Six Celebrations of SafetyBridgestone Americas facilities honored for safety rates
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 26, 2007) – June boasts many things: blooming flowers, carefree vacations and summer scents. And though Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BSAH) embraces June for all these qualities, the company is particularly enthusiastic about yet another aspect of June: safety.
In celebration of June’s “National Safety Month,” the company is proud to announce that six Bridgestone Americas’ facilities were recognized recently by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) for outstanding safety performance.
RMA’s Safety and Health Improvement Program (SHIP) awards, created in 1981, acknowledge noteworthy enhancements in worker health and safety. The awards promote and honor a company’s established dedication to worker health and safety.
“Our consistent presence in RMA’s SHIP awards demonstrates our complete commitment to the health and safety of our teammates,” said BSAH’s Chairman and CEO Mark A. Emkes. “We’re always striving to ensure that safety is a top priority at Bridgestone Americas and it is one of the five guiding principles in my CEO Policy.”
Emkes accepted the honors for the company at the annual RMA meeting earlier this year. The six Bridgestone Americas’ plants honored included Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC’s (BFNT) Aiken County, S.C., facility. Aiken County received a record sixth consecutive award in the “excellence” category. Facilities in this category have had an OSHA incidence rate that is 75 percent better than the overall RMA average.
Other BSA recipients garnered awards in the “improvement” category and included BFNT facilities in Warren County, Tenn., and Des Moines, Iowa. Bridgestone Firestone Diversified Products (BFDP) facilities in Kingstree, S.C., Prescott, Ark., and Noblesville, Ind., also received awards in the “improvement” category. Plants that earned the improvement award had an OSHA incidence rate that is both 10 percent better than its rate in the previous year and the same or better than the RMA average incidence rate. Both Kingstree and Prescott are repeat winners in this category.
“Our industry is serious about worker safety issues,” said RMA President and CEO Donald B. Shea. “The SHIP awards are recognition of superb achievement in worker safety, and facilities who qualify for this ought to be quite proud of the accomplishment.”
Note: BFNT’s Warren County and Aiken County plants are the only tire plants in the United States to have received the prestigious VPP STAR award—OSHA’s highest honor. The BFDP Kingstree, S.C., plant is also an OSHA VPP STAR site as is the BFDP polymers plant in Lake Charles, La.
About Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc.:
Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BSAH) is the U.S. subsidiary of the Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BSAH and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies are also engaged in retreading operations throughout the world and produce air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber and industrial fibers and textiles. The BSAH family of companies also operate the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and service centers.
About BFS Retail & Commercial Operations, LLC:
BFS Retail & Commercial Operations, LLC (BFRC), a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., is headquartered in Bloomingdale, Ill., and operates the largest number of company-owned automotive retail generalist stores in the world—more than 2,200 consumer and commercial vehicle service and tire locations across the United States and Canada—including Firestone Complete Auto Care™, Tires Plus™, ExpertTire™, Wheel Works™, and GCR Tire Centers store locations. Credit First National Association and Firestone Complete Fleet Care operations are also part of BFRC. BFRC is a member of the Bridgestone Americas family of companies.