Six Maine Businesses Recognized for Workplace Safety

December 3, 2012

SHARP worksites serve as industry models

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 3, 2012
Contact: Julie Rabinowitz, 207-621-5009

AUGUSTA?Commissioner of Labor Jeanne Paquette announced that four Maine employers have earned the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program Award (SHARP). This certification recognizes businesses that voluntary undertake a rigorous safety achievement program. The four business locations receiving SHARP recognition in December are Lyman-Morse Fabrication in Thomaston, Johanson Boatworks in Rockland, Deering Lumber in Kennebunk, French and Webb in Belfast and two Marden?s locations, Sanford and Biddeford.

Employers earn SHARP recognition by operating their facility under exemplary safety and health management standards. Acceptance into SHARP by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recognizes each business as a model for worksite safety and health standards.

?We congratulate these businesses and our other 49 SHARP locations for becoming SHARP certified,? Paquette said.

?Companies that achieve SHARP status demonstrate that focusing on worker safety is of utmost importance,? she explained. ?These companies know that keeping workers safe is not only good for the people of Maine, but also good for their businesses. Better safety means less lost time due to injury and illness as well as lower workers? comp costs.?

To qualify for SHARP, companies must undergo a comprehensive audit, correct all hazards identified during an onsite health and safety consultation, demonstrate that effective safety and health programs are in place and maintain injury rates below the industry average for the last year of completed data. After awarding the SHARP designation, OSHA removes the worksite from its general scheduled inspection list for two years. If the company continues to meet all conditions of the program, the SHARP designation may be renewed for another two years.

Fewer than 2,000 worksites in the United States have earned SHARP certification.

Employers interested in learning more about the SHARP designation should contact SafetyWorks! at 1-877-SAFE 345 (1-877-723-3345) or www.safetyworksmaine.com. SafetyWorks! provides a trained consultant with industry-specific expertise who will review the facility by appointment. The consultation may include such elements as recognizing safety hazards, sampling for air and noise exposures, recommending ways to reduce or to eliminate hazards, developing or improving a safety program, complying with federal OSHA regulations and identifying training needs.

SafetyWorks! is not OSHA and cannot issue fines or citations to private businesses. While SafetyWorks! helps businesses of any size, priority is given to small businesses. The program trains about 8,000 people and consults at nearly 1,000 worksites in Maine each year.

-end-