LOCAL COMPANY RECEIVES SAFETY AWARD FROM THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Labor and Worker Safety Superintendent Gordon Gatien presented the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) award to Twist, Inc. of Jamestown and Xenia, earlier today.

 Superintendent Gatien presented the award on behalf of the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Occupational Safety and Health On-Site Consultation program, a program funded through the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

 Twist, Inc. is one of four companies in the state of Ohio to receive this prestigious award in 2001. This is Twist’s ninth SHARP award. The award recognizes the company’s effort to work with its employees and develop and implement effective injury and illness prevention programs.

 The SHARP award program promotes effective safety and health program management and provides model programs for other small, high hazard employers to follow. SHARP recognizes employers who practice exemplary safety and health programs at their work sites, which result in the immediate and long term prevention of job-related injuries and illnesses.

 The SHARP award is good for one year and provides an exemption from federal OSHA general schedule inspections during that period. OSHA recognizes that employers like Twist, Inc. have put procedures in place to ensure hazards are identified and corrected in a proactive fashion.

 To receive the award, Twist, Inc. worked closely with Commerce's On-site Consultation Program, namely Safety and Health Coordinator James Lopez, to ensure that safety and health management systems were established and were sustainable in reducing injuries and illnesses in the work place. By working with the On-Site Consultation Program and making revisions to its safety and health management system, Twist, Inc. showed its concern for its employees and the importance of safety to Twist's management and ownership.

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The Division of Labor and Worker Safety administers and enforces Ohio’s worker safety and wage issues. Other Commerce divisions enforce regulations building codes, fire codes, financial institutions, securities, real estate, liquor, auctioneers, and unclaimed funds, among others. The Department's internet address is www.com.state.oh.us