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Workers reach 4 million man-hours without lost time incident
Dry Fork Station reaches 4 million man-hours without a lost-time incident.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative - April 15, 2010
Gillette, WY: Construction milestones at the Dry Fork Station come and go as the project progresses, but one milestone in particular has touched every worker at the power plant construction site. Workers reached 4 million man-hours without a lost-time incident on April 3, 2010.
“A safety milestone of this significance is almost unheard of with construction projects of this size,” says Doug Ramsey, construction manager at the Dry Fork Station. Construction on Basin Electric’s 385-megawatt power plant near Gillette, WY, began in October 2007. About 1,130 workers are currently on site. The construction work force peaked at around 1,307 construction workers in September 2009.
Kelly Schafer, Basin Electric construction/safety coordinator, says, “This milestone speaks volumes of the efforts of the Dry Fork Station project team to promote the cooperative’s safety culture, as well as the contractors’ commitment to safety,” he says. “The project team has done an excellent job setting standards for contract personnel and has projected Basin Electric’s safety philosophy in all they do. They should be commended.”
The Dry Fork Station project employs about 15 major contractors and many subcontractors. Contractors with staffing above certain levels are required to have full-time safety staff on site. Major contractors are responsible for their subcontractors’ safety performance.
Schafer says each contractor brings its own safety culture and programs to the table. “Contractors were screened on their safety statistics, and their safety programs were reviewed during the bidding process. The decision to award contracts is not based solely on cost,” he says.
“This project has seen a wide diversity of workers from across the country. They’ve been immersed in a whole new environment and worked through Wyoming winters safely, which is truly remarkable,” Schafer says.
Construction of the coal-based power plant is about 80 percent complete. Ramsey says over the next six months, the size of the construction work force will decrease as startup activities progress. The Dry Fork Station is on track to begin commercial operation in May 2011.
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