(ConcreteExecutive.com) – Many industries claim workforce safety as a core operating principle. The concrete pipe industry takes its commitment so seriously that it has established two prestigious national awards programs to recognize plants that excel in safety and companies that develop innovative approaches to improving worker safety.
The American Concrete Pipe Association recognized the safest of the safe during a special awards ceremony at its annual meeting here last week.
The Chairman’s Safety Award recognizes plants, individuals and/or companies that have implemented successful safety initiatives resulting in a safer and more productive workplace. The 2011 Overall Winner is Oldcastle Precast, Inc., in Croydon, PA, which earned the distinction for its development of an innovative tipout device. The plant received a $1,000 check to be distributed to key employees, along with a large trophy that it will keep on-site until next year’s winner is announced.
Other Chairman’s Safety Award winners included: Rinker Materials-Concrete Pipe Division CEMEX in Houston, for its dust control program (Company-wide, First Place); and Hanson Pipe & Precast’s plant in Wauregan, CT, for its lifting device system (Individual Plant).
The 2011 ACPA Safety Awards recognize plants that have exhibited an exemplary safety performance during the program year in five categories: Group First Place (based on man-hours), Zero Incidence Rate, Zero Lost-Time Incidence Rate, Incidence Rate Less than Four, and Incidence Rate Less than Eight.
The following plants were recognized as Group First Place winners in their respective man-hour category. Winners were determined by the best average incidence rate (Incidence Rate + Lost Time Incidence Rate/2):
Fewer than 25,000 Hours
U.S.: Cretex Concrete Products Midwest – Duluth, MN
Canada: Hanson Pipe & Precast Canada – Windsor, ON
25,001-50,000 Hours
U.S.: Rinker Materials-Concrete Pipe Division CEMEX – Napa CA
Canada: Hanson Pipe & Precast Canada – St-Jerome, QC
50,001-75,000 Hours
U.S.: Hanson Pipe & Precast – Richmond, VA
Canada: Hanson Pipe & Precast Canada – Ottawa, ON
75,001-100,000 Hours
U.S.: Rinker Materials-Concrete Pipe Division CEMEX – Henderson, NV
100,001-150,000 Hours
U.S.: RinkerMaterials-Concrete Pipe Division CEMEX – Roanoke, TX
150,001-200,000 Hours
U.S.: Northern Concrete Pipe, Inc. – Bay City, MI
Canada: Lafarge Canada – Edmonton, AB
“Every executive and plant manager in the concrete pipe industry understands the importance of keeping their workers safe on the job,” said Matt Childs, ACPA President and chief executioner. “These award-winning companies, and the talented professionals that work in these plants, are simply the cream of the crop. We are very proud of their outstanding achievements and we hold them up as examples for others to emulate.”
For more information on safety in the concrete pipe industry, visit www.concrete-pipe.org.
About the ACPA
The American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA) is a nonprofit organization composed primarily of manufacturers of concrete pipe and related conveyance products located throughout the United States, Canada and in more than 40 foreign countries. ACPA membership also includes manufacturers of equipment and/or providers of products and services related to the concrete pipe industry. Established in 1907, ACPA (www.concrete-pipe.org) provides members with research, technical and marketing support to promote and advance the use of concrete pipe for drainage and pollution control applications.