Midwest AgEnergy announced employees at the Blue Flint biorefinery have surpassed 1 million hours of safely working without a lost-time accident. A lost-time accident is defined as time lost to an employee who is injured on the job and cannot return to the next regularly scheduled shift.
Blue Flint, an ethanol biorefinery near Underwood, N.D., helped contribute to a milestone of more than 1 billion gallons of ethanol produced company-wide for Midwest AgEnergy.
The streak began April 13, 2007. To put the 1 million safe work hours into context, if one person works 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, it would take about 481 years for that person to reach one million safe work hours. This accomplishment required all 49 employees at Blue Flint to make good decisions all day and night for more than 11 years.
"I am so impressed with the employees at Blue Flint for continuously doing all the things necessary to avoid workplace injuries," said Adam Dunlop, director of regulatory and technical services for Midwest AgEnergy. "It's been an honor to work alongside such a caring and devoted group. I truly believe we can safely run the biorefinery forever if we continue to adhere to our core values, pay attention to the details and look after each other."
Dakota Spirit biorefinery opened in 2015 and has never had a lost-time accident.
