Western Energy Company Wins Prestigious Mining Safety Award

Quality Safety Edge is pleased to announce that our client, Western Energy Company (WECo), has won the United States’ most prestigious mining safety award for 2011.

Sentinels of Safety AwardsThe National Mining Association will present the Sentinels of Safety award for surface coal mines to a group of WECo union and management employees on September 25, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. WECo received this award because they have reduced their incident rate to less than one-third of the national average for coal mines. In fact, they had no lost-workday or reportable MSHA incidents in 2011 – a first for the Western Energy Mine and for its parent company, Westmoreland Energy Corporation!

WECo attributes their success to their behavioral safety program which has improved union-management communication about safe workplace conditions and increased employee peer conversations about safe behavior. Grainne Matthews, Ph.D. of Quality Safety Edge worked closely with WECo to design this employee-led, management-supported behavioral safety process in 2007. Since then WECo has continued to improve and adapt their process to reflect changing needs. Dr. Matthews continues to enjoy her relationship with WECo and has stated “WECo deserves this award for their unwavering commitment to improving safety for the men and women who work on the Rosebud mine. It has been a pleasure to work with them for the last five years.”

For more information on the Sentinels of Safety award please visit www.nma.org.