Working Toward Zero: Prioritizing Workplace Safety in U.S. Tire Manufacturing

After a year when safety has been front of mind for Americans, USTMA member companies continue to advance workplace safety and health for the industry’s most important resource – its people. Through a combination of investment and innovation, we are striving for a vision of zero injuries and illnesses in our workplaces, which has helped the industry:

• Reduce serious injuries and illnesses by 53% over the past 15 years.
• Provide safety training to 100% of new employees.
• Increase safety and health management systems at member facilities. 83% of our member companies’ facilities have safety and health management systems in place, up from 68% in 2018. These systems include hazard prevention and control as well as safety and health training.

Innovation Wins

Every year, USTMA’s Sustainability Awards for Workplace Safety and Health recognize and advance the steps that USTMA members have taken to improve workplace safety and health. This year, we are excited to highlight our 2021 Innovation Awards that honor companies for proactive programs, technologies or systems notable for their creativity and impact that improve workplace health systems and cultures:

• Goodyear created a motion capture app that allows a team member to upload a video of a fellow employee performing a job. This clip is then used to produce an ergonomic risk assessment and identify and implement any needed corrective actions to reduce risk. This initiative received the Innovation Award for Technology.
• Michelin held the Michelin “Bib Bowl” stretching initiative, named after Bibendum, “the Michelin Man.” The “Bib Bowl” encouraged pre-shift stretching by facilitating a competition coinciding with the Super Bowl. Each time a team stretched before a shift, they earned “yards” that placed them closer to a touchdown. The winning team won a trophy, lunch, and recognition. This initiative received the Innovation Award for Culture.

An Industry-Wide Effort to Responding to the Spread of COVID-19 and Protect Communities

In 2020, our members stepped up to protect their people and to support their communities: from comprehensive playbooks to keep workers safe (screenings, protocols for mitigating risk, transparency on data sharing) to manufacturing PPE to providing donations of needed supplies and resources to help our communities. USTMA members constantly strive for ways to improve health and safety in the workplace. We are proud to recognize the innovation and investment our members make toward this vision.

Learn more about USTMA's Sustainability Vision for Occupational Safety and Healthy.