Alcoa: News: News Releases: Alcoa Recognizes Environmental, Health and Safety Achievements

Printer Friendly Version

Alcoa in Social Media

In addition to www.alcoa.com, Alcoa is an active participant in and uses social media to communicate information about the company. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn are powerful tools that allow us to connect with our customers, investors, potential employees and fans.

October 23, 2001

Alcoa Recognizes Environmental, Health and Safety Achievements

PITTSBURGH--October 23, 2001-- A panel of prominent experts has honored 10 Alcoa locations from around the world with the company’s 2001 Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Achievement Awards. The locations were honored for innovative projects ranging from the preservation of a nature area in Australia to sharing accident-prevention information with other Alcoa facilities worldwide via the Intranet from Lafayette, Ind.

“The annual EHS awards highlight Alcoa’s efforts to promote safety and protect the environment, both in our facilities and in our communities,” said Alain Belda, Chairman and CEO of Alcoa. “Renowned experts from outside the company served on the committee that selected these projects from the many EHS improvements that Alcoa makes each year throughout the world.”

Alcoa created its EHS Achievement Awards in 1997 to honor individuals and teams who demonstrate exemplary commitment to EHS. The awards are the highest company achievements for outstanding environmental, health and safety performance. The judging criteria include overall impact, sustainability, creativity, innovation, integration into other business processes and the application of Alcoa Business System (ABS) principles.

Alcoa operating units earning Achievement Awards are:

· Alcoa Extruded Aerospace Products, Lafayette, Ind., Fatality Prevention Web Page: A cross-functional team created a new Web site to allow Alcoa businesses worldwide to share their best practices in preventing accidents.

· Alcoa Fujikura, Ltd. (AFL) (three locations)
Torreon, Mexico, EHS Community Partnership: This Alcoa operation focused on improving the community’s quality of life, raising awareness of EHS, and continuing EHS safety practices at home as well as at work.

Juarez, Mexico, AFL Contractor Safety Program: A proactive program delivered more than 5,000 hours of EHS training to 74 contractors and contract services companies.

Shelbyville, Ky., EHS Events Scheduling Board: A new scheduling board incorporates Alcoa Business System (ABS) principles into the EHS processes. It allows anyone in the plant to see what the EHS reporting requirements are and what EHS events are scheduled.

· Alcoa Latin America, Itapissuma, Brazil, Risk Reduction through ABS: Applying ABS principles at the Itapissuma extrusion plant led to the elimination of four out of seven fork lift trucks and two out of five jib cranes. This reduced the risk of injury at the plant, since moving vehicles are a key source of injuries. The process has been implemented at other Alcoa locations in Brazil with similar success.

· Alcoa Primary Metals, Rockdale, Texas, Operation Lifesaver Training and The Fire Safety House: Operation Lifesaver and The Fire Safety House are two community-based safety programs supported by volunteers from Rockdale Operations that have presented safety tips to more than 21,000 people in the area.

· Alcoa Mill Products, Davenport, Iowa, Davenport Works Ergonomics Program – Succeeding Through Employee Involvement: Alcoa's Davenport Works took a different approach to ergonomics by focusing on employee involvement to reduce strain and sprains. Several departments have had excellent results and creative solutions from work teams are making the difference.

· Alcoa World Alumina Australia – Anglesea Power Station , Anglesea, Australia, The Anglesea Heath, Alcoa’s “Jewel” for the Future: Anglesea Power Station occupies about 7% of a 7,200-hectare crown-lease heath that is a haven for birds, mammals and other creatures. Alcoa and a local agency, guided by a community committee, manage the other 93% of the land as if it were a state park.

Special Awards
A “Special Award for Environmental Product Innovation” went to Alcoa Technical Center, New Kensington, Pa., and Alcoa Extruded Heat Exchanger Products, Louisville, Ky., for Environmental Improvements in the Production Process of Aluminum Tube Stock Used in Heat Exchange Condensers for Automotive Applications. This Alcoa team contributed to improving the environment by eliminating the need for chromate conversion coating of aluminum tubing.

A “Special Award for a Newly Acquired Location” was given to Howmet Exeter Casting, Exeter, England, for Chemical Treatment Using Carbon Dioxide. This Alcoa team changed the way wastewater was neutralized, moving from a process using sulfuric acid to one using carbon dioxide. As a result, health and safety risks were greatly reduced, the environmental impact was lessened, and treatment capacity was increased.

Independent Experts
The selection committee was comprised of senior EHS managers from within Alcoa and a panel of external, independent experts, including:
· Chuck Bennett – Senior Research Associate, The Conference Board
· Robert Brady – Social Awareness Portfolio Manager, Salomon Smith Barney
· Rick Bunch – Director, Business Education, World Resources Institute · John Mizroch – President, World Environment Center
· Dr. Gary J. Powers – Vice President Design Sciences, Inc., and Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

About Alcoa
Alcoa is the world's leading producer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina. It is active in all major aspects of the industry -- technology, mining, refining, smelting, fabricating and recycling. It has 142,000 employees in 37 countries.
# # #