WASHINGTON, D.C., April 4, 2017 – Four tire manufacturers were recognized for excellence and improvements in worker health and safety by the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association  (USTMA).

USTMA’s Safety and Health Improvement Program (SHIP), created in 1981, recognizes member companies for excellence and improvement in worker health and safety with awards. The SHIP awards reflect USTMA members’ demonstrated commitment to worker health and safety.

“USTMA members are committed to promoting a strong safety culture at their company facilities,” said Anne Forristall Luke, USTMA president and CEO. “USTMA’s annual SHIP Award recognizes these efforts that achieve measurable advancements in worker safety.”

Two categories of awards are presented to companies that demonstrate workplace safety excellence and improvements, which are measured by the incidence rate for lost workday cases. The “Excellence” category is for facilities that achieve a Days Away Restricted Transfer (DART) rate that is 75 percent better than the average achieved by plants that provided data to USTMA.

The “Improvement” award is for plants that achieve a Days Away Restricted Transfer (DART) rate that is both 10 percent better than its rate in the previous year and is the same or better than the USTMA average incidence rate.

Four Excellence Awards and 12 Improvement Awards were presented.

Forty-seven plants from USTMA member companies supplied data for the annual survey to be eligible for awards. The data supplied to USTMA is identical to information provided to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes annual injury and illness information on all industries.