Freudenberg-NOK Honored as One of 'America's Safest Companies' by Occupational Hazards Magazine

PLYMOUTH, Mich., Sept. 20 -- Freudenberg-NOK was recently named one of "America's Safest Companies" by Occupational Hazards magazine for providing a safe, healthy workplace for its employees. The company will be profiled in the October issue of the magazine.

According to Occupational Hazards, the companies that make up this year's list were chosen based on several factors including: recommendations by industry professionals; recognition from industry associations; participation in programs such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program; state and local awards; and Occupational Hazards' research into the occupational health and safety philosophy and programs of the company.

"We are honored to recognize 'America's Safest Companies' for 2004 -- all of which epitomize what employee safety is all about," said Sandy Smith, managing editor of Occupational Hazards. "This year's winners have clearly made safety a business value. They have invested time and energy to surpass minimum government standards and created an environment where employees come first -- which is key to being one of today's industry leaders."

Some of the key elements of Freudenberg-NOK's safety program -- which helped it earn this prestigious award -- are intensive, daily risk assessment, in-depth accident root causation analysis, safety coaching for first-level supervisors, and targeted and focused training for all employees. As a result of these efforts, Freudenberg-NOK's lost-time injury rate (the average number of lost work day cases out of every hundred employees) is only 1.4, compared to the industry average of 5.8.

"At Freudenberg-NOK we believe that all accidents are preventable, and therefore, unacceptable," said David Lawson, director, health, safety and environment for Freudenberg-NOK. "We strongly believe that employee safety can never be compromised. So to achieve this recognition for something Freudenberg-NOK views as critical to our business success and culture -- keeping our employees safe and providing the best work environment possible -- is a great honor for our company."

The company has also earned other safety and environmental awards including the "Safety Excellence" award from the Rubber Manufacturers' Association (for the past 10 years in a row) and the New Hampshire Governor's Award for Excellence in Pollution Prevention in 2004.

Freudenberg-NOK received the distinction as one of "America's Safest Companies" along with 15 other companies.

Founded in 1989, Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership is a joint venture between Freudenberg & Co. of Germany and NOK Corp. of Japan.

Freudenberg-NOK is a leader in automotive sealing and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) products and is a supplier to all automakers producing in North America, as well as all major tier one chassis and drivetrain suppliers. The company's headquarters and technical center in Plymouth, Mich. houses the most extensive supplier-operated sealing and noise and vibration testing facility in North America.

Freudenberg-NOK offers its automotive customers globally integrated products, including sealing packages for transmissions, engines, brakes, axles and steering, NVH components and packages, and all rubber, plastic and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) components for suspension, electrical and fuel systems.

The company also offers an extensive portfolio of special precision seals for the aerospace, appliance, business machine, fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment and recreational vehicle markets. For more information, visit the Freudenberg-NOK website at http://www.freudenberg-nok.com/ .