AK Steel said March 18 that, for the first time in history, the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute (ACCCI) bestowed its highest award for safety on two cokemaking plants in the same year, both of which are AK Steel facilities.
The Max Eward Safety Award annually recognizes the ACCCI-member coke plant having the best safety record. AK Steel's Ashland and Middletown coke plants both earned the award because employees at each location worked the entire year of 2008 while logging a safety record of zero OSHA recordable injuries.
"Congratulations to our employees at the Ashland and Middletown coke plants whose outstanding dedication to safety has earned them this prestigious recognition," said James L. Wainscott, chairman, president and CEO of AK Steel. "It is truly an historic achievement to have two AK Steel facilities earn this honor in the same year, which further demonstrates AK Steel's commitment to safety as our company's highest priority."
The awards mark the 11th time in the past 12 years that AK Steel coke plants have been selected for ACCCI's highest safety honor, and the fourth consecutive year that the Ashland coke plant received the award. The company's Middletown coke plant is now an eight-time recipient of the Max Eward Award.
"AK Steel and its employees at the company's Ashland and Middletown coke plants are to be congratulated for their extraordinary commitment to safety," said Bruce Steiner, president of ACCCI. "Their accomplishment of earning two Max Eward Awards in the same year is unprecedented. AK Steel has done a tremendous job year after year at both Ashland and Middletown to protect its most important asset – its people."
Steiner explained that the purpose of the award is to inspire and encourage ACCCI-member companies to improve their industrial safety programs and prevent personal injuries. The award is named for a former chairman of the institute's Manufacturing, Environmental, and Safety and Health committee.
Hourly employees of the Ashland coke plant are represented by United Steelworkers (USW) Local 523, and hourly employees at the Middletown coke plant are represented by International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local Lodge 1943.
About AK Steel
AK Steel produces flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steels, primarily for automotive, appliance, construction and electrical power generation and distribution markets. The company employs about 6,300 men and women in Middletown, Mansfield, Coshocton and Zanesville, Ohio; Butler, Pennsylvania; Ashland, Kentucky; Rockport, Indiana; and its corporate headquarters in West Chester, Ohio.
AK Tube LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of AK Steel, employs about 260 men and women in plants in Walbridge, Ohio and Columbus, Indiana. AK Tube produces carbon and stainless electric resistance welded (ERW) tubular steel products for truck, automotive and other markets.