DuPont was awarded Monday morning at the 2013 NSC Congress and Expo opening session for integrating environmental, health and safety management with business operations as a cornerstone of corporate financial prosperity.

“For more than 200 years, DuPont core values, including safety and health, have been the cornerstone of who we are and what we stand for,” said DuPont CEO and Chair, Ellen Kullman.

“Who we are and what we stand for.” How’s that for a safety vision statement? How many firms can in truth attest that safety is “who we are”?

Paul O’Neill, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Alcoa CEO, was honored with the Council’s President Award.

“As CEO of Alcoa from 1987 to 1999, O’Neill was one of the most visible corporate execs extolling his belief in the power of safety to bind organizational cultures, united employees, facilitate collaboration between employees and managers, and to lead the way to greater profits and productivity.

O’Neill led an impressive improvement in Alcoa’s safety record. During his 13 years at the top, Alcoa’s lost-workday rate was cut from 1.86 to 0.23 – while the market value of the company ballooned from $3 billion in 1986 to $27.5 billion in 2000. Net income rose from $200 million to $1.48 billion.

O’Neill has also co-founded the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, which has pioneered quality and patient safety improvements in Pittsburgh area hospitals, using safety methods that originated at Alcoa, such as behavioral observation checklists.

Distinguished Service to Safety Awards were bestowed upon:

• Teresa Cole, CSP, CSHM, senior region safety manager, first student, for outstanding efforts within the Transportation Division of the NSC
• David Lee Jewell, CSP, safety and health manager, Assisted Living Concepts, for outstanding efforts within the Business and Industry Division.
• Carl Jorgensen, Material Handler, Alcoa Davenport Works, accident investigator, United Steelworkers Local 105, for outstanding efforts within the Labor Division.
• George Kennedy, CSP, vice president of safety, National Utility Contractors Association, for outstanding efforts within the Construction Division.