Smithfield Peat honored as a Sentinel of Safety

SMITHFIELD – Smithfield Peat Co. Inc. is one of 19 mining operations nationwide honored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Mining Association for their outstanding safety records in 2006.
Smithfield Peat was honored as the 2006 Sentinel of Safety, in the Small Bank or Pit Group, for achieving 9,986 employee work hours last year with no fatal or lost-time injuries.
The awards go to small and large mining companies in various categories that achieve the greatest number of employee work hours without fatal or lost-time injuries. The annual Sentinels of Safety competition is the nation’s oldest awards program in occupational safety. It was launched by Herbert Hoover in 1925, when he was the U.S. secretary of commerce.
“Showcasing examples of good safety programs is very important,” Richard E. Stickler, assistant secretary of labor for the MSHA, said in a statement. “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.”
This year’s 19 winners compiled a total of nearly 2.7 million hours worked in 2006 without significant injuries, according to the MSHA. They were recognized at a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
Additional information about the Sentinel of Safety awards, including the full list of mining operations recognized this week for their outstanding safety records in 2006, is available from the on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration at www.msha.gov.