The state of Utah has formally recognized workplace safety and health activities at EnergySolutions’ radioactive waste disposal facility at Clive, Utah.
The Salt Lake City-based company said Friday it had obtained Voluntary Protection Program status from the Utah Labor Commission’s Occupational Safety and Health Division (UOSH). “Admission to VPP status constitutes UOSH’s official recognition of company management and employees with outstanding occupational safety and health management systems,” according to the UOSH website.
In over 30 years of operation, UOSH has only provided VPP status to nine other companies, EnergySolutions said in a press release. These include Raytheon, Smithfield Foods, ConocoPhillips, Firestone, and Frito-Lay.
“This is an incredible accomplishment for our employees at the Clive Facility,” EnergySolutions President and CEO Ken Robuck said in the release. “The credit goes to every Clive employee for their dedication and commitment to health and safety.”
The Clive site, which employs about 100 workers in the Utah desert about 75 miles west of Salt Lake City, is one of four U.S. facilities licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for disposal of low-level radioactive waste. EnergySolutions operates a second disposal site in Barnwell, S.C. The others are Waste Control Specialists’ facility in Andrews County, Texas, and US Ecology’s operation at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state.
