Johns Manville (JM), a global building and specialty products manufacturer and a Berkshire Hathaway Company, announced that its plant in Richmond, Virginia, was recertified as a STAR Worksite under Virginia’s Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), the program’s highest level of recognition.
“This outstanding achievement in occupational safety and health has come through the dedication and hard work of Johns Manville management and employees,” Virginia Commissioner of Labor and Industry C. Ray Davenport said in an announcement last week. “I commend the Johns Manville facility in Richmond, Virginia, for embracing the cooperative spirit of VPP, and congratulate them on their hard-earned recertification as a Virginia STAR Worksite.”
The Johns Manville commitment to providing a safe and healthy workplace for its employees is demonstrated by its very low injury and illness rates, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) reported. The facility has a total three-year average for the TCIR (Total Case Incident Rate for injuries and illnesses) of 2.3 compared with a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) national rate of 3.0 for this industry, representing a TCIR rate 23% lower than the national average for the industry.
The plant in Richmond manufactures facings and facing adhesives for insulation products. The facility earned its first STAR recognition in January 2015.
Eleven other JM facilities have earned VPP STAR recognition from their respective states. The plants are in Tucson, Arizona; Macon, Georgia; Willows, California; Jacksonville, Florida; Richland, Mississippi; Fernley, Nevada; Lewiston, Maine; McPherson, Kansas; Scottsboro, Alabama; Belgrade, Montana; and Plattsburgh, New York.
As part of the recognition for achieving STAR status under VPP, facilities can fly the VPP “STAR Worksite” flag. VPP includes two levels of participation, Merit and STAR, with STAR being the highest.
The process for reaching STAR status is extensive to ensure that only the very best programs qualify. Since the inception of Virginia’s VPP in 1996, only 72 STAR worksites have been recognized, and only 35 Virginia companies currently retain the STAR/MERIT designation.
Johns Manville has set a standard of excellence that is second to none, DOLI reported.
About Johns Manville
Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B), is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building and specialty products. In business since 1858, the Denver-based company has annual sales over $3 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. Johns Manville employs 8,000 people and operates 46 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China. Additional information can be found at JM.com.