Wilson Station Awarded 15th Governor’s Safety and Health Award

Centertown, Ky. (November 30, 2017) – Labor Cabinet Workplace Standards Commissioner Ervin Dimeny visited Big Rivers Electric Corporation – Wilson Station in Centertown today to present a Governor’s Safety and Health Award for the 250,047 production hours worked without a lost-time incident by employees.

Labor Cabinet Secretary Derrick Ramsey congratulated Wilson Station on its 15th award of this kind.

“Congratulations to Big Rivers Electric Corporation – Wilson Station on earning another Governor’s Safety and Health Award,” said Secretary Derrick. “Working over 250,000 hours without a lost-time injury is a great accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated. On behalf of Governor Bevin and the Labor Cabinet, it is my honor to recognize this achievement for the hard-working men and women at Big Rivers Electric Corporation.”

Big Rivers is an electric generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Henderson and owned by three distribution cooperative members, Jackson Purchase Energy Corporation, headquartered in Paducah; Kenergy Corporation, headquartered in Henderson; and Meade County RECC, headquartered in Brandenburg.  These member cooperatives deliver retail electric power and energy to more than 116,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in portions of 22 western Kentucky counties.

“I am proud of the Wilson Station employees for achieving this outstanding accomplishment,” said Bob Berry, President and CEO of Big Rivers.  “This award is a result of our dedicated employees, strong values and safety culture ensuring that everyone goes home from work in the same condition as they arrived.”

State Sen. C.B. Embry Jr. (Morgantown) and State Rep. Matt Castlen (Maceo) also offered praise.

“I am proud to offer my congratulations to the dedicated men and women at Big Rivers Electric in Centertown for their drive to provide a safe and healthy working environment,” Sen. Embry said. “This award is well-deserved, and I applaud the company for their continual commitment to the protection and well-being of its employees.”

“Congratulations to everybody at Big Rivers Electric on this incredible accomplishment, which is indicative of their commitment to deliver a necessary product in the safest, most effective manner possible,” Rep. Castlen said. “So many Kentuckians depend on Big Rivers each day to provide electricity without interruption, and that starts right at the base with an incredible employee commitment. They are the standard for workplace dedication, and we are all better because of their dependability.”

The Kentucky Labor Cabinet presents the Governor’s Safety and Health Award to highlight outstanding safety and health performance in Kentucky’s workplaces. A business may qualify for the award if its employees achieve a required number of hours worked without experiencing a lost time injury or illness. The required number of hours is dependent upon the number of employees.

According to a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Kentucky employers reported the lowest incident rate for nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in the state’s history.

Based on a mathematical calculation that describes the number of recordable incidents per 100 full-time employees, Kentucky’s rate improved from 3.8 in 2014 to 3.7 in 2015 – reflecting the most recent data available. This rate has steadily declined since it was first calculated in 1996, when a rate of 8.4 was reported.




 

 

 

 

 

For more information on the Governor’s Safety and Health Award, click here.



Alexandria Englen

alexandria.englen@ky.gov