Athens, Greece – DuPont has announced the five winners of the 2010 DuPont Safety Awards. The awards, now in their ninth edition, recognize outstanding initiatives towards workplace safety enhancements and accident prevention in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Each year DuPont presents the awards to five individuals, companies, or organizations selected as the most deserving in one of five award categories. This year one of the 5 recipients was Titan Group in category of Cultural Evolution and its program implemented in Egyptian Beni Suef plant.

A cement and building materials producer based in Greece, Titan operates 13 plants in eight countries. When the company decided to launch a new production line at its Beni Suef cement plant in Egypt, Titan’s goals were to finish on time, within budget and with no fatalities and no lost time injuries. The safety goal posed an extremely difficult challenge because of the number of partners involved in the construction and the absence of a safety culture in the workforce. At the peak of construction, more than 1,300 people-locals and foreigners-worked on the site. Through daily safety training, the commitment of the project team to increasing safety awareness, and the use of safety celebration rewards, a strong safety culture was established on the site. This approach was the primary factor in completing the project with no lost time injuries. The Beni Suef line 2 project represents a cultural evolution for Egyptian safety standards. It earned a reputation as “one of the safest construction sites to work for” across Egypt. Today, Titan continues to employ a number of workers, technicians and engineers in the operation of new line, achieving another goal of the project: to transfer the acquired knowledge and culture from the construction workers to the rest of the personnel at the Beni Suef Cement plant.

“We are very pleased to recognize Titan Group for its achievements and commitment to safety excellence and the welfare of its employees,” said Koen Van Neyghem, president, DuPont Sustainable Solutions, EMEA. “Like DuPont, Titan believes that safety is good business, that employees work better and harder in safe environments, and that all workers deserve to go home safely at the end of the day.”

“We welcome this recognition of our efforts to establish a culture of safety excellence in our operations. Hopefully, it will lead to improved self-awareness and drive for self-improvement, rather than complacency and self-satisfaction” said Dimitri Papalexopoulos, Managing Director of Titan Cement Co.

All programs, projects and contributions submitted for the DuPont Safety Awards are reviewed and judged by a panel of impartial experts distinguished in their respective fields. They evaluate entries for design, scope, results, innovation, risk, and the ability to be replicated.

Other categories recipients of this year awards were:

• Isastur (Spain) for Innovative Approach,
• PSA Peugeot Citroën (France) for Performance Improvement,
• Reliance Industries Ltd. (India) for Visible Management Commitment,
• SC OMV Petrom SA (Romania) for Sustainable Business Impact.

Since 2001, DuPont has sponsored the DuPont Safety Awards to encourage workplace safety initiatives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and to promote safety in other areas of life as well. Drawing upon 200 years of experience and accumulated knowledge in safety, engineering, environmental stewardship, and operations management, DuPont offers collaborative consulting, training, and solutions-driven technologies that can help organizations transform their workplaces and work cultures to become safer, more efficient, and environmentally sustainable. Additional information about the DuPont Safety Awards can be found at www2.dupont.com/DuPont_Safety_Resources/en_ZA/DuPont_Safety_Awards/
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DuPont (www.dupont.com) is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 90 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.

Titan (www.titan-cement.com) is an independent cement and building materials producer with over 100 years of industry experience. Based in Greece, the Group owns 13 cement plants in 8 countries and is organized in four geographic regions: Greece & Western Europe, USA, Southeastern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean. Throughout its history, Titan has aimed to combine operational excellence with respect for people, society and the environment.

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