A global company that sells more than $10 billion dollars a year in tires has been recognized for its safety achievements by the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA).

The organization has presented Michelin North America, Inc. with eight safety awards this year for its manufacturing plants in the U.S., as well as a leadership award for taking an innovative approach to worker safety.

Four Michelin sites won Excellence Awards for worker health and safety:

• a light truck and passenger plant in Dothan, Alabama (US4)
• an Earthmover plant in Lexington, South Carolina (US7)
• a Michelin Tweel facility in Greenville, South Carolina (TWEEL)
• a tread-production facility in Asheboro, North Carolina (ASH-Oliver).

Three more Michelin plants won Improvement Awards:

• Ardmore, Oklahoma (US9)
• Greenville, South Carolina (US1); and
• Tuscaloosa, Alabama (BFG3).

The “Excellence” category is for facilities that achieve a “Days Away Restricted and Transfers” (DART) rate that is 75 percent better than the average achieved by plants that provided data to USTMA. The “Improvement” award is for plants that achieve a DART rate that is both 10 percent better than its rate in the previous year and the same or better than the USTMA average incidence rate.

Michelin North America operates in the U.S, Canada and Mexico, with 19 plants in 16 location employing 22,000 people. It manufactures and sells tires for airplanes, automobiles, farm equipment, heavy duty trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles. Michelin manufactures tires in six states: Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition, there are three plants in Nova Scotia, Canada and one plant in Queretaro, Mexico. Two plants specialize in the manufacturing of semi-finished goods taking raw materials and turning them into components for the plants that produce tires and one plant strictly produces synthetic rubber. Finished goods are produced in sixteen plants, two sites produce retreads for the trucking and one site produces retreads for the aircraft industry. Michelin Maps and Guides also produce road atlases, road maps and travel guides for all the major cities in North America.

Chairman and president of Michelin North America Scott Clark said the safety of its employees is the company’s “first priority.”

The USTMA used annual injury and illness data identical to that provided to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine its awards recipients.