Jan. 28, 2010

Fourteen Mankato Area Public Schools' facilities achieve safety and health award

Workplace safety and health representatives from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) will recognize 14 Mankato Area Public Schools' facilities for their achievements as Minnesota Star (MNSTAR) worksites, during a ceremony at 12:30 p.m., on Feb. 1. The ceremony will be conducted by Mankato Area Public Schools in the atrium next to the Intergovernmental Center at 10 Civic Center Plaza, Mankato, Minn.

MNSTAR is a Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MNOSHA) program that recognizes worksites where managers and employees work together to develop safety and health management systems that go beyond basic compliance with all applicable OSHA standards and result in immediate and long-term prevention of job-related injuries and illnesses.

"We congratulate Mankato Area Public Schools for being the first school district to achieve this honor," said Steve Sviggum, Department of Labor and Industry commissioner. "Together, our combined goal is worker safety. Of the approximately 187,000 job sites in Minnesota, only 45 have achieved MNSTAR recognition and 14 of them are in Mankato Area Public Schools' facilities."

To achieve MNSTAR status, Mankato Area Public Schools management and employees worked with MNOSHA's Workplace Safety Consultation to identify and eliminate current or future safety hazards at 14 worksites:

	Bridges Elementary School		Roosevelt Elementary School
	Dakota Meadows Middle School		Washington Elementary School
	Franklin Elementary School		West High School
	Hoover Elementary School		Day Treatment
	Jefferson Elementary School		Early Childhood
	Lincoln Community Center		All Seasons Arena
	Monroe Elementary School		Food Service and Delivery

Key elements of this comprehensive program include:  management leadership and employee involvement; an allocation of resources to address safety issues; systems that identify and control workplace hazards; and a plan for employee safety training and education.

"Safety and health are a top priority at Mankato Area Public Schools and are essential to meeting our educational goals," said Superintendent Sheri Allen. "Being recognized with the MNSTAR worksite awards is possible because employees take personal pride and initiative for their safety-identifying issues and making sure they are corrected. Our employees, school board and district administrators are all important in achieving our ongoing commitment to safety."

Mankato Area Public Schools assures learning excellence and readiness for a changing world. Its vision is to continually improve its education system to ensure all learners are provided with the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed for them to be productive citizens in the ever-changing 21st century.

Sviggum and other DLI representatives will commemorate the organization's employee-employer relationship by presenting a MNSTAR flag and a certificate that exempts the facilities for three years from MNOSHA Compliance scheduled inspections.

MNSTAR began in Minnesota in January 1999, and is modeled after the federal OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), which began in 1982. The Mankato Area Public Schools sites are 14 of 45 MNSTAR worksites in Minnesota.

For more information, visit www.dli.mn.gov/Wsc/Mnstar.asp.

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News media contact:
James Honerman
(651) 284-5313