PITTSBURGH, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CONSOL Energy''s Fola operations in Clay County, W. Va., was awarded the prestigious Sentinels of Safety Award during an awards ceremony held October 28 in Washington, D.C.
The award, co-sponsored by the National Mining Association and the U.S. Department of Labor''s Mine Safety and Health Administration, is presented annually to those mines with the best safety records in the country which means they are also among the safest mines in the world. Sentinels of Safety winners are those mines that have worked the most employee-hours in their category without experiencing a lost-time injury.
"These award winners are leading by example, and they are leading the way to a safer mining industry," said Joseph A. Main, MSHA assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "Recognizing these operations for outstanding safety programs shows the rest of the industry that it is possible to run mining operations safely every day of the year."
West Virginia Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, who was in attendance at the awards ceremony and who visited the Fola operations earlier this year, congratulated Fola employees on the award.
"Safety must be at the forefront of responsible mining across our state and Fola Coal should be proud of the recognition that comes from this award," Capito said. "We depend on West Virginia coal to power our nation, making it even more critical that that all our mines continue to strive for strong safety procedures. I congratulate Fola and their employees for receiving this award, and encourage them to continue to focus on safety in the months and years to come."
Fola''s surface operation was recognized for having achieved 678,732 injury-free work hours during 2008. In March of this year, the company surpassed the million hours worked without a lost time or a medical injury to earn CONSOL Energy''s inaugural J. Brett Harvey Safety Award.
"This is an achievement for which every employee at Fola can take credit," Nicholas J. DeIuliis, CONSOL Energy Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Energy Operations, said of the Sentinels award. "We are fortunate to employ a well-trained and conscientious workforce, whose members recognize safety as a value and who always put safety first. I commend them for their efforts to date and challenge them to continue to keep their focus on safety and to remain accident-free."
The Sentinels of Safety award was first presented in 1925 by then-Secretary of Commerce and future President Herbert Hoover and was designed to stimulate greater interest in safety among the nation''s mineral-extractive industries and to encourage the development of more effective accident-prevention programs by according national recognition to operations achieving outstanding safety records. Operations must record a minimum of 4,000 hours injury-free to be considered eligible for the award. The Fola achievement of 678,732 injury-free hours far surpassed that benchmark.
"In the 10 categories of competition offered through the Sentinels awards program and of the 20 companies recognized, the Fola operations set the pace for safety," DeIuliis added. "Of those recognized, not only were the recorded safety hours at Fola the highest among all underground, surface and coal processing facilities, but they were the highest among all categories of the competition, exceeding the next closest operation by more than 240,000 injury-free hours. This speaks well of CONSOL Energy''s commitment to safety, as well as the commitment to safety of each and every employee at Fola."
Fola received the bronze Sentinels trophy which it will retain for one year until the next competition. A Sentinels flag was also presented which will serve as a permanent reminder of the honor earned by Fola employees.
About CONSOL Energy
CONSOL Energy Inc., a high-Btu bituminous coal and natural gas company, is a member of the Standard & Poor''s 500 Equity Index and the Fortune 500. It has 17 bituminous coal mining complexes in six states and reports proven and probable coal reserves of 4.5 billion tons. It is also a majority owner of CNX Gas Corporation, a leading Appalachian gas producer, with proved reserves of over 1.4 trillion cubic feet. Additional information about CONSOL Energy can be found at its web site: http://www.consolenergy.com/.
CONSOL Energy
CONTACT: Lynn Manning, +1-724-485-4039
Web Site: http://www.consolenergy.com/
