Hazardous cleanup demands safety first | Guest Opinion

Each day, approximately 3,200 Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) workers advance one of the most complex environmental cleanup missions in North America, at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state. It’s only by first working safely that we make progress on this important Hanford cleanup mission on behalf of our families, our community, the taxpayer, and our U.S. Department of Energy client.

I am obviously proud to lead the WRPS team, as its President and Chief Executive Officer. It’s a team that braves tough, day-to-day outside conditions and one that shares my unwavering commitment to safety. At some level, most folks understand why a typical company’s management team always considers safety as an imperative. Our pledge to working safely is not about lowering the company’s insurance rates or tracking some nebulous safety statistics.

To us, the commitment to worker safety is real. It defines who we are not only as a company, but also as individuals. For me, there have been a number of unforgettable safety lessons throughout my life that permanently shaped not only my personal behaviors, but also helped form who I am as a company leader.

When I was just out of high school, I took a job in the building and construction industry. Over the course of about a year, I received an electrical shock, suffered an eye injury, tipped over a fork lift, and was hit in the face by wooden beam (dislodging 11 teeth). Two of these events required visits to the emergency room.

As a college student, I worked in my university’s radiology department as an X-ray technician, an experience that brought me face to face with severely injured patients who arrived at the one of the state’s trauma centers. Some of these patients were victims of industrial accidents, and once again I witnessed the consequences of industrial hazards, much of them stemming from either a lack of safety focus by the employer or an employee’s failure to follow established safety measures.

It was not until I became associated with the U.S. Navy’s nuclear program that I developed an understanding of the rigor and discipline necessary to ensure worker safety in high-hazard operating environments. And now, nearly 30 years after those initial experiences, I realize how they served to fortify my personal commitment to keeping workers safe, and also how they have served to guide a necessary level of conservative decision-making in almost every aspect of my professional life.

Recently, I was honored by the National Safety Council (NSC) as a 2021 CEO “Who Gets It,” an honor recognizing corporate leaders who go the extra mile to ensure the safety of employees at work and at home. That honor is representative of the WRPS commitment and, in particular, our employees’ personal engagement and ownership.

Our commitment shows. WRPS entered 2021 with one of the best safety records in the department’s cleanup business, and we not only work safe, we are recognized leaders in our industry for doing so.

Over our 13-year contract with the Department of Energy, WRPS has earned numerous safety awards, including the Voluntary Protection Program Legacy of Stars status. Throughout 2020, the NSC recognized our workforce for amassing millions of continuous hours — nearly a full year — without a lost workday injury. The NSC also recognized our employee-led safety programs, volunteer efforts, and our promotion of safety outside of work. WRPS was also recently named one of America’s safest companies by EHS Today magazine.

We will build on those successes this year, with our new Healthy and Mission Ready Initiative. Each month, we will give employees resources to improve their overall well-being, improving their lives, their families and our community. By committing to a proactive safety culture and healthy lifestyle, we will make our day job more productive, allowing us to continue to advance the cleanup mission.

While it’s true that the success of any initiative starts with a commitment from a company’s leadership, it is obvious to me that our workforce deserves all the credit for our company’s performance, in particular our enduring safety performance and resulting industry recognition.

This story was originally published February 15, 2021 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Hazardous cleanup demands safety first | Guest Opinion."