Freeport McMoran

The first-aid kit at Bisbee Discontinued Operations has gone more than eight years without surrendering so much as a Band-Aid.

The 30-person staff at Bisbee tallied half a million hours without a safety incident in late July, a string that dates back to 2010.

"The last incident we had involved some bees that stung one of our guys, and before that, we had gone five years without an accident," said Robert Quintanar, Manager, Resource Reclamation-Bisbee. "In other words, we've actually gone 13 years with one incident, and that one was not of our making."

The constant in Bisbee's successful run has been the steadfast resolve of its people to keep safety at the forefront, said Terry Maddux, Senior Supervisor, Discontinued Operations-Bisbee.

"This isn't just eight years without a reportable, it's eight years without a first-aid, so not even a Band-Aid, and that's a testament to people here," Maddux said. "The company gives you all kinds of safety tools, but if you don't have the right people to use those tools, you're not going to attain that kind of record."

Though discontinued operations such as Bisbee have far fewer employees than mine sites, the degree of difficulty when it comes to safety can actually be higher.

"Safety is actually quite challenging here because we don't have lot of routine jobs, and we wear a lot of different hats," said Fernando Alday, Senior Environmental Engineer-Bisbee. "So, safety is an individual and a team sport here. It starts with each person being accountable to themselves and also takes in the safety culture of the whole site with all the knowledge and experience we have."

Half a million man-hours may not seem like much when sites with hundreds and even thousands of employees such as Morenci can reach a million man-hours in about six months, but when it comes to safety, it's all relative, said Chris Rose, Director-Operational Health.

"Whether you attain that with a lot of people over a short time or a few people over a long time is relative, because ultimately you're operating safely all those hours," Rose said. "What's most important is working safely every single day and keeping safety at the forefront of everything you do."

For diagnostic electrician Charles McGinnis, Bisbee's culture of safety has hit home for generations.

"My daughter, who just got hired, is now our fifth generation with the company, and every day when I call her we talk safety, and the last thing we always say after 'I love you' is 'be careful,' " McGinnis said. "That's instilled in our family, and it's instilled in all of us out here in this workforce. We all feel that culture, and we all help each other keep it going."