Nov. 25, 2008

Western Lake Superior Sanitary District receives safety and health award, recognized Dec. 3

Workplace safety and health representatives from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) will recognize Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) for its achievement as a Minnesota Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (MNSHARP) worksite during a ceremony at 1 p.m., Dec. 3, at 2626 Courtland Street, Duluth, Minn.

MNSHARP is a Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MNOSHA) program that recognizes organizations where managers and employees work together to develop safety and health programs 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 WLSSD for its achievement. Now the organization is viewed as one of the best of the best in safety and health," said Steve Sviggum, DLI commissioner. "Because of their ongoing efforts to reduce on-the-job injuries and illnesses, more workers go home safe and healthy each day."

To achieve MNSHARP status, WLSSD worked with MNOSHA Workplace Safety Consultation to assemble a comprehensive safety and health program that includes 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.

"Achieving the MNSHARP certification recognizes the exceptional effort and achievements of each and every WLSSD employee," said Marianne Bohren, WLSSD executive director. "Although we've always operated safe facilities, participation in the MNSHARP program has further increased the awareness, commitment and participation of all our employees to ensuring a safe working environment."

"It takes extraordinary effort to safely manage facilities such as ours," continued Bohren. "We have numerous buildings, processes and locations as well as an extensive system of pipelines and manholes that must be safe for not only our employees, but also for the residents who come into contact with our facilities every day. Our success is evidenced by our achievement of 983 continuous days without a lost-time injury."

Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, a special-purpose political subdivision of the state of Minnesota, provides award-winning wastewater and solid-waste services within a 530-square-mile area near Duluth, Minn. It is a nationally recognized leader in pollution prevention.

Commissioner Sviggum and other DLI representatives will commemorate the organization's employee-employer partnership by presenting a MNSHARP flag and a certificate that exempts the worksite from MNOSHA Compliance scheduled inspections for two years.

MNSHARP began in Minnesota in 1996. WLSSD is one of 32 active MNSHARP worksites in Minnesota. For more information, visit www.dli.mn.gov/mnsharp.asp

-###-

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