Davenport, Iowa - January 5, 2011- Lafarge North America recently was recognized by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) at its annual "Training Resources Applied to Mining" (TRAM) Conference held at the MSHA training academy in Beckley, WV. Lafarge, not only received the first place prize in the Best CD's & DVD's Training for Industry award for their "Safety Glasses Save Lives - The Adam Oliver Story" video, but that same video captured the highest level of recognition by winning the Grand Prize for the best overall resource. The video described the story and the lessons learned from a real-life incident that happened to Adam Oliver, a Lafarge employee, at its Davenport, Iowa Cement Plant.
"The video did well for the simple reason that it hits close to home. All incidents are preventable. And, as this video portrays, wearing your Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can save your life," said Dan Thompson, Regional Safety Director for Lafarge's River Business Unit. "People can relate to this because it's not a hypothetical situation. It is a real life story told by one of our own," continued Thompson.
"My experience was life changing. I decided to do this video to let my experience become life changing for others, without having them get hurt," said Adam Oliver, Raw Mix Coordinator at the Davenport Cement plant. "I am excited the video won these awards, but I am more proud of the fact the video is reaching out and potentially preventing the next incident. Safety is such a big part of the culture at Lafarge. I know it is the top priority and we must continue to instill this culture into everyone in the industry, in order to prevent future incidents from happening," added Oliver.
MSHA's 15th annual conference gathers representatives from the mining community, including participants from academia, states programs, and coal, metal and non-metal mining industries, to share ideas and training around health and safety.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Lafarge Group is the world leader in building materials, with top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: Cement, Aggregates & Concrete and Gypsum. With 78,000 employees in 78 countries, the Group posted sales of 15.9 billion Euros in 2009. Lafarge North America Inc. ("Lafarge North America" or "Lafarge"), a Lafarge Group company, is the largest diversified supplier of construction materials in the United States and Canada.
In 2010 and for the sixth year in a row, the Lafarge Group was listed in the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World". With the world's leading building materials research facility, the Lafarge Group places innovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction and architectural creativity.
For more information about Lafarge North America, go to www.lafarge-na.com
