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Media Contact: Fred Strohl Communications and Media Relations 865.574.4165

ORNL celebrates second safest year in history

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OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 13, 2009 — The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory finished Fiscal Year 2009 in September with the second safest year in its history, according to Herb Debban, ORNL's associate laboratory director for Facilities and Operations.

"In our bargaining unit, 96 percent of our employees had a perfect safety record while 99 percent of our salaried employees also had a perfect safety record," Debban said. "Even more impressive is the fact we had 351 bargaining unit employees who have worked 10 years without a single injury. This represents 4.5 million safe work hours."

Debban stressed workplace safety is an ongoing effort at ORNL.

"It really comes down to people thinking about safety, working through a process where they think about safety with every task that they do," Debban added. "My goal is everyone goes home without an injury or an occupational illness every day of the entire year."

ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.