For Immediate Release
Contact: Sonya Johnson
Sonya.Johnson@orcc.doe.gov
(702) 219-1073
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., January 29, 2019 — Ken Rueter, UCOR President and Chief Executive Officer, has been named to the 2019 list of “CEOs Who ‘Get It,’” an annual recognition presented by the National Safety Council to leaders who go above and beyond to protect employees both on and off the job.
“I am honored to receive this designation from the National Safety Council,” Rueter said. “I share this honor with the entire UCOR team – the men and women who work hard each day to ensure that we maintain one of the most outstanding safety records in the entire Department of Energy complex while successfully accomplishing hazardous cleanup. They deserve the credit.”
Each year, the National Safety Council selects an elite group of CEOs who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to safety. The list includes CEOs from both national and international organizations. Each honoree has built his or her organization’s safety strategy using four key components: leadership and employee engagement, safety management solutions, risk reduction, and performance measurement.
“These leaders understand that safety is the cornerstone of every world-class business,” said Nick Smith, interim president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “They have set a standard for their peers and colleagues, and we are proud to recognize their efforts.”
Rueter is among eight recipients of this prestigious award for 2019. Other recipients represent a broad range of companies in various industries, including engineering and construction, rail transportation, chemicals, electric power generation, electronic data storage, home improvement, and plastics manufacturing.
A Q&A with Rueter is featured in the February 2019 issue of Safety+Health magazine.
Rueter’s company, UCOR, is an AECOM-led partnership with Jacobs. The company is a contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It manages the cleanup of the 2,200 acre East Tennessee Technology Park, a site that was contaminated with radioactive, hazardous and industrial wastes generated by more than 40 years of national defense and energy missions. UCOR’s cleanup activities extend to other parts of the Oak Ridge Reservation, including the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex.
Since the company’s inception, UCOR has tackled some of the most difficult cleanup challenges in the DOE complex, safely finishing most of its projects ahead of schedule and under budget. The company’s cleanup successes include the first-
ever complete cleanup of a former gaseous diffusion complex at the East Tennessee Technology Park and assisting DOE with transforming the site into a private sector industrial park.
UCOR has also conducted extensive surveillance and maintenance at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and assisting with stabilizing and preparing old unneeded facilities for demolition. The company also kicked off construction of the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex, which will enable large-scale cleanup of legacy facilities by capturing mercury that could migrate from the site during cleanup operations.
In 2018, UCOR its safest year ever, setting a record in two key performance measures – the lowest total recordable case and days-away rates since the UCOR contract began in 2011. For the second consecutive year, UCOR received the DOE Voluntary Protection Program Star of Excellence and the National Safety Council recognized two managers with their 2018 Rising Stars of Safety Award.
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