International Paper Customer Commitment Center Receives Third Volunteer STAR Safety Award

NASHVILLE - Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner James Neeley announced that the Customer Commitment Center of International Paper in Memphis was chosen to receive the Volunteer STAR (Safety Through Accountability and Recognition) award.

“Today’s award is the third Volunteer STAR certification that International Paper’s Customer Commitment Center has earned,” said TOSHA Administrator John Winker, who presented the STAR award today at the company’s facility in Memphis. “This site first became a Volunteer STAR recipient in 1998, and then was recertified in 2003. The most recent recertification evaluation occurred in 2006. This award achievement is particularly remarkable because the International Paper Commitment Center is one of the smallest Volunteer STAR sites. Everyone who works in the division plays a vital role in the system.”
The facility’s 12 employees design, manufacture, and test corrugated packaging for various poultry, agricultural, retail, and industrial applications. A warehouse operation was added to the facility in October of 2000. As one of the smallest Volunteer STAR sites employee involvement plays an even greater role in the effective management of the sites safety and health programs.
The Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR) and the Days Away, Restricted Duty, and/or Transfer Case Rate (DART) at this facility is 0.0 and has been since 1998. Employees at this facility have worked more than eight years without a single recordable injury or illness.
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.
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.
For more information on the Volunteer STAR award program, contact TOSHA’s Consultative Services office at 800.325.9901.