Stories

​KBR President and CEO Stuart Bradie recently announced the recipients of the 2017 KBR CEO Award for Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSSE) Excellence. Created to recognize individuals or groups who demonstrate outstanding HSSE leadership and performance, the award exemplifies KBR's commitment to furthering a Zero Harm company culture among all employees. Award nominees were selected by Business Unit Presidents and submitted to the CEO for consideration.Randy Witucki and Gregory Appler

Randy Witucki and Gregory Appler of KBRwyle were the first recipients of this year's KBR CEO Award for HSSE Excellence. After a successful flight and offload of test equipment and personnel at San Nicholas Island Naval Outlying Landing Field in California, Witucki, Appler, and crew members began manning the aircraft and preparing for takeoff.  Witucki, the aircraft's Loadmaster, noticed an abnormal smell coming from inside the cabin. He immediately notified the crew and the flight deck. Almost instantaneously, Appler, the mission flight engineer, conducted a second scan of the instrument panel and saw one of the engine indicator lights was on.
Appler ordered a shutdown of the engine and the crew exited the aircraft. After retrieving a nearby fire extinguisher and examining the situation, it was determined that the engine had overheated and shut down. The remaining three engines were then shut down and the secure checklist was completed without further incident.
Witucki and Appler received this prestigious award because they worked as a team using the processes and skills they were trained to use in identifying a potential safety issue. The duo also ceased work and addressed the issue promptly to prevent harm to people or equipment. They demonstrated two of the key principles of Zero Harm constantly reinforced by KBR: having Courage to Care conversations and stop work empowerment.

In addition to the KBR award, the customer recognized Witucki and Appler for their actions by awarding them the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30 (VX-30) Safety Pro Award.

"Randy Witucki and Gregory Appler stood out among the rest of the candidates for this award because they were both willing to stop work and together mitigate a significant hazard," said Nick Anagnostou, KBR Vice President, HSSE. "Their skills and expertise are complimented by their ability to address a potential safety issue and resolve it. Their actions and attention to sound safety procedures are habits that we should all imitate."KBRwlye Space & Science Ground Systems and Mission Support – 2 Program Team

The second recipient of this year's award went to the members of KBRwlye Space & Science Ground Systems and Mission Support – 2 (GSMO-2) Program team. GSMO-2 is located at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Goddard Corporate Park in Lanham, Maryland. The 400-person team won the award for working safely without a recordable incident since January 2011. As of February 2018, that is an astounding 5,136,434 hours of work in a seven-year span over three NASA contract lifecycles. The GSMO-2 team was nominated by Joseph Sadowski, Senior Manager, HSE, Space & Science.
Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO, commented on the awards saying, "It is an honor to present the KBR CEO Award for HSSE Excellence to this year's recipients. These employees have shown outstanding leadership and they are remarkable examples of KBR's commitment to Zero Harm. I commend their efforts in achieving this recognition."

Congratulations to Randy and Gregory and the entire GSMO-2 team for receiving the 2018 KBR CEO Award for HSSE Excellence their commitment and to championing a Zero Harm work ethic.

Congratulations also to all KBR's nominees for this year's award: