The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) presented nine safety awards this year to Michelin North America for its contributions to employee safety, recognizing the company in all four categories of the program.
Michelin was honored with a Leadership Award, recognizing the company’s promotion of innovative practices to improve worker safety for the U.S. tire manufacturing industry. In addition, the company’s aircraft tire facility in Norwood, North Carolina (US11), was one of only two teams recognized in the category. In the summer of 2018, an action-driven engagement and empowerment program was initiated at the facility in an effort to improve visibility, communication and timeliness in correcting safety issues. The program resulted in more than 130 safety improvements.
“At Michelin, our commitment to the well-being and development of our people means that safety is our first priority,” said Joanie Martin, chief administrative officer of Michelin North America. “We are honored to receive these awards from the USTMA as they highlight the good work being done by our employees throughout the company to promote our shared responsibility for safety.”
USTMA recognized two Michelin sites with Excellence Awards for worker health and safety. The Michelin plants include: light truck and passenger plant in Dothan, Alabama (US4), and the Michelin Tweel facility in Greenville, South Carolina (TWEEL). USTMA presented five Michelin plants with Improvement Awards, including: Greenville (US1); Greenville (PRIME); Starr, South Carolina (US8); Covington, Georgia (GEO); and Tuscaloosa, Alabama (BFG3).
“USTMA members share an aspirational vision for the U.S. tire manufacturing industry of zero injuries and illnesses in the workplace,” said Anne Forristall Luke, USTMA president and CEO. “This recognition highlights the safety programs, technologies and systems that advance progress toward meeting our vision on workplace safety.”
Created in 1981 as USTMA’s “Safety and Health Improvement Program (SHIP) Awards,” USTMA renamed and expanded the program in 2018 as the “Sustainability Awards for Safety and Health,” to better recognize the proactive steps the association’s members have taken to improve workplace safety and health.
Forty-nine plants — including tread-rubber manufacturing, inner-tube manufacturing, aircraft-tire manufacturing, and tire manufacturing — from USTMA member companies supplied data for the annual survey to be eligible for awards. The data supplied to USTMA is identical to information provided to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes annual injury and illness information on all industries.
