For the second consecutive year, employees of AK Steel's Ashland, Ky., coke plant have earned the Max Eward Safety Award, presented annually by the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute (ACCCI). The award recognizes the ACCCI-member coke plant having the best safety record during 2006.

Ashland coke plant employees worked all of 2006 with zero lost-time injuries.

"The employees of AK Steel's Ashland coke plant have made safety their top priority," said Bruce Steiner, President of ACCCI. "Coke plants are challenging work environments from the standpoint of keeping employees safe, and AK Steel has done a tremendous job year after year at both Ashland and Middletown to protect its most important asset—its people.

“The Ashland plant's employees and managers are to be congratulated for their extraordinary 2006 safety record and demonstrating that they are working under the principle of Safety First," concluded Steiner.

This award also marks the ninth time in the past ten years that one of AK Steel's two coke plants have been selected to receive ACCCI's highest safety honor. The company's Middletown, Ohio, coke plant is a seven-time recipient of the Max Eward Award.

Headquartered in Middletown, Ohio, AK Steel produces flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, as well as carbon and stainless tubular steel products, for automotive, appliance, construction and manufacturing markets. Hourly employees of the Ashland coke plant are represented by United Steelworkers (USW) Local 523.