Avery Dennison Boasts Good Safety Record

Published: March 13, 2012

MENTOR, OH | Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials (LPM) reports the business’s 2011 worldwide recordable incident rate of 0.46 injuries or illnesses for every 100 employees. LPM saw best-ever performances in Europe, South America, and North America, with incident rates in those regions of 0.29, 0.5, and 0.62, respectively. The Asia Pacific region saw an incident rate of 0.46—just shy of beating its 2010 performance.

In comparison, the average US manufacturing company experienced a recordable incident rate of 4.4 injuries/100 workers in 2010, according to the most recent data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. All of Avery Dennison’s worldwide sites follow US safety recordkeeping practices.

“This shows that safety is a top priority for the company, our leaders. and our employees,” says Don Nolan, LPM group VP. “It takes a teamwork mentality to make this happen, and we’ve fostered that environment by empowering all employees to make contributions towards a safer and healthier workplace.”

Kamran Kian, VP for operations and supply chain for LPM and Avery Dennison’s Specialty Materials business, says, “Our facilities are guided by the principles of Lean and Six Sigma quality, which promotes efficiency in all levels of the organization and empowers our employees to pursue operational excellence.…”

Employees are encouraged to quickly report even the smallest concerns, such as a near-miss, to correct potential dangers. Open razor knives used to cut label materials were replaced across the globe with safer cutting tools, which virtually eliminated hand lacerations. In addition, machine safety was improved through “Project Untouchable,” which minimized the amount of time workers touch or come close to operating machinery.