Foss Bay Area and Southern California Operations Celebrate Important Safety Milestones

Historic low in lost-time injuries attributed to aggressive efforts to create a company-wide safety culture

SEATTLE, July 31, 2009 – Two regional divisions of Foss Maritime celebrated important safety milestones today. Southern California and El Segundo operations have gone a year without a lost-time injury, and San Francisco Bay operations have gone a year and a half.

“This industry has historically focused on getting the job done and has accepted the notion that injuries are sometimes part of the cost of doing business,” said Gary Faber, president and chief operating officer of Foss. “At Foss we have rejected that attitude and have a stated goal of zero injuries. The impressive achievement of the Southern California and San Francisco regions is a very important step toward that goal.”

Safety improvements can be attributed to the company’s wide-ranging safety programs, stepped up training and communications, and an “all-hands-on-deck” attitude toward instilling a safety culture in every aspect of every job, Frank Williamson, vice president of health, safety, and quality, said.

Williamson reported that injury rates continue to decline in all areas of the company and are now at historic lows. “Sending our employees home to their families in as good or better condition than when they began their shift is Foss’ highest priority,” Williamson said.

“Without every employee taking an active role in their personal safety and the safety of their fellow employees, reaching this milestone would not have been possible,” Bob Gregory, Southern California regional manager, said. “This milestone involved 100 percent participation from every employee to reach the common goal of getting home safely at the end of the day.”

“The team in San Francisco embraced the concept of zero injuries and ran with it. We came to realize that our success was not based on luck—it was the result of hard work by all of our employees,” said Dan Massey, San Francisco regional operations manager.