UCOR recognized for industry safety leadership

The National Safety Council has named URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, known as UCOR, as one of its 2017 Industry Leader Award winners for safety performance. The award, a component of the NSC Occupational Awards Program, recognizes outstanding safety achievements of NSC members, a press release said.

Participants in the NSC 2017 Occupational Excellence Achievement Award (based on 2016 calendar year data) are automatically entered into the running for the Industry Leader Award, the press release said.

“Only the top 5 percent of members earn the recognition based on the best self-reported performance for its North American Industry Classification System code, lowest total incidence rate, and employee work hours,” the release said.

“We are pleased to receive this prestigious recognition from the National Safety Council,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and project manager. “This is yet another in a series of recent awards that recognize UCOR and underscore our commitment to a strong safety culture.

“As we go through re-verification of our Integrated Safety Management System this month, this award reminds us of the robust safety culture that characterizes UCOR’s work on the Oak Ridge site every day and our commitment to a zero accidents policy. We believe Target Zero is achievable by applying our culture to every task, every activity, every time.”

In recent weeks, The Voluntary Protection Program Participants’ Association (VPPPA) announced it has selected UCOR as the winner of two 2017 national awards. UCOR will be recognized as the winner of the VPP Innovation Award and the Safety and Health Outreach Award at the VPPPA Safety+ Symposium in New Orleans, the press release said.

UCOR also was among 11 international winners of the annual Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Innovation Awards at the Verdantix Summit in Houston, where more than 200 delegates gathered to share best practices on how to improve EHS outcomes with innovative technologies, the press release said. These international awards recognize corporations for their successful EHS projects as well as strategic suppliers of software, equipment, and services. UCOR won in the public sector category.

East Tennessee Technology Park has again been recognized as a national leader in the Federal Green Challenge, the press release said. This is a national effort under the Environmental Protection Agency Sustainable Management Program. It challenges other federal agencies throughout the country to lead by example in reducing the federal government’s environmental impact.

More than 1,260 UCOR team members completed the 2017  Target ZERO criteria in the second quarter. Target ZERO, the Voluntary Protection Program 2017 theme, is designed to facilitate UCOR’s pursuit of operational and safety excellence to achieve zero workplace injuries and illnesses, the press release said.