BlueLinx Corporation in Erwin Receives Safety Award

COMPANY’S SAFETY RECORD IMPROVED CONSISTENTLY DURING
CERTIFICATION PREPARATION 

NASHVILLE - Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner James Neeley announced that BlueLinx Corporation in Erwin, Tennessee, was chosen to receive the Volunteer STAR (Safety Through Accountability and Recognition) award.

The Volunteer STAR award is the state’s highest honor for workplace safety and health and a nationally recognized program. The Volunteer STAR is patterned after the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) and recognizes the best of the best in the area of safety and health programming and performance.

“The BlueLinx facility in Erwin has achieved a remarkably low incident rate for occupational injuries,” said Deputy Commissioner Bob Henningsen, who presented the STAR award to BlueLinx Corporation today at the company’s facility at 1040 S. Industrial Drive in Erwin. “The evaluation criteria for this award are ambitious, and BlueLinx in Erwin has worked conscientiously to meet and exceed the standards the award requires.”

He said the company has reduced its TCIR (total case incident rate) 73 percent and achieved 47 percent reduction in the site’s DART ( Days Away from Work and Restricted Activity and/or Transfer Case Incidence Rate) throughout the process of preparing for VPP certification.

A certificate of recognition is awarded to the STAR recipient, as is a flag that can be flown at the site. The company is also permitted to use the Volunteer STAR logo on its correspondence and company documents.

The standard for participation in the STAR program is the confirmation of a company’s safety and health program, which helps reduce accidents and injuries. The program also allows employers to be removed from programmed compliance inspection lists for a period of three years.

The BlueLinx facility in Erwin employs 38 people. The company receives building products via railcars and trucks, and then distributes them to customers by means of their own fleet of trucks. Products include many types of building products from lumber to plywood and from roofing to rebar. Thirteen additional BlueLinx sites in the United States are already receiving VPP Star Certification.

For more information on the Volunteer STAR award program, contact TOSHA’s Consultative Services office at (800) 325-9901.