Nov. 28, 2006 — Kennametal Inc. has presented its fifth annual Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Excellence Awards to six Kennametal projects worldwide. The awards recognize excellence in promoting progressive environmental, health and safety initiatives.

Winners of the 2006 EHS Excellence Awards were chosen by a set of six external judges representing various environmental, health and safety institutions. Nominees were judged according to their demonstration of leadership, innovation, facility collaboration, employee benefit, measurable cost and risk reduction and improvement in business operations and quality.

Kennametal’s winners for this year are:

• Presidential Award for Health and Safety — Rogers, Ark., facility. Through analysis of historical data and current operations, the Kennametal Rogers facility reduced the frequency of employee manual lifting without compromising efficiency.
• Presidential Award for Environmental — Bangalore, India, facility. Through a series of engineering controls, Kennametal's Bangalore facility significantly reduced the average load on their electrical systems and annual power consumption.
• Health and Safety Excellence Award — Johnson City, Tenn., facility. Kennametal's Johnson City facility was recognized for their very successful safety programs.
• Health and Safety Excellence Award — Bangalore, India, facility. Through installation of a water-cooled vibro conveyor, Kennametal's Bangalore facility is continuing to protect the health and safety of their employees.
• Environmental Excellence Award — Clemson, S.C., facility. Kennametal's Clemson plant developed a winning process that reduced waste generation and provided significant financial savings.
• Environmental Excellence Award — Nabburg Rubig, Germany, facility. Kennametal's Nabburg Rubig facility improved its building's structure to be more energy efficient and reduced heating energy usage year over year.

"At Kennametal, Environmental Health and Safety is an integral part of our core business strategy," commented Kennametal President and CEO Carlos Cardoso. "We are committed to helping safeguard the health and safety of our employees and the environments in which they operate. We are honored to recognize the projects that showcase excellence in this area and commend the locations for their continued commitment to EHS initiatives."

Kennametal Inc. is a leading global supplier of tooling, engineered components and advanced materials consumed in production processes. Customers buy over $2.3 billion annually of Kennametal products and services-delivered by the company’s approximately 13,500 talented employees in over 60 countries, with almost 50% of these revenues coming from outside the United States.