ROCKDALE, TX—Alcoa’s Rockdale Power Plant, a three-unit generating facility that fuels the company’s adjacent aluminum smelter, has been recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as having the “highest level of safety performance and proactive safety leadership”—an achievement that earned it the agency’s “Star Among Stars” award.

Plant Manager Leroy Hiller accepted the award from OSHA Regional Administrator John Miles at the recent Region VI Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Conference in Fort Worth.

It marks the power plant’s second award from OSHA in as many years, having been named a “Star Worksite” for safety and health performance last March.

OSHA’s regional chief said the “Stars Among Stars” program was established to recognize VPP participants with total accident and injury rates “well below” those reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for corresponding industrial work groups.

 “Our goal is to recognize companies such as Alcoa whose rates are more than 50 percent below the national average,” Miles said.  “This is a great safety performance and we hope it encourages other employers to work harder to reduce their rates even thought they may already meet the requirement of being below the Bureau of Labor Statistics national average.”

Hiller said the Alcoa Rockdale Power Plant worked just under 300,000 man-hours in 2002 and sustained only two injuries recordable by OSHA standards.

 “Our incident rate of 1.35 was 73 percent below the average rate of 5.0 for electrical workers nationwide as reported by the bureau,” Hiller said.  “I congratulate the entire workforce, IBEW Local 2078 members and location management for their commitment and diligence in putting safety first and winning OSHA’s recognition as a ‘Star Among Stars’.”