The Greenville facility’s record also qualifies it to apply for participation in the Carolina Star program. This is a cooperative effort between the N.C. Occupational Safety and Health Division, company management and labor to achieve zero accidents, while recognizing and promoting effective safety and health management. It is the state’s equivalent to the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program.
To receive the Gold Safety Award a company must have had no fatalities during the calendar year at the site and must have maintained an incidence rate at least 50 percent below the average for its particular industry group. The NMHG Greenville plant maintained a rate approximately 70 percent below the industry average.
The Million Hour Award is presented when a company accumulates 1 million employee hours with no injury or illness involving days away from work.
NMHG Americas’ manufacturing facilities have a collective three-year average accident rate. That is less than half of the U.S. industrial truck industry average, based on the last year reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. NMHG credits this record to its occupational health and safety management system and its use of the 5S workplace organization philosophy of sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain.