The Portland Cement Association (PCA), representing America’s cement manufacturers, recently announced the winners of its Energy and Environment Awards and its Chairman’s Safety and Safety Innovation Awards at the association’s 2024 Cement Fly-In in Washington, D.C. The awards recognize PCA member company teams who excelled in implementing new energy and environmental initiatives, and those who went above and beyond to enhance overall, on-the-job safety at America’s cement plants.
Heidelberg Materials North America is pleased to announce that its Union Bridge, Bellingham, Logansport and Speed cement facilities all received awards.
Heidelberg Materials Union Bridge, Maryland, cement plant was awarded the Portland Cement Association’s 2024 Safety Innovation Award. The award rewards creative solutions to safety challenges in cement facilities. Entries are judged in five areas: innovation, ease of use and ease of construction, effectiveness, and risk prevention. Only four facilities are selected by the committee.
Searching for new methods and procedures to prevent falls, the team at Union Bridge engineered a connected gate system on the burner deck that allows miners to move materials and supplies onto the platform without using safety harnesses tied off to an anchor. The new system involves an employee standing in a safe position to raise a gate that opens a side as another gate on the opposite side automatically lowers itself.
“We’re really proud of the solution the Union Bridge team has implemented,” said Nathan Kimball, Vice President of Health & Safety for Heidelberg Materials North America. “Essentially, the Union Bridge team has engineered the risk from an activity that otherwise poses hazards from working at height. This is truly an innovative solution that we can share across our operations.”
In addition to the Safety Innovation Award received by the Union Bridge plant, Heidelberg Materials North America’s Bellingham Grinding Plant in Bellingham, WA, Logansport Cement Plant in Logansport, IN, and the Speed Cement Plant in Sellersburg, IN, were recognized with PCA’s Chairman Safety Award. The Chairman’s Safety Performance Awards recognize outstanding safety performance in the manufacturing of portland cement, the core ingredient used in all forms of concrete.
“These well-deserved awards reflect Heidelberg Materials’ commitment to safety, and we are proud to see the Bellingham, Logansport and Speed plants recognized for their efforts and performance,” said Kimball.