Republic Receives OHSAS 18001:2007 Certification
03/24/2009 - Republic Engineered Products receives certificate of conformance to the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series Standard OHSAS 18001:2007 in recognition of the health and safety program covering the company’s plants in Canton, Massillon and Lorain, Ohio; Gary, Ind.; Lackawanna, N.Y.; and Hamilton, Ont.
Republic Engineered Products has received a certificate of conformance to the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series Standard OHSAS 18001:2007. Certification reflects the company’s health and safety program covering its plants in Canton, Massillon and Lorain, Ohio; Gary, Ind.; Lackawanna, N.Y.; and Hamilton, Ont.
Designed to help companies manage and control their occupational health and safety (OH&S) risks and improve performance, the OHSAS 18001:2007 standard defines a set of management requirements for OH&S management systems. The system incorporates employee participation and continual improvement through a structured management review process, and is compatible with ISO 14001:2004, the comparable environmental management standard. Republic has been ISO 14001 certified since December 2001.
"Republic has always been committed to ensuring the health and safety in the workplace, and receiving OHSAS certification is the best way to demonstrate that continued commitment to our employees and everyone that visits our plants," said Jaime Vigil, Republic's President and CEO. "Republic and its employees took on the challenge to dramatically improve the safety at our plants, and thanks to the team effort between the United Steelworkers and management, we are making significant improvements and receiving OHSAS certification."
Integration of improved health and safety practices at Republic was led by Environment, Health and Safety Director Leonard Wisniewski. Wisniewski was also instrumental in managing collaborative efforts between management and union personnel to capture and implement the environmental, health and safety sections of the recent labor agreement with the USW.
"Over the last two years, we have made a concentrated effort to refine our health and safety practices at all of our plant operations to make them safer and cleaner places for our employees to work," commented Wisniewski.
Republic Engineered Products is a leading North American supplier of special bar quality (SBQ) steel. Headquartered in Canton, Ohio, the company operates steelmaking centers in Canton and Lorain, Ohio, and value-added special bar quality steel rolling and finishing facilities in Canton, Lorain and Massillon, Ohio; Lackawanna, N.Y.; Gary, Ind.; and Hamilton, Ont.
