Web posted Monday, June 3, 2002
By EMILY WESCOTT
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE © 2002
| Safety is a high priority at the Greens Creek Mine, which for senior warehouse clerk Arnie Wetzstein means everyone must be conscious of their responsibilities. "Every week we have a safety meeting and everyone's informed," said Wetzstein. "New employees get at least 40 hours of training." Kennecott Greens Creek Mining Co. was honored Sunday for its 2001 safety record in an awards ceremony and brunch at Centennial Hall. |
 President Bill Orchow, left, presents the Kennecott Minerals President's Award for excellence in safety Sunday to Greens Creek Mine employees. Emily Wescott / The Juneau Empire |
Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer and Mayor Sally Smith spoke at the ceremony, and Bill
Orchow, president of Kennecott Minerals, presented a trophy to representatives of the mine.
"We set a target for a 50 percent reduction (in injuries) in the year 2001 over 2000," said
Orchow. "Not only did you achieve that target, but you improved on it and you had a 53 percent reduction."
According to Kennecott's latest Social and Environmental Report, Greens Creek had seven injuries in 2001 compared to 15 injuries in 2000. Orchow said injuries are defined as incidents in which an employee loses work time or needs medical treatment.
Greens Creek General Manager Keith Marshall said the numbers are incredibly low for a mine.
"It's an indication of how seriously Kennecott Minerals and Greens Creek takes safety," said Marshall.
The Admiralty Island mine is a joint venture of Kennecott Minerals (71 percent), based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Hecla Mining Co. (29 percent), based in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Kennecott is a subsidiary of London-based Rio Tinto, a global minerals company.
The underground mine, which extracts silver, zinc, gold and lead, produced 659,500 tons of ore in 2001.
Marshall said every year, Kennecott gives a President's Award to one of its operations for excellence in safety.
Lee Ratliff, western region district manager for the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration, came from California to attend the event. He said Greens Creek's accident rate is 78 percent lower than the national average.
"I think that's significant," said Ratliff.
The Greens Creek mine is the largest private employer in Juneau, with more than 260 employees. About 85 percent live in Juneau.
Mayor Smith praised the mine for providing economic and cultural support for Juneau.
"Juneau was built on a foundation of mining," said Smith. "Mining has never really gone out of style.
"In many ways, you're proving yourself to be an even stronger, healthier, safer and more environmentally conscious organization."
Also honored at the brunch were employees Bob Weeden and Kenny McNaughton, employed at Greens Creek for 15 years.
"Both of these employees epitomize our goal of zero injuries," said Marshall. "Neither one of them has had any sort of safety-related injury or accident during all of those 15 years."
Lt. Gov. Ulmer lauded the mining company's safety record and its importance to the economy of Alaska.
"You're doing it right for the employees, doing it right for the community, doing it right for the shareholders and also doing it right for the state of Alaska," said Ulmer.
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Emily Wescott can be reached at ewescott@juneauempire.com.
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