This Day in History (1983): Small Projects Safety Awards presented to local companies

From the Aug. 31, 1983 edition of The Arabian Sun

The Project Design and Construction Organization (PD&C) inaugurated its Small Projects Safety Awards (SPSA) Program with a semiannual awards presentation ceremony and luncheon in Ras Tanura.

The SPSA Program was created by PD&C to recognize outstanding attention to safety by local construction contractors on PD&C projects involving between 10 and 50 contractor employees and with a project duration of from two to 12 months.

Don Wilson, general manager of PD&C, and Muhammad Salama, manager of PD&C -- Northern Area Department, presented certificates of commendation to the winners.

Accepting the first-place award for Al-Kettaneh Brothers of Dammam was David Eddleston, their general manager. In a tie for second place, Saleh A. al-Yami, co-owner of Arabian Fal Company, and Mofareh al-Shammari, president of Mofaredh al-Shammari Establishment, accepted the awards for their companies.

The third-place award went to Al-Dabash Company and was presented to Madhi Hadi, the owner of the company.

Similar SPSA semiannual programs were held later in August in Abqaiq and Dhahran by PD&C-Southern Area Department, and PD&C-Central Area Department, respectively.

In addition, each of the three PD&C departments will hold annual overall assessment and award programs beginning in February 1984.

Also on this date

2019 — A sightseeing helicopter crashes in the mountains of Skoddevarre, Alta, Norway, killing all six occupants

2006 — Edvard Much's famous painting "The Scream", stolen on Aug. 22, 2004, is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police

1997 — Diana, Princess of Wales, her partner Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul, die in a car crash in Paris

1991 — Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union

1986 — The Soviet passenger liner "Admiral Nakhimov" sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with a bulk carrier, killing 423

1962 — Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent

1957 — The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gains its independence from the United Kingdom

1943 — "USS Harmon," the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after a black person, is commissioned

1936 — Radio Prague, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, goes on the air

1895 — German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon

1876 — Ottoman Sultan Murad V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid II

1798 — Irish rebels, with French assistance, established the short-lived Republic of Connacht