Contact: Bonnie Limbach
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPI/AGENCY ALLIANCES PROMISE BENEFITS FOR PLASTICS INDUSTRY

WASHINGTON (September 24, 2002) - Alliances formally signed last week between The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) and two federal agencies will provide the "backdrop and springboard for effective industry and government cooperation," according to Maureen Healey, SPI vice president of government affairs.

SPI President Donald K. Duncan signed the two agreements - with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) - during the trade association's fall Board meeting.

In remarks at the OSHA signing, agency Administrator John L. Henshaw called such alliances the "cornerstone" of OSHA efforts "to enlist the business community's help. . .in reducing injuries and illnesses in the workplace across the board."

Under the partnership, OSHA will assist in providing SPI members with information and guidance that will help them protect employees, particularly in the identification and elimination of hazards likely to result in amputations and in the reduction and prevention of exposure to ergonomic hazards.

Henshaw told the group that the affiliation with SPI was only the second alliance OSHA had entered with a trade association on the issue of ergonomics in the workplace.

The First-in-Class Agreement signed by SPI and the DOE is the foundation of an allied partnership between the trade association and the agency's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, according to Healey. The objective of the partnership, she explained, is "to increase awareness of opportunities that could lead to improved productivity, energy efficiency and reliability and reduced life cycle costs across the spectrum of the plastics industry."

DOE Assistant Secretary David Garman agreed, noting that while the Department had a great deal of resources available to industry, it had only so many hours in the day to deliver them. Efforts such as the SPI partnership, he said, allow the DOE to reach out to, and work with, multiple companies simultaneously.

Healey stressed that the two alliances were "far more than simple acknowledgement of mutual goals." They also, she said, were "strong mechanisms for delivering needed services and effecting positive change."

"Worker health and safety and energy are two of our industry's most critical issues," Healey said. "We're dealing here with our most precious resource - our people - and the lifeblood of the industry, which is the energy it needs for both feedstock and manufacturing."

That's why, she said, "SPI appreciates the good efforts these agencies have made to work cooperatively with the U.S. plastics industry to help it meet challenges and prosper."

Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's 1,500 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw material suppliers. For more information, visit SPI on the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org.

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