THOMASTON, Maine -- Dragon Cement and Concrete has set another safety record; this time it's the Cement Division at the company that has gone more than two years without a lost-time injury among the 110 employees in the division. The new record of 525,000 hours without a lost-time injury eclipses the old mark of 494,025 hours set in the 1980s.

In October, Dragon's Concrete Division set a similar record for completing three years without a lost-time injury at the 10 concrete plants stretching from Biddeford to Madawaska.

The safety records are a reflection of the success of an innovative, incentive-based safety program initiated by Dragon two years ago, company officials said.

"We have a very innovative and attentive team at the Thomaston plant, led by Vice President and Plant Manager Stu Guinther," said Joseph M. Koch, III, president of the company. "It's a safe place to work and that's important for our employees and the Thomaston community."

Dragon's Thomaston plant is New England's only cement manufacturing facility. The "portland" cement produced in Thomaston is mined from its limestone quarry on the company's familiar site on coastal Route 1. The cement is supplied to most ready-mix companies in the state, and others throughout New England by barge through Coastal Cement terminals in Newington, N.H. and Boston.

The Dragon safety program was featured recently in Maine's largest daily newspaper. The article detailed the reasons behind the program's success:

"How do we keep injuries down, even to the point of non-existent, among a workforce of more than 230 in various industrial locations throughout the state? We do it with an incentives program that encourages everyone to be safety inspectors, whether they are delivering concrete to a job or working in the cement plant in Thomaston," said Dragon's Human Resources Director John Slagle in his article.

The program has two basic components: everyone's involvement in awareness and correction of problems, and rewards for success. Here's how it works:

When employees in any division see something amiss, whether it's a loose platform or an employee not wearing safety glasses, they report it to the safety manager by filling out an Unsafe Practices Card, known as a "blue card". The safety manager immediately addresses the situation by correcting the problem or by individual counseling. The reward for not having lost-time injuries is a gift certificate. Each quarter the division goes without a workplace injury, each employee is rewarded with a gift certificate.

Two years ago, the gift certificates began at $25 each. But the size of the gift certificates has continued to grow - $5 a quarter - as the safety record remains unbroken, meaning no time is lost in the division due to an injury. With 2002 underway, the certificates just reached $60, Koch said.

Dragon's safety records have been applauded by the American Red Cross and MEMIC as well as its national trade associations, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and the Portland Cement Association, Koch said. The company also has earned a number of environmental awards in recent years.

In addition to the Thomaston plant, Dragon Cement and Concrete, founded in 1928 and headquartered at 38 Preble Street in Portland, has 10 concrete plants located throughout the state in Biddeford, Portland, Brunswick, Lewiston, Augusta, Fairfield, Canton, Farmington, Madawaska and Presque Isle.

Dragon concrete, which is a blend of cement, sand, stone and water, is used throughout Maine in buildings, bridges, pavement, roads and many precast products. Dragon has supplied cement or concrete to many major building projects throughout the state, such as the BIW expansion, the Casco Bay Bridge in Portland, the Brunswick/Topsham Bypass, the Portland International Jetport expansion and Hadlock Field, as well as some of the cement for the Big Dig tunnel project in Boston.