Rockford Systems LLC and The Master Lock Company today announced a new joint initiative designed to accelerate the adoption of safety technologies throughout the North American manufacturing sector. The two industry-leading companies are teaming up to reduce workplace accidents, improve job efficiencies, and help ensure manufacturers are in compliance with the latest OSHA, ANSI and NFPA 79 machine-guarding and lockout/tagout standards.

Even with strict machine and operator safety regulations in place, unguarded hazardous machinery remains a major source of fatalities, amputations and other traumatic injuries in manufacturing plants. According to OSHA, nearly 18,000 machine operators suffer non-fatal injuries each year in the United States. Rockford Systems estimates more than half the manufacturers in the United States do not fully comply with critical requirements for machine safeguarding or lockout/tagout.

The Master Lock Company helps facilities create safer work environments and ensure lockout compliance through comprehensive consulting services. The partnership with Rockford Systems enables The Master Lock Company to broaden its services to include machine guarding assessments and physical safeguarding solutions, providing an end-to-end lockout and machine guarding solution for customers.

"The combination of Rockford Systems' machine safeguarding expertise and industry knowledge, together with The Master Lock Company, which has been a leader in lockout for nearly 30 years with industry-leading expertise, comprehensive consulting services and innovative physical products, will enable our customers to rapidly identify safety deficiencies and deploy machine guarding and lockout/tagout solutions," said Joe Nitiss, CEO of Rockford Systems. "It is exciting to form an alliance with a partner that shares our core values as closely as The Master Lock Company."

In its role, Rockford Systems will provide on-site custom safety consulting services using the Machine Safety Assessment Tool (MSAT), which was jointly developed by the two companies. Performed as a stand-alone service or in conjunction with other services, the MSAT assessment helps companies identify situations that place machine operators or maintenance personnel in serious, life-threatening danger because of the absence of machine safeguarding.

"For many of our on-site lockout/tagout assessments or procedure development projects, our customers also ask for high-quality machine guarding solutions. Our partnership with Rockford Systems will allow us to offer one-stop safeguarding solutions to meet all of our customer's needs," said Matt Dudgeon, Director of Product Marketing at The Master Lock Company. "We are excited to partner with Rockford Systems because they have been experts at machine safeguarding for over 45 years and are as committed to workplace safety as The Master Lock Company."

The Master Lock Company helps business protect their workers and ensure compliance through Professional Lockout Services, which include lockout program development, written lockout procedures, compliance training, and inspections and audits. For more information on The Master Lock Company's Professional Lockout Services, visit www.masterlock.com/plos.

ABOUT ROCKFORD SYSTEMS

Headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, Rockford Systems, LLC delivers innovative machine safeguarding solutions for organizations working with industrial machinery. As a trusted adviser since 1971, Rockford Systems helps organizations interpret and apply complex Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) machine safety standards for a broad array of industrial applications. In addition, Rockford Systems provides complete Safety Life-Cycle Management Solutions, including on-site surveys, customized engineering integration, over 10,000 safeguarding products, expert installation services, training and technical support, and ongoing compliance validation. Rockford Systems has improved the profitability of many of North America's largest companies by increasing compliance, reducing worker risk, enhancing productivity and decreasing costs. For more information on Rockford Systems, please visit www.rockfordsystems.com.

ABOUT THE MASTER LOCK COMPANY

The Master Lock Company is recognized around the world as the authentic, enduring name in padlocks and security products. Master Lock Company offers a broad range of innovative security and safety solutions for consumer, commercial, and industrial end-users. Master Lock Company LLC is an operating unit of Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc., a leading consumer brands company. Headquartered in Deerfield, Ill., Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc. (NYSE: FBHS), is included in the S&P 500 Index. For more information about The Master Lock Company visit www.masterlock.com.