Continental Structural Plastics Recognizes Two Facilities for Excellence in Environmental, Health & Safety Practices 2018

Auburn Hills, Michigan – May 15, 2018 — Continental Structural Plastics, a world leader in light weight composite technologies to the automotive industry, today announced the winners of its 2017 Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Awards program. The company’s facility in Lenoir, North Carolina, was named Best EH&S Program; while the facility in Sarepta, Louisiana, was named the Most Improved EH&S program.

CSP’s EH&S Awards Program is an elite, behavioral-based recognition program to acknowledge thriving CSP facilities for their commitment and contributions to employee safety, the environment, the community in which they reside and overall EH&S program excellence. Led by the Corporate Director of Health and Safety, Dina Graham, the program recognizes and celebrates the outstanding contributions of employees to the achievement of the mission and vision of CSP. To be eligible for the awards, the nominees must demonstrate:

• Reduction in workplace hazards
• Increase in near miss reporting
• No significant injuries
• Exceptional Environmental and Safety Audits
• Implementation of job safety improvements
• No chemical spills or releases to the environment
• No enforcement actions during the year to the time of the award announcement

Congratulations to this year’s winners:

Lenoir, North Carolina – Best EH&S Program

This award recognizes the facility that has developed superb EH&S programs and processes:

• Regional Director:  Mike Bishop
• Plant Manager:  Tracy Gray
• EH&S Coordinator:  Kelli Daniels
• Environmental Mgmt. Rep:  Kelli Daniels

In 2017, the Lenoir facility received CSP’s Most Improved EH&S Program Award. Over the course of the past year, the Lenoir team has continued to make improvements to its EH&S programs, including enhancing safety training programs, making facility improvements, creating work instruction videos, and implementing and enforcing near miss reporting.

“Lenoir is as dedicated to our business as we are to each other and our families. Technology combined with team work by all associates, and continuous improvement initiatives drive our business from all aspects,” said Tracy Gray, plant manager at Lenoir. “We even have our employees bring photos of their families to post at work as a reminder of why it’s important to work safe.”

Sarepta, Louisiana – Most Improved EH&S Program Award

Earned by the facility that has shown major improvement in its EH&S program year-over-year:

• Regional Director:  Rob Espich
• Plant Manager:  Brad Siepman
• EH&S Administrator:  Randi Hoyer,  Tracey Allen
• Environmental Mgmt. Rep:  Tracey Allen

Sarepta has implemented a number of programs to instill a culture of safety at the facility. The facility measures its success based on a number of factors, including Lost Time Claim Rate (LTCR); Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR); Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART); Audit findings and completion of corrective actions. From 2016 to 2017 the facility made the following improvements:

• LTCR went from 1.97 to 0;
• TCIR went from 4.59 to 2.64;
• DART went from 2.62 to 0;
• Corrective and improvement actions found through Sarepta’s internal audits had a 97% completion or closed status in 2016. The 97% completion or closed status has been sustained through 2017.

“We attribute the improvements to greater employee participation in safety audits and inputs to corrective actions, a robust 5S program and our ongoing reinforcement of a ‘Safety First’ mentality,” said Brad Siepman, Sarepta plant manager. “We have zero tolerance for unsafe behavior, and are certainly on the right path toward creating and implementing a behavioral-based safety program in the near future.”

“Safety is a key focus for everyone at CSP, so we are especially proud of the accomplishments of these two teams,” said Steve Rooney, CSP CEO. “Keep up the great work, let’s continue to strive for on-going improvements, and as importantly, let’s continue to share these best practices to inspire and motivate our other global locations.”

Each of the winning facilities will celebrate with a formal, on-site awards luncheon with Rooney and Graham, and will receive an engraved award to showcase at their facility.

About Continental Structural Plastics

Continental Structural Plastics, a Teijin Group company, has provided leading-edge technologies in lightweight materials and composite solutions for the automotive, heavy truck, HVAC and construction industries for more than 40 years. Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, CSP provides full-service engineering support, and holds more than 50 patents covering materials development and manufacturing processes in composite materials formulation, design and manufacturing technologies.  The company has operations on three continents and more than 3,500 employees. For more information, visit www.cspplastics.com.

About the Teijin Group

Teijin (TSE: 3401) is a technology-driven global group offering advanced solutions in the areas of environmental value; safety, security and disaster mitigation; and demographic change and increased health consciousness. Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers & composites, healthcare, films, resin & plastic processing, polyester fibers, products converting and IT. The group has some 170 companies and around 19,000 employees spread out over 20 countries worldwide. It posted consolidated sales of JPY835 billion (USD 7.6 billion) and total assets of JPY 986.2 billion (USD 9 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. Please visit www.teijin.com.