U.S. Steel Plant Among Eight Pennsylvania Award Winners
The 2008 Governor's Award for Safety Excellence luncheon in Hershey, Pa., on Oct. 27 was a repeat performance for one of the eight winners. U.S. Steel – Mon Valley, which also won in 1998, is marching toward a perfect safety record, with an OSHA recordables rate down to 1.05 this year and zero lost-time incidents through May 24. Last year, the plant had eight lost-time cases among its 3,100 employees.
"These award winners recognize that their workers' safety is the number one priority," Gov. Ed Rendell said. "Their outstanding efforts and achievements show what is possible when cooperation between businesses, employees, and unions is maximized to improve the safety of Pennsylvania's workplaces."
State officials also say more than 7,800 businesses have created state-certified workplace safety committees, which entitles them to a 5 percent annual workers' compensation premium discount. "The best workers' compensation policy is to prevent injuries," Labor & Industry Acting Secretary Sandi Vito said. "Employers who invest in workplace safety not only benefit economically from avoiding the direct costs of accidents, primarily medical and workers' compensation costs, but also from eliminating dollars spent for indirect costs, such as lost production, hiring and training replacement workers, and accident investigation costs."
Other 2008 winners were Med-Tex Services Inc., a provider of safety, health, and rescue services personnel for companies, which has 110 employees and has not had a recordable injury or illness in nearly 20 years; Weston Solutions Inc., an environmental restoration and services company of 1,800 employees that reduced its 2007 injury incident rate was 0.41 (down from 0.42 in 2006); Channellock, with 415 employees, a tool manufacturer with a .094 rate that has cut its worker's comp claims costs by 99 percent during the past six years; MI Metals Inc., which is building on a 20-year record, more than 4 million hours, without a lost-time injury; General Dynamic Land Systems, where 210 employees make military armored vehicle parts and have a current injury incident rate of 1.88, a 67 percent decline in the past three years; Bayer Healthcare LLC, with 467 employees and no lost-time injuries since 2004, nearly 4 million hours; and MONTENAY Energy Resources, a waste-to-energy processing company and OSHA VPP Star Site that has had a zero injury incident rate for its 46 employees in two of the past three years.