Walton-based L’Oreal among 39 companies honored as Governor’s safest workplaces

Education and Labor Cabinet Secretary Jamie Link recognized more 39 Kentucky employers with Governor’s Safety and Health Awards for excellence in workplace safety.

During the annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference, Secretary Link recognized 39 companies whose employees collectively logged more than 48.5 million consecutive hours without a workplace injury, accident or illness resulting in lost time through calendar year 2023.

Among those recognize was Walton-based L’Oreal with 1,193,543 consecutive hours without a lost-time injury accident of illness.

A complete list of companies earning awards at this year’s conference can be found here .

“Ensuring all Kentuckians have a safe and healthy workplace has been a top priority of Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration since day one, and I’m extremely proud to recognize all of you for your efforts in protecting hardworking Kentuckians while on the job,” Link said. “You have chosen to lead by example, and I hope that your success and recognition will inspire others to ramp up health and safety protections for workers throughout our Commonwealth.”

During his keynote address, Secretary Link promoted the benefits of developing occupational safety and health programs in the workplace and promoted free consultation, training and other services available from KYSAFE to help employers provide safer workplaces.

He also pointed to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data that shows the commonwealth’s recordable, nonfatal, occupational injury and illness rate remains at an all-time low of 3.2 cases per 100 full-time workers, after it fell to that level in 2021 during Gov. Beshear’s first term.

In 1996 when the labor bureau first began tracking the data, Kentucky’s case rate was 8.4 cases per 100 full-time workers.

“While the progress we’ve seen in the last two decades is remarkable, I encourage all of you to work toward a day when we can eliminate all workplace injury accidents because even one accident is one too many,” Link said. “Team Kentucky will continue on its mission to identify unsafe, hazardous or unhealthy environments that pose dangers in the workplace, as well as issue citations to bring companies into compliance.”

For more than four decades, the cabinet has partnered with the Kentucky Safety and Health Network Inc. to host an annual conference dedicated to occupational safety and health awareness. The Governor also proclaimed Aug. 18-24, 2024, as Safety and Health in the Workplace Week.

This year’s conference offered workshops and training opportunities such as lithium battery safety, scaffold building, confined space entry and rescue, disruptive weather planning and preparedness, and injury and illness recordkeeping.

Organizers chose to host the event in Owensboro for the first time this year at the city’s state-of-the-art convention center.

KYSAFE administers the Governor’s Safety and Health Awards Program to recognize Kentucky employers who demonstrate outstanding workplace safety and health performance.

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