Veolia Water North America Wins Award for the Eighth Year
SIOUX CITY, Iowa, March 18, 2004 - With a perfect safety record in 2003, Veolia Water North America (formerly USFilter Operating Services, Inc.) in Sioux City is once again receiving an award for its superior safety performance. The chairman for the National Safety Council will present the award at the Iowa-Illinois Safety Council's 51st Annual Professional Development Conference on April 21 in Davenport, Iowa.
This is the eighth year Veolia Water in Sioux City has been recognized by the Iowa-Illinois Safety Council for its exceptional safety practices.
The Iowa-Illinois Safety Council is a non-profit public service organization that has been incorporated in Iowa since 1953 and a chapter of the National Safety Council since 1980. The council aims to educate the public about safety, health and environmental practices through training and member services.
"Because Veolia Water has not had any lost-time or recordable injuries, it's fairly obvious that the management of Sioux City's wastewater treatment plant, from top to bottom, is very concerned about safety," said Neil Longseth, executive director, Iowa-Illinois Safety Council. "For that SIC industry and the type of work performed at the wastewater treatment plant, having a record such as Sioux City's is very admirable."
For several years, Veolia Water has operated and managed Sioux City's 30 million-gallons-per-day wastewater treatment plant, which serves the communities of Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff, North Sioux City, Dakota Dunes and South Sioux City.
Veolia Water Plant Manager Bob Livermore attributed the successful safety record to the care taken by the employees. "We have an employee-led team focused on maintaining a safe work environment every minute of every day. We are all proud to accept this award."
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national average for lost-time incident rates (LTIR) at water treatment facilities and wastewater treatment facilities is 3.0 and 2.5, respectively. The 3.0 statistic means that for every 100 full-time employees working a calendar year, three work-related accidents occurred resulting in a lost work day. Veolia Water North America's LTIR for 2003 was 1.4 - significantly better than industry averages. In Sioux City, the LTIR has been zero for 3 years.
Headquartered in Houston, Veolia Water North America operates approximately 400 municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment facilities in the United States and Canada. In addition to designing, building and operating water and wastewater treatment facilities for municipalities, the company also s ervices a wide of range of industrial markets, including automotive, refining, chemical, steel and oil and gas, to name a few.
Company Information:
Veolia Water North America is the leading provider of comprehensive water and wastewater services to municipal and industrial customers, providing services to approximately 14 million people in more than 600 communities. The company is part of Veolia Water, the No. 1 water company in the world serving more than 110 million customers. Veolia Water is the Water Division of Veolia Environment (NYSE:VE and Paris Bourse: VIE), the largest environmental services company in the world with more than 295,000 employees in about 100 countries and annual revenues of more than $28.5 billion. Visit the company's web sites at www.veoliawaterna.com.