SWANA announces winners of 2018 safety awards

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, announced the winners of the 2018 SWANA Safety Awards on June 18. The award winners were selected by SWANA’s technical divisions and the SWANA Safety Committee for demonstrating excellence in solid waste safety.

Winners were selected at the technical division level, and an overall safety award winner was chosen across all categories. The applicants this year consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to reducing accidents and injuries through communication, implementing best practices, training and accident review, according to SWANA.

“SWANA’s Safety Awards program highlights top companies, agencies and facilities who have made excellence in safety attainable through creative strategies and overall commitment,” SWANA Executive Director and CEO David Biderman says. “We hope that the best practices adopted by the SWANA Safety Award winners are considered as models by others in both the United States and Canada as we work towards our goal of creating a safer working environment for the solid waste and recycling industry.”

2018 SWANA Safety Award Division Winners

Communication, Education & Marketing Division

• Best Safety Innovation: Resource Recovery, City of Alexandria, Virginia
• Biggest Safety Improvement: Lakeshore Recycling Systems

Collection & Transfer Division

• Biggest Safety Improvement: South Central Solid Waste Authority, City of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County, New Mexico

Landfill Gas & Biogas Division

• Biggest Safety Improvement: DTE Biomass Energy, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Planning & Management Division

• Biggest Safety Improvement: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Nashville, Tennessee, Materials Management Section

2018 SWANA Safety Award Overall Winner

• Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS), Morton Grove, Illinois

LRS won the Overall Safety Award for its “Live Safety” campaign, which focuses on educating all employees at every level of the organization, their families and the entire Chicagoland community on the importance of the Live Safety principle. By creating a culture that champions a lifestyle of safety, LRS has seen a marked decrease in the cost of insurance claims.

“On behalf of all men and women under the Lakeshore Recycling Systems banner, we are honored to be recognized as a leader in instilling safety throughout the industry and general public,” John Sliwicki, vice president of risk management at LRS, says. “As an integral part of the waste industry, which remains the fifth-most dangerous field in the country, we are proud of the initiatives taken to reduce incidents and raise safety awareness that extends past our organization. By tying the Live Safety message back to our community, family and friends, we are able to foster a mindset that furthers our safety values.”

LRS is the largest privately held waste company in Illinois, and has been serving the Chicagoland area for nearly 20 years. LRS owns and operates seven material recovery facilities, a fleet of natural gas-powered trucks, and is run by a team of 760 full-time employees.

This marks the third year that SWANA has recognized excellence in solid waste safety through the Safety Awards program. The presentation of the trophies will take place at an awards luncheon on August 22 at WASTECON 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee.

For information on the 2018 SWANA Safety Awards, visit swana.org/safetyawards.