Two Owens Corning plants attain OSHA VPP status

Owens Corning, a world leader in building materials systems and glass fiber composites, on October 11 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 company president and chief executive officer Dave Brown. "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 asphalt facility produces asphalt coating for Owens Corning and other roofing manufacturers in the region. The Brookville 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.