December 11, 2007 - Kerry Steel Processing of Dearborn received the Bronze Award today from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) for an outstanding safety and health record. The MIOSHA program is part of the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth (DLEG).

MIOSHA Consultation Education and Training (CET) Division Director Connie O'Neill presented the award to General Plant Manager Mike Evkoski and Plant Manager Jim Miller, who accepted on behalf of the plant's employees. Tom Zarzycki, Management Representative, Kerry Steel Inc., congratulated the company on its achievement.

"It's an honor today to present the CET Bronze Award to Kerry Steel Processing for significantly improving your safety and health record," said O'Neill. "Your dedication to protecting your workers brings the added benefits of enhancing the quality of your products and increasing the value you provide to your customers."

The MIOSHA CET Division recognizes the safety and health achievements of Michigan employers and employees through CET Awards, which are based on excellent safety and health performance. The CET Bronze Award recognizes leadership and commitment to workplace safety and health resulting in significant improvement of their MIOSHA record.

"Our success in reducing injuries at Kerry Steel Processing can be attributed to two key factors. First is the cooperation of every employee on the plant floor who has committed to working safely," said Miller. "Second is the active role by management to improve the condition of the workplace and to implement a number of changes that protect our workers."

The company has completed the following criteria to receive the Bronze Award: 

• Developed and implemented written safety and health policies and procedures, 
• Established a safety and health committee, 
• Appointed a safety and health designee, and 
• Reduced their injury and illness rate by more than 50 percent in the last three years.

The facility has worked with the MIOSHA CET Division over several years. CET Division Safety Consultant Linda Long worked with them to improve their work environment. Long also performed a hazard survey, which is a part of the award process.

To reach those results, Kerry Steel Processing took the following actions: 

• Documented and revised written safety and health program; 
• Revised lockout/tagout program, with training; 
• Developed more comprehensive plant floor inspections; 
• Implemented more thorough training, with both management and employee involvement; 
• Analyzed past injuries to target problem areas; 
• Implemented JSAs for problem areas with plant level involvement; 
• Established safety checklists; 
• Increased PPE usage for targeted problem areas; 
• Added more thorough training for "new hires" and increased training time; 
• Increased enforcement from the floor level supervisors.

Kerry Steel Processing employs 47 workers at their Dearborn facility. As one of the largest value-added processors of coiled steel products, Kerry Steel Processing offers end users in both domestic and international markets a distinct advantage in the manufacture, processing and delivery of a wide range of coils and sheets.

Founded in 1978, Kerry Steel, Inc. is family-owned and operated, and is one of the Midwest's largest distribution and processing centers of coiled steel products. Since its inception, Kerry Steel has become a major force in the distribution of flat rolled steel and is presently processing more than 80,000 tons of steel each month.

With corporate headquarters in Farmington Hills, Kerry Steel, Inc. has a certified A2LA Metallurgical Testing Laboratory and five manufacturing locations in greater Detroit. All Kerry Steel plants have achieved and maintain third party registration to the ISO9000:2000 International Quality System to provide quality products to the automotive supplier industries. The Kerry team has approximately 210 employees, and in 2004 had sales exceeding $800 million.

Read more Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth press releases.