Six of the stateâs chemical plants have earned the Louisiana Chemical Associationâs (LCAâs) highest honor as winners of the âBest in Louisianaâ SAFE Award. Greg Bowser, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association, noted 70 facilities employing 19,263 chemical workers from 48 companies took part in the SAFE Project.
LCAâs âBest in Louisianaâ SAFE Program honors are competitively awarded in each of four employee-size classes:
⢠The Class 4 (over 400 employees) winner of âBest in Louisianaâ went to Westlake Chemical Corp. in Sulphur, Calcasieu Parish.
⢠GRACE in Sulphur, Calcasieu Parish, earned the Class 3 (201-400 employees) âBest in Louisianaâ award.
⢠For Class 2 (101-200 employees), the award went to Olin in Plaquemine, Iberville Parish.
⢠Three facilities tied for the right to be called âBest in Louisianaâ for Class 1 (100 or fewer employees). They were Air Liquide in Norco, St. Charles Parish; Chemtrade Refinery Services in Shreveport, Caddo Parish; and Rain CII Carbon in Gramercy, St. James Parish.
The 2016 SAFE awards mark the 20th year the SAFE Project has quantified safety practices and results in LCA member companies. SAFE stands for âSerious About Fostering Excellence.â Average OSHA accident and injury statistics for all LCA member facilities improved by another 4 percent last year and have now improved by two-thirds since LCA initiated the SAFE Project.
Four facilities making especially impressive improvement in their environmental and safety performance were also recognized. âMost Improvedâ awards were earned by Air Liquide â Geismar ASU in Ascension Parish, PCS Nitrogen in Ascension Parish, Occidental Chemical Corp. in Ascension Parish, and Noranda Alumina LLC in St. James Parish.
For more information about the SAFE program, visit www.LCASafe.org or call (225) 344-2609.