PADUCAH, Ky. - Two companies working for EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) received the Kentucky Governor’s Safety and Health Award.
The Swift & Staley Team (SST), infrastructure support services contractor, was recognized for 507,044 hours worked without a workplace injury or illness resulting in days away from work during the previous year, and the employees of Mid-America Conversion Services (MCS), the operations contractor for the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion facilities, achieved 796,234 hours during the same period.
The Governor’s Awards, presented May 12 at the Kentucky Labor Cabinet’s 33rd annual Safety and Health Conference, recognize outstanding safety and health performance.
“The Department is pleased to see our contractors receive such recognition," PPPO Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard said. “Safety is our first priority, and awards like these encourage managers and employees to always embrace a safety-conscious work environment."
Prime contractor SST, which consists of Swift & Staley Inc. and major subcontractors North Wind Solutions LLC and Wastren Advantage Inc., is responsible for Paducah Site roads and grounds maintenance, janitorial services, safeguards and security, information technology, radiological monitoring services, records management and document control, building maintenance, property management, and training. SST began its current contract in December 2015.
“This award is the result of each and every SST employee’s daily commitment and ownership of personal safety," SST Environment, Safety and Health Manager John Hobbs said. “The work environment can be dynamic and unpredictable but through effective leadership, training, and employee involvement, SST employees are successfully accomplishing the mission without serious injury."
The DUF6 project began processing DOE’s more than 700,000 metric tons of the uranium enrichment byproduct in 2011 at its specially designed Ohio and Kentucky facilities. The conversion process results in two materials suitable for beneficial reuse and disposal: depleted uranium oxide and hydrofluoric acid.
The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant was built in the early 1950s to enrich uranium for national defense and later for commercial energy purposes. The plant ceased commercial operation under lease in 2013 and was returned to DOE in 2014 for deactivation and decommissioning. Extensive cleanup of the site began in the late 1980s.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
