Prairie State Power Plant celebrates safety milestone

May 8 marked an important safety milestone at Prairie State’s power plant as their team celebrated one year without a recordable or lost time incident. This accounts for over 446,000 hours of work performed with superb safety performance. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) classifies recordable incidents as any work-related injury or illness that requires treatment beyond first aid. 

“The safety standards and performance at the power plant have made drastic improvements over the past four years. We set a new vision for our campus and have worked every day to make our campus safer,” said Don Gaston, president and CEO of Prairie State. “In an industry where we have to be as safe, efficient and productive as possible, this achievement is all the more notable.” 

Since 2017, the power plant team has been working towards the goal of achieving “star site” certification under OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP). The VPP recognizes employers and workers in the private industry and federal agencies who have implemented effective safety and health management systems and maintained injury and illness rates below national Bureau of Labor Statistics averages for their industries. Prairie State submitted its VPP application to OSHA at the end of 2019 and continues to work daily to improve safety culture and processes. 

For more on the Prairie State Power Plant, please see this week’s print edition.