Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials and NuStar Energy executives and employees gathered Oct. 5 at the company's terminal west of Jamestown to celebrate as the terminal and other company facilities were officially declared "Star Worksites" in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program.
The VPP Star Worksite designation is OSHA's highest honor to recognize the nation's most effective industrial safety and health programs.
All NuStar facilities within the state of North Dakota received the certification, which includes the two Jamestown terminals and the origin pump station in Mandan, N.D. The Jamestown terminals receive fuels from the pipelines (and also ethanol and other specialty additives by truck) and load those materials into trucks for distribution to fuel retailers or agricultural community bulk plants.
NuStar is working to have all of its operations certified as VPP Star Worksites, and this was the fifth region to achieve the honor. The company's facilities in North Dakota have gone more than seven years without a lost-time injury and more than two years without a recordable injury.
Rick Bluntzer, NuStar's senior vice president of operations, said the company's participation in VPP plays an important role in its main objective, safety.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The safety of our employees, contractors and neighbors has always been our No. 1 priority at NuStar, and the VPP program has helped us take that commitment to an even higher level," Bluntzer said. "We're proud of the work that our employees have done to distinguish themselves as safety leaders in the industry. And we couldn't ask for a better partner in this initiative than OSHA."
OSHA started the VPP in 1982 to establish cooperative action among government, industry and labor in promoting safety and health programs that go above and beyond normal OSHA worker-protection compliance. The process of becoming VPP-certified begins with a detailed internal review and safety modifications before sending a written application to OSHA. After the application is reviewed, a team of OSHA representatives visits the plant for an on-site review that usually lasts about four days and includes a reviews of all safety and health records, a plant walkthrough and a series of interviews with plant management and employees.
According to OSHA, companies that have achieved Star Site status have an injury and illness rate 54 percent lower than would be expected of an average site of the same size in their industry.
NuStar is a publicly traded, limited partnership based in San Antonio, with 8,417 miles of pipeline; 90 terminal and storage facilities that store and distribute crude oil, refined products and specialty liquids; and two asphalt refineries and a fuels refinery with a combined throughput capacity of 118,500 barrels per day.
