DFW International Airport Safety Program Lauded By Occupational Safety And Health Administration

DFW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (March 3, 2005) –DFW International Airport’s industry-leading safety program has received the Outstanding Safety Contribution Award from the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The regional administrator’s award recognizes organizations that contribute to the safety and health of their employees as well as showing extra commitment by increasing the awareness level of their community of these issues, said John B. Miles, Jr., regional administrator of OSHA, Region VI.

The DFW International Airport Capital Development Program was selected because of its outstanding record with regards to safety and health issues. The Capital Development Program oversees the construction and other development of the airport facilities including the $2.7 billion improvement project, which includes the two million square-foot International Terminal D with integrated Grand Hyatt Hotel, and the world’s largest airport train, Skylink.

“The DFW Airport Capital Development Program was selected because it has consistently shown a high level of commitment to safety and health in the Dallas-Fort Worth community, particularly to Spanish-speaking construction workers,” Miles added.

OSHA officials pointed to four specific areas in its recognition:

• DFW’s Capital Development Program provided mandatory 40-hour Construction Safety Training to more than 14,000 construction employees of North Texas through the Construction Education Foundation of North Texas • DFW provided safety training to construction workers of North Texas in both English and Spanish • Operation of Terminal D, the Skylink Automated People Mover and other construction projects with 21 million man-hours without a fatality or serious accident while consistently maintaining an accident incident rate below the national average; and • For establishing an alliance with the OSHA Fort Worth Area Office to promote professional safety certification for contractor staff.

Many of the activities and initiatives at the airport were coordinated by Capital Development Safety Manager J.W. Garrett, under the direction of Clay Paslay, executive vice president for airport development; Terry Cassidy, Assistant Vice President of Program Administration; Brenda Jones, Project Controlled Insurance Program Manager, and through the construction general contractors, Austin Commercial, In., and Hensel Phelps Construction Company.

“We appreciate OSHA’s recognition of the safety program we have in place at DFW Airport and the things that this board has done to ensure the safety of the workers at DFW Airport,” said Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, a member of the DFW Airport Board.

Workers on the Capital Development Program have logged more than 21.6 million man-hours as of December 2004. Since the beginning of the project there have been only 401 recordable cases and 46 lost time cases. A recordable case is an injury that requires more than first aid on the job. Lost time cases involve serious injuries when a physician recommends that the worker not return to work. 

“We are pleased to receive this recognition,” Paslay said. “Safety is a priority at DFW Airport. Our goal is to provide a safe environment for our employees and contractors, while working to meet the needs of our airlines and travelers.”

DFW Airport currently has a 3.7 percent incident rate versus the national average of 6.8 percent and a lost time rave of 0.4 percent versus the national average of 3.6 percent.