TOLEDO, Ohio, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE:
OC), a world leader in building materials systems and glass fiber
composites, today announced that its manufacturing facilities in Portland,
Ore., and Brookville, Ind., have been recognized as national leaders in
worksite safety by being accepted into the U.S. Department of Labor's
Occupational Safety & Health Administration's (OSHA) Voluntary Protection
Program (VPP).
"VPP underscores the unconditional commitment that Owens Corning has
made to workplace safety," said Dave Brown, president and chief executive
officer. "I am extremely proud of the employees in Portland and Brookville
for their leadership and commitment to safety excellence. As a company, we
have worked hard to make safety central to our way of doing business and to
engage every employee in the safety process."
Both facilities were granted VPP Star status under the program, which
promotes and recognizes effective safety and health programs. Worksites
that achieve VPP Star status must undergo a rigorous onsite evaluation by a
team of OSHA safety and health experts. Even more important, VPP Star
worksites must demonstrate a commitment by management and employees to work
cooperatively with OSHA to implement and maintain a comprehensive safety
and health management system. Of the millions of worksites in the United
States, fewer than 1,800 have been accepted into the VPP.
Owens Corning has established an outstanding safety performance across
the company. The recordable incidence rate of our business units is far
below the industry average. World-class performance is the company goal.
The Portland, Ore., asphalt facility produces asphalt coating for Owens
Corning and other roofing manufacturers in the region. The Brookville, Ind.
facility manufactures laminated roofing shingles made from fiber glass mat
and asphalt.
To qualify for VPP, the facilities were required to have a sustained
safety excellence demonstrated by management systems that meet stringent
performance-based criteria. They also had to exhibit exemplary incidence
rate as compared to the industry average -- and the willingness of all
employees to be actively engaged in workplace safety.
"VPP Star status demonstrates our commitment to be an industry leader
in safety," said Sheree Bargabos, president, Owens Corning Roofing and
Asphalt. "The partnership between our employees, our plant leadership and
OSHA is characteristic of the way we do business. We are committed to
maintaining these standards and to continually finding ways to create a
safer more engaging workplace in each of our facilities."
The Portland asphalt plant has had no recordable incidents for three
years. Brookville's total incidence rate (the rate of injury per 100
employees per year) for the previous three years was 86 percent below the
national average and 77 percent below the national average for injuries
requiring days away from work.
About Owens Corning
Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) is a world leader in building materials
systems and composite solutions. A Fortune 500 company for 53 consecutive
years, Owens Corning people redefine what is possible each day to deliver
high-quality products and services ranging from insulation, roofing and
masonry products, to glass composite materials used in transportation,
electronics, telecommunications and other high-performance applications.
Founded in 1938, Owens Corning is a market-leading innovator of glass fiber
technology with sales of $6.5 billion in 2006 and operations in 26
countries. Additional information is available at http://www.owenscorning.com.
SOURCE Owens Corning
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Related links:
http://www.owenscorning.com/
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/677350.html/
CONTACT:
Media, Jason Saragian, +1-419-248-8987;
Investors, Scott Deitz, +1-419-248-8935, both for Owens Corning
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