Contact: Paula Weis
(202) 974-5282

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPI OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES 2003 SAFETY AWARD WINNERS

WASHINGTON, DC (September 21, 2004) - The Occupational Health and Environmental Issues Committee (OHEIC) of The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) has recognized 262 work sites with Safety Awards in its 2003 Occupational Safety and Health Survey.

SPI conducts the Occupational Safety and Health Survey to collect statistical information of occupational illnesses and injuries in the plastics industry and to recognize those work sites that have excellent safety records, according to Susan R. Howe, SPI's senior technical director, worker health and safety.

This year, 71 Distinguished Safety Awards, 43 Achievement Safety Awards, 62 Merit Safety Awards, and 86 Special Recognition Awards were presented.

Distinguished Safety Awards recognize member company work sites with no occupational injuries or illnesses, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during the calendar year 2003.

Achievement Safety Awards are presented to work sites with no OSHA recordable occupational injuries or illnesses involving lost workdays or restricted work activity during the calendar year 2003. Merit Safety Awards are presented to work sites having a 2003 OSHA days away from work, days of restricted work activity or job transfer (DART) rate lower than the national average for their industry and a reduction in their DART rate of at least 20 percent when compared with their rate from the previous year.

Special Recognition Awards are presented to those work sites with safety performance for 2003 that is better than the national average for their Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. The Occupational Safety and Health Survey includes 2003 occupational injury and illness reports from 336 work sites, represented 86,600,468 employee hours for 43,224 employees.

This year's survey indicates a rate of 2.77 lost workday cases per 200,000 employee hours worked for the 336 reporting sites. The findings also show 5.42 work-related injuries and illnesses for the responding work sites and a severity rate, or rate of seriousness of the occupational injuries and illnesses, of 64.60 lost workdays per 200,000 hours worked.

A complete listing of safety award winners is available online at http://www.plasticsindustry.org/membersonly/public/workersafety/safetyawards.htm.

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 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.4 million workers and provides nearly $310 billion in annual shipments. For more information, visit SPI on the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org.

Back to Top

More About SPI:   Vision and Mission . Membership . Business Units . Regional Offices . News and Publications . Calendar of Events . Terms and Conditions of Use