Two Mines Win Third Consecutive Sentinels Awards
Impressive totals of 539,695 hours by Black Beauty Coal Company's Farmersburg Mine in Indiana (Large Surface Coal Group) and 449,804 hours by US Borax Inc.'s Boron Operations in California topped the 2006 Sentinels of Safety Award winners list posted Sept. 19 by MSHA. There were 19 mining operations in all honored by MSHA chief Richard Stickler at a Washington, D.C., ceremony. The annual awards are sponsored by MSHA and the National Mining Association.
J.M. Huber Corp.'s Sandersville Mill (Sandersville, Ga., Large Metal Nonmetal Mill Group) and Mississippi Lime Co.'s Peerless Mine (Sainte Genevieve, Mo., Large Underground Nonmetal Group) won in their categories for the third consecutive year. The hours are employee work hours without a fatal or lost-time injury; companies had to compile at least 4,000 hours in 2006 to be eligible.
"Showcasing examples of good safety programs is very important," said Stickler. "Such recognition encourages safe operations to continue their best practices and shows the rest of the mining industry that it is indeed possible to run safe mining operations every day of the year." The list is available at www.msha.gov/SentinelsofSafety/Awards/2007Sentinel/2007sentinelsofsafety.asp. The Sentinels of Safety program has been conducted annually since 1925.