Anchor Manufacturing Group, Inc. Wins Safety Award

CLEVELAND, OH¾March 26, 2003¾Anchor Mfg. Group, Inc., Cleveland, OH, has received the 2003 Seastrom Safety Award. The company, which employs 265 people, is a Tier I and Tier II metal stamping supplier to the automotive and heavy truck industries.

The safety award is one of nine Awards of Excellence in Metalforming, presented annually by Precision Metalforming Association (PMA). Sponsored by Seastrom Manufacturing Co., Inc., Twin Falls, ID, the award acknowledges either an effective comprehensive safety program or a specific innovative idea in the context of an effective safety program. Included is a $1,000 cash prize.

At Anchor, the goal is to provide a safe work environment through the prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses. This is achieved through a comprehensive safety and health program.

The company stresses that safety is the job of every employee. Anchor empowers its employees to further its safety efforts by maintaining an “open door” policy for reporting or suggesting any and all ideas or problems related to safety and health. Many methods are available for employees to request safety improvements, including a maintenance request form, a suggestion program, the productivity improvement group, monthly associate meetings, having a safety committee member in each area and being able to directly discuss ideas with their supervisors.

Safety programs and initiatives are used to build and heighten safety awareness. Anchor’s safety incentive program rewards entire departments, not individuals, for excellence in safety. For every 30 days a department has zero accidents, each employee in that department receives ten employee excellence points (one point is equivalent to one dollar). After an area has been accident-free for 90 days, it will receive 15 employee excellence points every 30 days they continue to be free of accidents. Up to 170 points (equivalent to dollars) may be received in one year for safety. These points may be cashed out at any time for gift certificates to local retailers or for Anchor merchandise. In addition, each department sets its own safety goals. Once the goals have been met, a luncheon is provided to reward all employees in the department, in addition to the employees receiving excellence points.

To track each area’s safety success, the company purchased safety boards and displayed them in each department. The boards are updated daily by a human resources representative so that employees are able to see the program at work. Employees have bought into the program, and excitement builds when the accident-free numbers continue to rise. As a result of the program, morale has been boosted, employees are motivated to work safer and coworkers are looking out for one another. A slight bit of peer pressure is also involved with this program as nobody wants to be the reason his or her department loses employee excellence points or parties.

Results achieved from this program have been significant. In 2001, Anchor had 25 recordable accidents. During the first six months of 2002, only three recordable accidents occurred, a major improvement in the company’s safety record. Also at that point in 2002, six of the nine departments were free of accidents (200 days without an accident).

PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $41-billion metalforming industry of North America—the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating and other value-added processes. Its nearly 1,300 member companies include metal stampers, fabricators, spinners, slide formers and roll formers as well as suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. Members are located in 30 countries, with the majority found in North America―in 41 states of the United States as well as Canada and Mexico.

EDITOR’S NOTE: More information on PMA’s Awards of Excellence in Metalforming is available on the Internet through PMA’s home page, www.metalforming.com.