Rockwell Collins Bellevue Plant Receives Safety Award

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DES MOINES, IOWA – On June 14, 2005, the Bellevue Rockwell Collins plant received the prestigious “STAR” award from the Iowa OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) that promotes health and safety in the workplace.

To qualify for the Iowa OSHA (IOSH) VPP, a company must establish a strong partnership between labor, management and the state of Iowa to develop and implement a comprehensive safety and health management system. Matt Wedeking, industrial engineer and safety coordinator at the Bellevue Rockwell Collins facility, said “It feels good to have reached this level. We have to keep improving our program, so this is not the stopping point.” Wedeking further stated, “Rockwell Collins goes beyond the general requirements to provide a safe work place, including doing health assessments to minimize risk and prevent injury at the work site.”

Kent Statler, senior vice president of Operations at the Bellevue Rockwell Collins facility, stated
“Being recognized as an IOSH VPP STAR site is an outstanding accomplishment by the entire Rockwell Collins Bellevue team. Statler continued, “It truly was a team effort by the entire workforce, leadership, and the Iowa Division of Labor. This recognition serves as a significant milestone in Rockwell Collins’ journey towards providing our employees a safe and healthy work environment. Job well done to the entire team.”

Dave Neil, Iowa Labor Commissioner, presented the STAR award to officials at the plant and Tom Robinson and Tong Khamma presented the VPP STAR flag to the employees. Neil remarked, “Rockwell Collins is promoting a culture of workplace safety rather than relying on enforcement of Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to do that. They are taking a lead role in the state, for which the OSHA division in Iowa is very grateful.”

The Bellevue plant is the 31st work site in Iowa to receive STAR status. Of the approximate 6.5 million work sites in the United States that are eligible to seek the VPP STAR status, fewer than 1,300 have received it.