Winners of Manufacturing Safety Excellence Awards demonstrate value of safety programs beyond compliance
MILWAUKEE, Oct. 27, 2014 — Rockwell Automation today named Corning Environmental Technologies and Bevcorp as recipients of its 2014 Manufacturing Safety Excellence Awards at the EHS Today Safety Leadership Conference. The annual awards commemorate the world’s safest manufacturing companies – specifically those that realize the widespread benefits of a holistic approach to safety.
The Corning Environmental Technologies division of Corning Incorporated received a silver award for its divisionwide safety program. The division provides ceramic substrates and particulate filters to manufacturers of emissions control systems that are used in automotive and diesel engines, as well as power plants, chemical processing plants, refineries and generators.“Rockwell Automation created the awards to raise awareness of plant-floor safety and recognize best-in-class manufacturers that make safety a core business value,” said Mark Eitzman, safety market development manager, Rockwell Automation. “When safety helps achieve business goals, it’s no longer viewed as a costly obligation, but as a barometer of company success. This year’s winners focused on keeping workers safe, while also using safety to enhance production efficiency and company profitability.”
The division’s commitment to safety aligns with the company’s strong culture of safety, which is embraced from the top down. Corning Incorporated safety metrics are measured globally, directly affect compensation for all senior managers, and are a key indicator of business profitability and success.
The Corning Environmental Technologies division, and in particular its diesel facility in Painted Post, New York, has set a benchmark for other Corning facilities with its rigorous adoption of global safety standard ISO 13849, and use of contemporary, machine safety technologies that help maintain a safe working environment while improving operational efficiency.
“A global standard like ISO 13849, combined with our design standards, has allowed us to develop a common approach to designing machine safety solutions for our plants around the world,” said Tom Moag, environmental division controls manager and engineering associate, Corning Incorporated. “We perform risk assessments on machine designs, verify that the safety systems perform as intended, and validate that the safety functions do what they are designed to do – all in accordance with ISO 13849.”
To help improve plant productivity, the division uses distributed safety I/O and programmable automation controllers that integrate safety and standard control. The system provides operators with visibility into all machine events – including safety events – via the operator interface. With the diagnostics provided by the integrated system, operators can monitor safety system performance and quickly return machines to full production.
“Beyond compliance and technology, perhaps one of the simpler keys to the plant’s success is the Monday safety huddle,” said Mike Rehmert, plant controls engineering manager, Corning Incorporated. “Engineering and EHS employees at all levels meet to explore a particular safety topic with a focus on reviewing safety metrics and identifying ways to improve. This is just one example of how Corning makes safety a priority for all employees.”
Bevcorp, a supplier of filling and blending equipment and services for the beverage industry, received a gold award for its companywide focus on safety. The company goes beyond compliance to design safety systems that improve machine operability for its customers.
“Many of our customers come to us with compliance issues,” said Eric Hendrickson, manager of engineering and R&D, Bevcorp. “But if we can provide machines that maximize uptime in addition to complying with appropriate safety standards, we’re able to add value and become a true business partner.”
To that end, Bevcorp designs contemporary safeguarding and automation controls into every machine to help its customers achieve significant productivity gains. For example, integrating the safeguarding system with electronic, bowl-level controls eliminates the need to shut the machine down to make manual adjustments. On average, Bevcorp estimates that this helps reduce downtime associated with product changeovers by 30 percent.
“Bevcorp believes that it is important to design safety into every machine to help keep people safe, while also improving plant productivity and adding business value,” Hendrickson said.
In addition, Bevcorp provides extensive safety and technology training for its customers to help them create a safer work environment and improve production throughput.
The Manufacturing Safety Excellence Award winners make people and machinery safety a core business value by incorporating the three key pillars of a comprehensive safety program – a strong safety culture, established compliance policies and procedures, and capital investments in automation technologies that help improve worker safety and plant productivity. Past winners include General Motors, Procter & Gamble and the PepsiCo divisions of Walkers Crisps and Pepsi Flavors.
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About Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Rockwell Automation employs about 22,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.
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Published October 26, 2014