DOE names Bechtel BWXT Idaho and the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project as a VPP Star Site

Rick Provencher of DOE-ID, Jeff Mousseau of BBWI and co-safety chairs Tracy Anderson and Josh Wallace raise the VPP flag indicating the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project is a Star site. View larger image here.

The U.S. Department of Energy today announced it has recognized Bechtel BWXT Idaho at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project as a Star site in its Voluntary Protection Program. The Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project is located at the U.S. Department of Energy�s Idaho Site, and is managed and operated for DOE by Bechtel BWXT Idaho.

�The Department�s recognition of AMWTP as a Star site comes after an extensive review of the project�s safety practices, the knowledge employees have about safety procedures, and our determination that this truly is a site where management and employees have a comprehensive safety and health management program,� said DOE Idaho Operations Office Deputy Manager Rick Provencher.

Employees at AMWTP have compiled a remarkable safety record. Since December 2003, employees have worked more than 8.8 million hours without a lost time injury. In addition, employees recently passed the one million hour mark of working without an Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordable injury.

�The VPP flag is an important symbol for our workforce,� said Tracy Anderson, co-chair of the AMWTP Employee Safety & Improvement Team which promotes employee safety at AMWTP. �VPP is not another program, it is a way of life. What we�ve learned about safety on the job we take home and share with our family and friends.�

Nearly 900 employees and subcontractors work at AMWTP, carrying out its mission to retrieve, characterize, process, package and ship historically managed stored transuranic nuclear waste for shipment to permanent disposal sites outside of Idaho. The safe work environment has contributed to AMWTP safely shipping more radioactive waste than any other site in the DOE Complex during the past four years.

�The recognition of AMWTP as a VPP Star site is a true testament to safe and compliant approach that employees have toward their work,� said Jeff Mousseau, president and general manager of Bechtel BWXT Idaho, which manages and operates AMWTP for the Department of Energy. �The recognition we are receiving from the Department is further evidence that AMWTP is worthy of being considered among the safest of the safe sites within the complex.�

To become a VPP Star Site requires a high degree of management commitment and employee involvement; a high-quality worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control program; and comprehensive safety and health training for all employees. Each of these elements must be effective, in place and in operation for at least one year before a company can apply to join the VPP. AMWTP is the third Star-recognized contractor at DOE�s Idaho Site. Also recognized as Star sites are CH2M-WG Idaho, contractor for the Idaho Cleanup Project, and Batelle Energy Alliance, contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory. Approval as a VPP Star site is DOE�s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who go beyond compliance, and partner to actively assess, prevent, and control the potential health and safety hazards at the facility.

DOE-09-015

Editorial Date July 30, 2009
By Bradley Bugger