Itasca, IL – The National Safety Council announced the winners of its 2020 Teen Safety and Community Advancement awards.
The Teen Safety Award recognizes an individual or organization working to improve teen safety and save lives. This year’s winner is the Illinois Tollway. The Community Advancement Award is presented to entities that are dedicated to safety at work and have also committed time and resources to bring safety into the community. This year’s two winners are Engro Fertilizers Limited, based in Daharki, Sindh, Pakistan, and Washington River Protection Solutions, based in Richland, Washington.
“The recipients of these two NSC awards are focused on protecting people. They went above and beyond to protect individuals who are particularly vulnerable – teens – and they also sought to protect the communities in which they work,” said Tracey Scruggs, who leads the awards program at NSC. “Our award winners have displayed a true desire to effect change in their respective areas, and we applaud them for their work.”
The Illinois Tollway stood out for its effort to establish new partnerships with the Illinois High School and College Driver Education Association (IHSCDEA) and the Distress Bandanna Teen Driver Safety Initiative. With the assistance of IHSCDEA, the Illinois Tollway distributed safe driving curriculum to more than 700 educators and 600 Illinois schools. And with the help of the Distress Bandanna Teen Driver Safety Initiative, it shared educational driving materials with 5,496 students in 290 classrooms at 126 public and private high schools.
Meanwhile, Engro was recognized for its concrete actions to conduct business in a manner that protects the health and safety of its employees, contractors and others involved in its operations, as well as the community in which it is located. This work includes special efforts to enhance the health and safety of employees and the community, completing its Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) road map, and providing at no charge personal protective equipment, rescue equipment and communication tools to community response teams, as well as training.
Washington River Protection Solutions was awarded for its dedication to safety, demonstrated through its commitment to employee-led safety programs and community outreach. Employees worked more than 9 million safe hours in 2019, passing an entire calendar year without a days-away, restricted or transferred-injury/illness case. The company also regularly supports community organizations and efforts where safety is a focus, such as Habitat for Humanity, where it assists with the safety and health briefings for local construction teams. Additionally, Washington River Protection Solutions collaborates with local schools and universities to support robotic technology and use, which in turn helps promote safety innovation and added worker protection in eliminating or reducing hazards.
NSC bestows awards to organizations and individuals throughout the year. More information about its award programs is available here.
About the National Safety Council
The National Safety Council is America’s leading nonprofit safety advocate – and has been for over 100 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace, roadway and impairment. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives.
