Dragon Receives 'Workplace Safety' Hero Award  for 2001

PORTLAND, Maine - Dragon Cement and Concrete has received a Real Hero Award from the American Red Cross Chapters of Southern Maine for its efforts and success at keeping its employees safe and accident-free.

Dragon received the Workplace Safety Award recently (March 28) as part of the third annual American Red Cross Real Hero Award banquet in Portland. The awards program honored 15 individuals, organizations and businesses who during 2000 best exemplified the mission of the Red Cross - teaching people to save lives by helping them prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. Dragon was honored because of the great lengths to which it goes to protect its employees.

John H. Slagle, Vice President of Human Resources at Dragon, accepted the award on behalf of the company, which employs 230 at 10 concrete plants from Biddeford to Madawaska and New England's only cement-making plant, located in Thomaston. "We're honored that our efforts were recognized by the American Red Cross, which is a great organization and has done much in the region to promote safety," said Slagle.

Dragon was nominated for the award by the Maine Employees Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC), which insures nearly 19,000 of the state's 27,000 insured businesses. Dragon just completed its second year in a row without one lost-time injury in any of its concrete plants, translating into 400,000 safe hours. The cement plant now has more than 330,000 safe hours without a lost-time injury. Dragon implemented a safety program in early 2000 that includes a number of incentives as well as an internal system for reporting unsafe practices, Slagle said.

"We give credit to our employees and our management team for this company-wide safety record," said Joseph M. Koch, III, the president of Dragon. "We are very pleased that the new program appears to be fulfilling our ultimate goal of sending everyone home as healthy as they were when they arrived."