When your employees are climbing up 250 feet above the ground to work in confined spaces, around high-voltage equipment located in remote areas subject to extreme weather and wild animals, the Workers' Compensation exposures inherent to the job are enormous.

Mitigating these daunting, dangerous and potentially deadly risks is the challenge faced by the risk-management team at Vestas-American Wind Technology, the Portland, Ore.-based division of its Danish parent company, Vestas, which has been manufacturing, installing and servicing wind turbines since the 1970s.

In 2008, Vestas-American logged 11.9 injury incidents per million hours worked—a record high. At that time, the company's primary goal was increasing business. Today, the company's passion for growth continues—but is now rivaled by its commitment to worker safety.

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