July 9, 2003
The Muskegon Chronicle
By Dave Alexander

Johnson Technology Inc.'s Latimer plant in Muskegon is only the eighth manufacturing facility in Michigan to receive the state's "Star Award" for excellence in workplace safety and health.

Johnson officials were to receive their award and recognition today from Michigan Consumer & Industry Services Director David C. Hollister, a former mayor of Lansing and leading member of the Michigan Legislature.

Johnson Technology participates in the Michigan Voluntary Protection Program through the CIS Bureau of Safety and Regulation, which oversees the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act, known as MIOSHA.

"I am honored to welcome Johnson Technology's Latimer plant into this exceptional group of Michigan companies who represent the 'best of the best' in workplace safety and health," Hollister said in prepared remarks. "The Latimer plant has created a work environment where everyone accepts responsibility for safety, every day."

Johnson Technology produces turbine nozzle segments and shrouds for commercial and military aircraft engines and land-based generating systems. The plant's 477 employees annually manufacture approximately 100,000 turbine engine parts in the Port City Industrial Park, 2034 Latimer. The company also operates a facility in the Norton Shores Industrial Park.

Johnson Technology is indirectly a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric Co. President David Yacavone said his company stands financially separate from the huge General Electric family of companies.

The Johnson Technology safety and health program has been ongoing for more than four years. Yacavone said it has been "a long journey." The company has made safety and health a "priority equal to production and quality," according to company policy.

Safety is evaluated at the same level as productivity in individual employee appraisals. Also, Yacavone said the company has invested heavily in equipment that will reduce, if not eliminate, workplace injuries and is dedicated to keeping that equipment well maintained.

The "total case incident rate" of workplace injuries was 2.2 in 2002 compared to an aerospace parts industry average of 11.8. The plant's "total lost work day cases" were zero in 2002 compared to an industry average of 5.9.

Yacavone said the plant had gone 1.3 million work-hours without a lost-time accident at one point in the recent past.

"Our goal is no injuries," Yacavone said. "We've proven through our people that we care about our employees."

Johnson Technology's workplace safety and health programs are developed and managed by Environmental, Health and Safety Manager Dave Reagan and Environmental, Health and Safety Specialist Brian Shaw.