U.S. Tire Manufacturers Recognized for Achievement in Worker Safety

USTMA Awards 2019 — Don Bunn, president and CEO, Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing, Inc. (far left); Sheryl Wilkerson, vice president, government affairs of Michelin North America, Inc.; Jeff Barna, president, Yokohama Tire Corp.; Steve McClellan, president, Americas, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and current USTMA Board Chairman; Steve Zamansky, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.; Gordon Knapp, vice chair and CEO of Bridgestoe Americas, Inc., Marco Crola, chairman and CEO, Pirelli Tire North America.

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) awarded seven tire manufacturers with a 2019 Sustainability Award for Safety and Health for their work in advancing occupational health and safety.

“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 steps the association’s members have taken to improve workplace safety and health.

“In recent years OSHA, leading safety and health experts and USTMA members have recognized that when addressing workplace safety and health, measuring for success has to go beyond data collection of injury rates,” said Jesse Levine, USTMA director, of environment and safety regulatory affairs. “What we’ve learned is that achieving true success in this area is also driven by factors such as a strong organizational culture and effective systems and processes. USTMA members are constantly striving for ways to improve these indicators, and we are proud to recognize the cultures and systems driving workplace safety at our members’ facilities through the new awards.”

The annual survey included data submitted by 49 plants, including tread rubber manufacturing, inner tube manufacturing, aircraft tire manufacturing and tire manufacturing. The data is USTMA identical to information provided to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes annual injury and illness information on all industries.

USTMA recognized Bridgestone Americas, Inc., The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Michelin North America, Inc. with the Leadership Award, which recognizes companies that share safety initiatives with all USTMA members.

Michelin and Bridgestone also won the Innovation Award, which honors companies that implement proactive programs, technologies or systems to improve workplace safety and health systems and cultures.

The USTMA also honored manufacturers with the Excellence Awards, which are provided to facilities that have a Days Away, Restricted or Transfer (DART) rate, which measures serious injuries and illnesses in the workplace that is 75% better than the industry average.

Michelin North America, Inc.’s Dothan, Alabama (US4) and Greenville, South Carolina (TWEEL) plants and Pirelli Tire North America’s Rome, Georgia plant and Yokohama Tire Corp.’s West Point, Mississippi plant were recognized with the award.

USTMA also recognized companies that have a DART rate that is at least 10% better than the facility’s prior year performance and is better than the industry average for 2018. Companies that fit the criteria receive the Improvement Award. This year’s honorees include: