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Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) subsidiary Rail Link Inc. has received the Wyoming Governor’s Award for Safety and Health in the large mine-site contractor category for the second consecutive year.

The award is the state’s highest recognition of an employer’s commitment to excellence in workplace safety and health, GWI officials said in a prepared statement.

In 2011, Rail Link loaded more than 430 million tons of Powder River Basin (PRB) coal into trains for railroads at more than a dozen mines in Wyoming and Montana, representing about 90 percent of PRB coal production and more than one-third of all coal burned in North America. Rail Link — which is part of GWI’s Mountain West Region — employs 162 in the basin.

At the mine sites, Rail Link workers receive up to as many as 80 empty coal trains a day, operate them slowly through the mine’s loading stations where the cars and filled and then hand the loaded, mile-long trains back to railroads.

“Safety is the No. 1 priority for us and for our customers, and it’s wonderful to have the state of Wyoming recognize that commitment,” said GWI Mountain West Region Senior Vice President Andrew Chunko.