March 11, 2016
The Western Dredging association is requesting nominations for the “2016 Safety Excellence Awards” to be presented at the 21st World Dredging Congress & Exposition (WODCON XXI) in Miami this June. To view / print this information, click here.
History
During the last several years, workplace safety has gained prominence in the dredging industry at large and within the Western Dredging Association. In 2008, the Board of Directors Meeting authorized the creation of the WEDA Annual Safety Excellence Award. By 2010 our yearly Dredging Summit & Expo included Technical Papers specific to Safety, and in 2015 our facilitated Safety Panel discussions continued, a session that is consistently well-received. Today, we continue to encourage papers about Safety, and we observe that many papers in other Technical areas reflect the integration of safety into dredging operations priorities and processes.
Objective
The 2016 WEDA Safety Excellence Awards will recognize projects for their outstanding contribution to meeting the goals of WEDA, which include:
- Promoting communications and understanding of safety issues aimed at reducing or eliminating personnel injuries/deaths experienced within the dredging industry and to help reduce equipment damages throughout the dredging industry.
Of greatest interest to the Safety Committee are those entities who have achieved a major milestone that advances safety in the dredging industry and offers insights and safety strategies that can be used to improve WEDA members’ safety performance.
Awards
Two awards will be presented in 2016, one to a dredging project and one to a dredging contractor. These awards will be presented during the WODCON XXI conference to be held in Miami, June 13-17. Recognition will include a plaque, a press release, and a special highlight on the WEDA website.
Eligibility
Those eligible to apply for the Safety Excellence Award may include dredging contractors, suppliers and manufacturers, government entities, consultants, academics, and any combination or subset thereof.
Applicants must:
- Be WEDA members in good standing.
- Operate within the western hemisphere, WEDA’s jurisdiction.
- Have a 2015 Total Recordable Injury Rate of 2.0 or below.
- Have a continuous downward trend in Recordable Incidents for 2013-2015.
- The project must not have been completed more than two years from the date of the award application, or for longer term projects, specific increments or phases must have been completed to be eligible for consideration.
- Applications will be accepted only for those projects which have been approved by all applicable regulatory agencies, and implemented. Project applications will not be accepted without necessary permissions from the project owner (if applicable).
- Previous WEDA Safety Award winners are not eligible to resubmit the same project, unless it is a major significant new phase.
- While projects are awarded based upon their merits using the ranking criteria provided below, the WEDA Awards Review Team does appreciate an application that is well formatted, easy to read, and explains how the project qualifies by the ranking criteria.
- Attendance of a project representative at the WEDA annual conference is expected of award applicants.
Project Ranking Criteria
- Safety benefits (35 points)
- Include an overview of the Safety Management System and other support processes that have led to accomplishment of the milestone.
- Describe the lagging and leading indicators of the projects safety performance? How were these impacted by the safety strategies implemented?
- Innovation (20 points)
- Discuss how this project shows leadership and takes steps beyond “traditional” safety efforts.
- What “new ground” did the project break in addressing safety challenges?
- What methods, technologies, or approaches (including partnerships) were used?
- What are your plans for sustaining the safety ground the project has taken?
- Economic benefits (15 points)
- Explain implementation of cost-effective methods, procedures, or practices in terms of safety efforts. Were there project efficiencies? Were there any specific cost-saving components of the project?
- Transferability (15 points)
- Provide 1-2 specific safety strategies or tools used by the nominee that WEDA members could apply back in their own workplaces.
- Outreach and Education (15 points)
- Include a narrative on the nominee’s contribution to raising safety awareness and improving safety in dredging for the worker and the workplace.
Nominations must be submitted to WEDA’s Safety Commission Chair, Julie Hile by March 25, 2016.
Submissions will be accepted in PDF format at hgoffice@hilegroup.com. Please contact Julie by email or phone with questions or requests for clarification.
Safety Commission Chair
Julie Hile
Hile Group Inc.
Normal, IL 61761
309-888-4453
hgoffice@hilegroup.com
Thanks and we are looking forward to seeing you in Miami!
Thomas P Cappellino
WEDA Executive Director
Western Dredging Association
Tags: dredging, education, WEDA
