GRANITEVILLE, S.C. (Feb. 4)—The Occupational Safety & Health Administration has singled out Bridgestone/Firestone's Aiken County, S.C., plant for its continued "exemplary commitment" to occupational health and safety.
OSHA recently recertified the factory as a STAR—Safety Through Achievement and Recognition—site in the administration's Voluntary Protection Program.
The Aiken County facility originally received its certification in 2000 and is one of only two tire plants in the U.S.—the other is BFS' Warren County, Tenn., truck and bus tire factory—to attain VPP STAR status in OSHA's 34-year history. As VPP STAR participants, BFS said both facilities are among a select group that have designed and implemented outstanding safety and health processes.
OSHA established VPP to promote worksite-based safety and health. To qualify for VPP recertification, a facility must pass OSHA's managed safety and health system criteria and undergo an application review and thorough on-site assessments by a team of safety and health experts. The recertification audit covered years 2001-03 and surveyed the plant on the basis of how it has improved in the past three years.