During the Missouri Limestone Producers Association (MLPA) annual convention, Martin Marietta was honored for its work on safety at its Stamper Mine, located just north of Kansas City, Mo.
By reaching 1 million man-hours without a lost-time incident, the employees at Stamper Mine reached an award level never obtained in the history of the MLPA Safety Award Program.
“Each year the MLPA recognizes Missouri mines for their accomplishments in safety and ensuring worker safety and health through the Safety Awards Program,” said MLPA Executive Manager Morgan Mundell. “Martin Marietta and the employees at Stamper Mine have demonstrated a strong commitment to safety over the years and their record shows it.”
MLPA solicits applications for the program each year and after an extensive review by the MLPA Safety Committee, awards are made at the association’s annual convention. The program recognizes performance measured in days of no lost-time incidents, consecutive years without an incident and multiples of 100,000 hours without a lost-time incident.
Martin Marietta Kansas City District Production Manager Greg Conner, stated that the one-million-hour mark is impressive not only because of the number of hours, but that the Stamper Mine faces a host of natural obstacles not encountered at other sites due to the mine being an underground operation.
“Inherently, underground operations have more hazards to deal with and require a greater number of employees,” he said. “But this group is tight-knit and has strong management that leads by example. They do an excellent job of watching out for each other and believing in the Guardian Angel Creed.”
The Martin Marietta safety culture includes an emphasis on training new employees, teaching employees how to recognize hazards on site, and possessing a “fix-it-now” mentality when a hazard is identified.
Martin Marietta was also recognized by the MLPA for 20 years without a lost-time incident at its Parkville Mine and for 12 years without a lost-time accident at Stamper. The last lost-time incident at Stamper occurred on Sept. 28, 2005.
“It’s about making sure everyone makes the right decision every time and making sure everyone feels comfortable speaking up when they see a hazard,” said Stamper Plant Manager Chris Bollinger. “When any of our people recognize a hazard, they’re obligated to fix it immediately, or berm or cone it off until it can be handled properly.”