Deputy Secretary Rocky Comito of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet joined employees and officials in Henderson today to honor Kenergy Corp. with the Governor’s Safety and Health Award. The honor recognizes the member-owned electric cooperative for 509,963 hours without a lost-time accident or illness.

Kentucky Labor Cabinet Secretary Larry Roberts praised the success of Kenergy’s dedication to safety.

“It’s obvious that Kenergy Corp. has made safety a top priority, and today we recognize those daily efforts that add up to more than half a million work hours without a lost-time incident,” said Secretary Roberts. “Kenergy’s efforts reflect a constant awareness and commitment to avoiding accidents, which can happen so quickly and, unfortunately, can have everlasting consequences.”

Kenergy Corp. was established in July 1999 through the consolidation of Henderson-Union Electric Cooperative (organized in 1936) and Green River Electric (organized in 1937). Now with approximately 150 employees, Kenergy has grown to serve more than 55,000 homes and businesses in the following 14 western Kentucky counties: Breckinridge, Caldwell, Crittenden, Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, Hopkins, Livingston, Lyon, McLean, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Union and Webster.

“We are very proud of this achievement,” said Kenergy President and CEO Greg Starheim. “Our business requires our employees to work in hazardous and difficult conditions each and every day. We are so pleased to be celebrating this milestone and the recognition of our employees through this award.”

The Kentucky Labor Cabinet presents the Governor’s Safety and Health Award in recognition of outstanding safety and health performance. An establishment may qualify for the award if its employees together achieve a required number of hours worked without experiencing a lost-time injury or illness. The required number of hours is dependent upon the number of employees. In the case of Kenergy, the requirement is 500,000 hours.

The Governor’s Safety and Health Award program is part of Gov. Steve Beshear’s efforts to improve the health of all Kentuckians. The Governor launched kyhealthnow last month as an aggressive and wide-ranging initiative to significantly reduce incidence and deaths from Kentucky’s dismal health rankings and habits. It builds on Kentucky’s successful implementation of health care reform and uses multiple strategies over the next several years to improve the state’s collective health.

Every establishment within the geographical boundaries of Kentucky is eligible for a Governor’s Safety and Health Award, even if the establishment won the award the previous year. Eligibility is limited to one award during a 12-month period of time.

The award is a certificate that contains the signatures of Gov. Beshear, Secretary Roberts and Department of Workplace Standards Commissioner Anthony Russell.