Governor's Award for Safety Excellence (GASE)
Providing a safe work environment for Pennsylvania's workers requires commitment from employers and employees alike. The highly competitive Governor's Award for Safety Excellence (GASE) recognizes outstanding workplace safety programs and the superior management/employee collaborations that make these programs so successful.
Any Pennsylvania employer can nominate themselves or be nominated by a third party. Nominations are accepted from January 1st through May 1st of the current calendar year.
The initial review of all nominations is conducted by the GASE Review Committee. Information and criteria used to determine semi-finalists include:
- Injuries and illnesses rates vs. same-industry rates
- Reduction in workers’ compensation costs
- Safety program innovation
- Strategic development of safety policy and approaches
- Joint safety program in place
- Cooperative labor/management effort - teamwork
Semi-finalists will be contacted for a virtual review of the nominee’s comprehensive safety program. Following the virtual review, the committee will determine who is eligible for an on-site tour. Site visit reports are used to determine finalists. Recommendations are then forwarded to the Secretary of Labor & Industry who makes the final determination.
Awards are presented by representatives of the Department of Labor & Industry at the organization's workplace. Award winners receive a plaque to memorialize their achievements. Award winners are also acknowledged at the Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health Conference in October.
Valuable best practices from winning finalists are shared across the state.
The GASE Review Committee is closed right now and applications are NOT being accepted this time of year.
- Use the Request for GASE Nomination Form and receive a link to the GASE Nomination Form and the GASE Nomination Worksheet.
- Use the worksheet to gather your information and prepare your responses.
- Copy and paste many of your collected responses from the worksheet to the nomination form.
The GASE Review Committee looks forward to learning about your exemplary safety program and the unique efforts used to keep your employees healthy and safe!
Questions? Contact the GASE Program Coordinator at RA-LIBWC-GASE@pa.gov or (717) 772-1917.
GASE Winners
ADELPHIA GATEWAY, LLC
Adelphia Gateway, LLC is an 84-mile interstate pipeline in eastern Pennsylvania that extends from Lower Mount Bethel Township in North Hampton County to Marcus Hook in Delaware County and provides up to 850,000 dekatherms of domestically produced natural gas to constrained energy markets in the greater Philadelphia region. OSHA VPP Star Certification continuously since 2000.
Excellent Safety Practices:
- 811 Safety Days provide monitoring & surveillance training
- Work with local schools on pipeline and gas safety protocols
- The VelocityEHS® system allows all employees to report incidents, good catches (near misses), and hazard conditions, and includes the ability to assign responsible personnel to correct safety issues as they are identified.
Adelphia Gateway LLC
APPLIED GEOLOGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, INC. (AGES)
Applied Geology & Environmental Science, Inc. (AGES) provides environmental consulting services and solutions to clients with known or suspected environmental issues, including major gas and electrical utility companies.
Excellent Safety Practices:
- Applied root cause analyses to all their safety program elements in response to one lone worker vehicle incident
- Provided employees with GPS satellite phones, personal vehicles maintained by the employer, and required Smith driver training for all employees
- Logged more than 600,000 hours without a recordable claim to date, with 1.5 million miles of accident-free driving
Applied Geology and Environmental Science, Inc. (AGES)
DVL GROUP, INC.
DVL Group, Inc. is an employee-owned company offering sales & solutions expertise for critical environments.
Excellent Safety Practices:
- Good Catch program proactively identifies hazards and documents near misses
- Extensive personalized safety training using Vector Solutions where employees can complete quizzes for comprehension and upload a copy of the company’s policy for review.
- Recipient of the Great Place to Work award six times. Employees are vested shareholders with very low turnover.
DVL Group Inc
INDEPENDENCE EXCAVATING
Independence Excavating are site preparation contractors including heavy civil construction, demolition, heavy industrial applications, environmental remediation, concrete paving, aggregate crushing, and recycling.
Excellent Safety Practices:
- ‘Indy-Vation’ in-house incentive program encourages employees to bring forward designs or alternate methods for reducing or eliminating risks and hazards; Designed and fabricated a ‘Pipe Cutting Station’ that minimizes kickback and ensures a level cutting grade
- Union employer with rates well below the industry average
- Extensive Return to Work/Light Duty program that includes full pay for all injured workers before they return and during light duty
Independence Excavating
RIGHT OF WAY CLEARING & MAINTENANCE, INC.
Right of Way Clearing & Maintenance, Inc. is a land clearing company that clears the right of way for natural gas pipelines. Primary operations include tree, brush, and stump removal, and they specialize in steep slope terrain.
Excellent Safety Practices:
- No lost time cases in 5 years
- Implemented the Fatigue Risk Management Program in response to regulatory changes mandating winter work; the program applies to all employees in any capacity
- Soren Eriksson’s Game of Logging augments Chainsaw Safety Training
Right of Way Clearing and Maintenance Inc.
TENASKA OPERATIONS, INC.
The Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station (TWGS) is an immaculate, state-of-the-art fossil fuel power generation facility with dozens of upgraded safety features. It was clear during the walk-through that cleanliness and safety are the primary focuses.
Excellent Safety Practices:
- Dedicated on-site sub-contractor job station with electrical hook-ups so that the sub trailers can remain on-site
- Modified original plant design to incorporate safety enhancements, including an elevator reaching the top of the stacks for maintenance purposes
- OSHA VPP Star worksite seven times in the past 20 years
- No lost time accidents or recordable injuries since 2017
Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station (TWGS)
TYBER MEDICAL
Tyber Medical is an orthopedic device manufacturer including trauma/extremity systems.
Excellent Safety Practices:
- Comprehensive safety policy and procedures that can be accessed by QR code
- Virtual reality training and exclusive videos on YouTube accessible by QR code
- Excellent rates with 280,000 hours worked in 2021 and 330,000 hours worked in 2022 without an incident.
Tyber Medical