SOCMA Announces 2016 Performance Improvement Award Winners

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 40 member facilities will receive 2016 Performance Improvement Awards for their outstanding commitment to continuous improvement in environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) practices at the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) 95th Annual Dinner, December 5, in New York.

"As a member of ChemStewards®, our specialty manufacturing facilities are encouraged to continuously improve their EHS&S performance and overall operational excellence," said Dr. J. Holland Jordan, Managing Director of ChemStewards®. "But these companies have gone above and beyond industry-best practices, and we are very pleased to announce this exceptional group of 2016 Gold, Silver, Bronze, Sustainability and Educational Outreach Award recipients."

The 2016 Gold Award winners are the Baker Hughes Rayne Blend Plant and Taft Manufacturing Plant. Judges were particularly impressed with the Rayne facility's mature safety culture and Product Stewardship program, especially the error-free delivery program, which was put in place to improve risk mitigations associated with transportation. This proactive, formal training program covers all of the facility's bulk product transportation and aims to improve the communication of information and better manage the transportation of chemicals. The judges also noted the "high degree of employee engagement at the site."

At the Taft Manufacturing Plant, judges were impressed with the wealth of excellent EHS systems in place at the facility, including giving decision rights and safety responsibility to plant-level employees. "There are a lot of things to like," one judge noted, "including the Guardian program, behavior-based observations, annual Process Safety Management audits, and the competency management program led by senior operators."

Silver Performance Improvement Awards will be presented to 15 facilities showing excellence in one of the five ChemStewards Core Principles: Stakeholder Communications, Product Stewardship, EHS&S in Planning and Operations, Employee Training and Engagement, and Resource Management and Waste Minimization. And, 28 SOCMA member facilities will receive a Bronze Performance Improvement Award for maintaining strong EHS&S programs. See a complete listing of Gold, Silver and Bronze award winners here.

The ChemStewards Sustainability Award goes to Fairmount Santrol's Alpha Resins. The company's proactive efforts to build a sustainable culture continue to impress the judges. This comment from their application best describes the sustainability efforts at Alpha Resins: "Our business revolves around our ability to extract and utilize resources as sustainably as possible. Our strength is inherently tied to the environment. We make environmental stewardship a fundamental element of the way we operate."

ChemDesign is the recipient of SOCMA's 2016 Educational Outreach Award. Since 1992, ChemDesign employees have been actively involved with helping science teachers show the amazing world of chemistry to students in grades 4-8. From 2015-2016, ChemDesign employees led classroom chemistry demonstrations for more than 300 students in middle and elementary schools in the communities near their facility. The company also sponsors the Future Business Leaders of America program at an area high school, STEM Days at the local college, and serves as educational partners to help local youth learn skilled trades, among other efforts.

"Congratulations again to all of these outstanding companies," Jordan said.  "We look forward to seeing you in New York to celebrate your accomplishments."

About SOCMA
Since 1921, SOCMA has represented a diverse membership of small, medium and large chemical companies located around the world. For more information, visit www.socma.com.

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SOURCE Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates