost productivity.”

With more than 1,200 employees in 19 locations across the U.S., ORAU mitigates potential hazards by applying the functions and principles of Integrated Safety Management, the U.S. Department of Energy’s standard for safe operations.

In 2012, DOE presented ORAU with its eighth consecutive Voluntary Protection Program “Star of Excellence” award for its management of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. The “Star of Excellence” award is presented by DOE to contractors who meet exceptional safety and health standards, and who achieve an injury and illness rate 75 percent below the national comparative standard set by the North American Industry Classification System.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 105 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry.