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Juarez electric motor plant earns A. O. Smith President's Safety Award

Juarez , Mexico—A comprehensive safety program that closely monitors plant performance and encourages involvement and continuous improvement enabled A. O. Smith Electrical Products Company's

Paul W. Jones, president and chief operating officer of A. O. Smith Corporation presented the 375 IG-MEX Plant Two employees with the award in a special celebration today. Also attending the ceremony were representatives from A. O. Smith World Headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., Electrical Products Company headquarters in Tipp City, Ohio, and local officials from Juarez.

"IG-MEX Plant Two has one of the most comprehensive safety programs in all of A. O. Smith Corporation," Jones said in presenting the award. "It's a program that makes a diligent effort to involve everyone in contributing to Plant Two's safe work environment."

The A. O. Smith President's Safety Award, established in 1954, is presented to the facility that compiles the best safety record in a calendar year. A total of 40 company facilities worldwide were in competition to receive this year's honor. The award is presented based on statistical evidence of improvement over a one-year period and through the demonstration of a comprehensive, sustainable safety program.

The company uses three statistical measures in determining safety performance, and IG-MEX Plant Two achieved the highest score of the 40 plants that were evaluated:

Lost workday case incidence rate--This measure relates to the most serious, work-related injuries or illnesses that result in one or more lost work days. Plant Two tied for first place in this category with no lost workday cases in 2004, working more than 800,000 hours without a single lost-time accident;

Recordable case incidence rate--Recordable incidents are significant, work-related injuries or illnesses as defined by the U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Plant Two ranked second in this category with just one minor accident in 2004;
Lost workday incidence rate--Plant Two also placed second in this category which measures the total number of lost work days and provides a measure of accident severity.

IG-MEX Plant Two strives to involve as many employees as possible in its safety efforts. Each year, Plant Manager Jose Luis Acosta sets safety performance goals for the plant, and each department within the facility is responsible for developing action plans to achieve those goals. A 13-member Safety Committee, made up of volunteers from each of the plant's two shifts, also contributes to meeting the annual goals.

The plant has developed a number of methods to monitor safety performance throughout the operation. Over the last several years, employees developed a safety audit checklist for each department that lists who is responsible for providing employees with safety information for the equipment and operations in their department.

The plant emphasizes communications and ongoing instruction in workplace safety. Safety training is specialized, based on the particular needs of the employee and the equipment he or she operates. Engineers who are familiar with the equipment conduct the training.

The facility's Training Department also has created a formal training program with written handouts that focus on one new topic each month. Topics are chosen based on employee needs, issues that arise during the year, or the introduction of new rules or new operations in the plant. Each employee is tested to determine if they successfully completed the training.

The plant's Human Resources and Training departments conduct daily walkthroughs of the facility, checking that housekeeping rules are obeyed, machine guards are in place, and that employees are using the necessary personal protective equipment.

Over the last year, the plant has initiated a new project in which its engineers are responsible for evaluating each piece of equipment to determine that proper machine guarding is in place and that employees use correct procedures in setting up and running the equipment.

Members of the IG-MEX Plant Two Safety Committee are: Luis Marquez, Adrian Silva, Irene Rodriguez, Jose Acosta Gomez, Jesus Gutierrez, Alonso Barco, Enrique Silva, Mary Hernandez, Daniel Castañeda, Federico Lopez, Lorena Macias, Mario Chavez, and Antonio Velazco.

The facility also has an Emergency Response Team consisting of: Lauro Hernandez, Erick Flavio, Heriberto Conde, Lorena Macias, Alonso Sanchez, Jesus Duran, Juan Diaz, Rodrigo Saenz, Francisco Lopez, Luis Marquez, Gabriel Mena, Ambrosio Lujan, Jose Luis Acosta, Andrea Soto, Mary Hernandez, Fernando Peña, Mario Chavez, Jesus Castillo, Guadalupe Medina, Jose Ismael Mata, Jose Luis Reyes, Rigoberto Perez, Irene Rodriguez, Gonzalo Hernandez, Ciro Vazquez, Isabel Quevedo, Fernando Arreola, Alberto Santos, Jose Antonio Garcia, Perla Lopez, Berenice Castillo, Juan Manuel Burrola, Daniel Castañeda, Cesar Barraza, and Ricardo Valdez.

IG-MEX Plant Two, one of 11 A. O. Smith electric motor facilities in Juarez, fabricates shafts, end frames, and motor shells for fractional horsepower electric motors.

A. O. Smith Corporation, with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., is one of North America’s largest manufacturers of electric motors, with a comprehensive line of hermetic motors, fractional horsepower alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) motors, and integral horsepower motors, as well as one of North America’s largest manufacturers of residential and commercial water heating equipment. The company employs approximately 16,500 people worldwide.