On October 9, 2009, the Clow Valve Machine Shop ("CVMS")Team was celebrating because they had achieved the goal they had set more two years earlier of becoming a VPP Merit site.  The CVMS Team, with guidance from the VPP Committee, worked hard to develop and sustain an exemplary safety and health program in order to achieve this goal. 

The Machine Shop's VPP Committee members included Rod Swager, Andy Holmberg, Bob Shepherd, Sherry Sievers, Ben Zugg, Carol McGraw, Troy Poncy, Gary Hadsell, and Kathy Harding.  If the Machine Shop maintains their current injury rates, they should be eligible to become a Star Site in a year.  Less than 1% of eligible work places in the U.S. have been awarded VPP status. 

Guest speakers at the celebration included Leon McCullough, Executive Vice President-Valve & Hydrant Division, Rick Bryan, CVMS Manager, Jeet Radia, Senior Vice President of EHS-HR, Jim Wakefield, General Manager of Clow Valve, Eric Palmer, Iowa House of Representatives, John Izzolena, VPPPA Region VII Board Member, Dave Neil, Labor Commissioner-Iowa Workforce Development, and Steve Slater, Iowa OSHA Administrator. Barb Wisniewski, VP of Health & Safety for McWane, while speaking at the celebration said, "The Clow Valve Team truly exemplifies the type of safety culture that is important to all of us.  A Team working hand in hand with management to make their environment as safe as possible is the best way to keep everyone safe, both on and off the job."

Immediately following the program, the Team gathered around the flag pole as the VPP Committee raised the new flag signifying that Clow Valve takes safety seriously.  The Clow Valve Machine Shop joins four other McWane facilities who have achieved VPP status: Tyler Coupling (Merit Site), Manchester Tank Elkhart (Star Site), Clow Valve Metal Casting Facility (Star Site), and Pacific States (Merit Site).  Manchester Tank Petersburg had been designated as a Star Site, however they formally withdrew from the Virginia VPP program when the facility closed.  VPP designations are reserved for facilities with exemplary worksites that have comprehensive, successful safety and health-management systems.  Companies in the Star Program have achieved injury and illness rates at or below the national average of their respective industry.

Top