National Safety Council Announces Winners of its Renowned Green Cross for Safety Awards

ITASCA, Ill., Oct. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Safety Council presented its renowned Green Cross for Safety® awards Oct. 1 to organizations that have helped save lives and prevent injuries. The 2020 winners are:

• Save the Michaels of the World: Advocate Award
• La-Z-Boy, Inc.: Excellence Award
• The Dow Chemical Company: Innovation Award

National Safety Council leadership and award sponsors recognized each winner during a virtual ceremony that brought together the best and brightest in safety while raising funds for mission-critical initiatives.

"I would like to congratulate and commend our three winners for their exceptional dedication to safety," said Lorraine M. Martin, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. "Save the Michaels of the World, La-Z-Boy and Dow are making it possible for people to live their fullest lives. We are thrilled to honor them, in addition to recognizing our other finalists."

The celebratory event, hosted by NBC Chicago Today's Cortney Hall, raised $654,085 to support NSC research, education and advocacy to eliminate the leading causes of preventable injury so people can live their fullest lives. The benefit featured a silent auction with incredible packages, inspiring stories from a survivor advocate and informed audiences of the latest NSC efforts to save lives. In addition, this year's benefit featured a special keynote address from Founder and CEO of the Herjavec Group and Leading Shark on ABC's Shark Tank, Robert Herjavec who spoke to the importance of getting back to work in the safest way possible both physically and mentally.

"I want to really applaud the NSC for all the work they do not just around the physical and general safety that we would all think of, but around mental health and making sure that we are all ready to work," remarked Herjavec. "As their motto says, 'from workplace to anyplace,' and that anyplace right now is your home."

About the Winners
Save the Michaels of the World – or STM – was formed in 2011 by the Israel family following the suicide of their 20-year-old son, Michael, who was unable to receive treatment for opioid addiction. Since inception, STM has raised awareness of prescription and other drug addictions, and worked to increase access to opioid treatment, including naloxone. It also provides support for loved ones. Additionally, STM has been instrumental in helping pass legislation in New York to regulate opioid prescriptions, contributing to a 75% drop in doctor shopping in the state. The organization has also helped remove insurance requirements, increased the duration of inpatient treatment from 14 to 28 days and established a requirement for physicians to receive continuing medical education on addiction every two years.

A custom-order, residential furniture business, La-Z-Boy concentrated on eliminating ergonomic injuries beginning in 2013. An ergonomic team with representatives from environmental health and safety, research and development, engineering, and manufacturing aimed to reduce injuries by 25% over five years, with a four-phase program addressing production, launch, standards and research development, design, and innovation. Since then, manufacturing operations experienced a 64% drop in ergonomic injury rates, reduced the average cost of workers compensation claims by 73% and increased the average efficiency of manufacturing employees by nearly 8%. This program continues to develop, with considerations for exoskeleton use and augmented reality, as well as traditional design processes.

To prevent serious, crushing injuries with aerial lift equipment and improve upon available technology, Dow partnered with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and leasing companies to develop and implement next-generation solutions. Dow has pushed for continued technology developments to improve safety for its workers and contractors. Dow participated in field trials for three OEMs, developing proximity sensor options and integrated automatic controls, and deployed all three into its North American sites, with plans to fully globalize equipment in 2020.

The nine finalists for the three award categories were selected, reviewed and evaluated by an external panel. Finalists for the Advocate Award included CPS Energy/Xcel Energy and the National Center for Rural Road Safety. Finalists for the Excellence Award included Caesars Entertainment Corporation and Walgreens, and finalists for the Innovation Award included the Illinois Tollway and Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety/Driven to Protect Virginia.

Green Cross for Safety awards sponsors included FirstGroup (Advocate Award), the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (Excellence Award) and UPS (Innovation Award). Visit greencross.nsc.org for additional information about each winner and finalist.

About the National Safety Council
The National Safety Council is America's leading nonprofit safety advocate – and has been for over 100 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace, roadway and impairment. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives.

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SOURCE National Safety Council

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