An Illinois wind farm has captured ENR Midwest's Safety Award, a new component of the franchise's annual Best Projects competition.

During construction of Settler's Trail Wind Farm, a $49.3-million, 20,000-acre installation in Watseka, Job Hazard Analyses were required of each crew member, each day, prior to commencement of work.

Accordingly, each supervisor or foreman met briefly with individual crew members to identify potential hazards he or she might encounter through the course of the day. Likewise, weekly “all hands” meetings notified crews of activities scheduled to occur on site and identified associated hazards they might encounter that week.

In all, the project logged 151, 574 man hours while achieving OSHA and Lost-Time Rates of 0.

For these and other reasons, and independent panel of safety experts awarded Settler's Trail with ENR Midwest's top safety prize.

Panelists also honored ConocoPhillips Wood River Refinery Stormwater Upgrades, a project in Wood River, Ill. with a Safety Award of Merit. Despite a hazard-fraught site, crews completed the project without a single recordable or first-aid incident.

Both projects will be honored at an awards breakfast at the Crowne Metro Chicago Plaza on Nov. 29. They also will be featured in the Nov. 26 edition of ENR Midwest as part of the publication's coverage of the year's Best Projects.