2023 Duane Kuehn Award Presented at 51st Annual Safety + Health Conference
The North Dakota Safety Council names their 2023 Duane Kuehn Outstanding Safety Professional. Patty Furuseth from Marathon Petroleum Corporation is this year’s winner during the 51st Annual Safety and Health Conference. Furuseth has overseen rail and pipeline operations and construction projects tied to those assets as a Safety Professional for MPLX for the last 11 years. Furuseth is the third straight woman to win the Duane Kuehn award.
“Furuseth exhibits a high degree of integrity and courage. Furuseth is known to dig in her heels for safety even in the toughest of situations. She doesn’t just point out the problem, she helps come up with the solution.”
Furuseth is known for excelling and making an impact by bringing operators, contractors, and regulatory agencies together in the Bakken oil field to make a difference and work together.
Furuseth leads a contractor safety council within MPLX where key players for each contractor attend and discuss events and issues they see. She also facilitates and leads Neutral Grounds meetings that connect operators in the Bakken with OSHA, the EPA and NDDEQ. She’s led Neutral Grounds since its inception 11 years ago. She also leads the Bakken Basin Safety Consortium, a group of operators in the Bakken. After seeing a gap in contractor safety within the oil industry she’s also helped work with other safety professionals to create and launch the Safe Industry Alliance.
The Outstanding Safety Professional award is named after Duane Kuehn, a North Dakotan who worked in the safety industry for 40 years and whose attitude and compassion was unparalleled.
