Covanta Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Covanta Holding Corporation and a world leader in the development and operation of large scale Energy-from-Waste and other renewable energy projects, on September 23 announced that its Pittsfield, Mass., facility has earned Star status in the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).
VPP Star status is the highest honor given to worksites with comprehensive, successful safety and health management systems. Sites such as Covanta Pittsfield are committed to effective employee protection beyond the requirements of federal standards and participants develop and implement systems to effectively identify, evaluate, prevent, and control occupational hazards to prevent injuries and illnesses.
"By achieving VPP Star status, Covanta Pittsfield employees have joined an elite group of worksites with the very best health and safety practices. I salute this dedicated group of employees for their continuous improvement and follow through to achieve this coveted designation," said Seth Myones, president, Covanta Americas.
The keys to health and safety success under VPP are the employee engagement and ongoing involvement in on-site health and safety program development combined with long-term commitment and support from management. VPP-level recipients routinely incur injury and illness rates that are at or below the state average for their specific industry.
Continuous improvement of health and safety programs is central to Covanta's corporate and workplace cultures and has lead to a majority of Covanta's North American facilities earning the prestigious VPP Star status. Covanta Pittsfield is one of 35 worksites in Massachusetts to have received the honor.
Covanta Pittsfield is an integral part of the Pittsfield community, processing 240 tons per day of solid waste generated from residential and commercial operations throughout Berkshire County. Annually, the plant produces more than 400 million pounds of steam as well as 3.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity used in-house for facility operations. The steam generated daily by the Energy-from-Waste facility and used by adjacent paper company Crane & Company, avoids the use of 16,000 gallons of oil per day.
About Covanta
Covanta Energy is an internationally recognized owner and operator of large-scale Energy-from-Waste and renewable energy projects and a recipient of the Energy Innovator Award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Covanta's 45 Energy-from-Waste facilities provide communities with an environmentally sound solution to their solid waste disposal needs by using it to generate clean, renewable energy. Annually, Covanta's modern Energy-from-Waste facilities safely and securely convert more than 20 million tons of waste into more than 9 million megawatt hours of clean renewable electricity and create more than 10 billion pounds of steam that are sold to a variety of industries.
