DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group Recognized for Safety Efforts

* Company receives award from American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine * Award recognizes model programs and outstanding practices * Joint company-UAW approach to health and safety identified as model * Third major safety award in three years for Chrysler Group

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 2 -- The Chrysler Group has been awarded the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's (ACOEM) Corporate Health Achievement Award (CHAA) for 2005. The award was presented last night in Washington, DC and was given in recognition of Chrysler Group's innovative health and safety programs and dramatically improved rates of work-related injuries in recent years.

"The Chrysler Group has always put people first, and this award is recognition of that," said John Franciosi, Senior Vice President -- Employee Relations. "We know this award was well earned because it entailed a comprehensive review of our health and safety initiatives, disabilities management and wellness promotion successes."

"The award is especially gratifying because it recognizes what can be accomplished when union and management work together for the good of workers and the good of the company," said Nate Gooden, UAW Vice President and member of the DaimlerChrysler AG Supervisory Board. "This is further evidence that we are on track to achieve our shared goal of being number one in health and safety within heavy industry."

"The Chrysler Group has turned its public statements into day-to-day action at its many facilities," said ACOEM President Timothy J. Key, MD, MPH. "The Chrysler Group has made good on its vow to be a leader in corporate health and safety and has become a role model for others in business as a result."

This is the third year in a row that the Chrysler Group has received major national recognition for its safety efforts. In 2003 the company was named one of the nation's safest companies by Occupational Hazards. Last year the company received the National Safety Council's Green Cross Award. No other automotive company has received any of these awards.

The CHAA recognizes quality occupational and environmental health programs, identifies model programs and outstanding practices with measurable results and encourages organizational self-assessment and continuous improvement. After being selected as a finalist, the company had to demonstrate measurable health and safety improvements and was subject to a two-day on-site review of its operations.

Only organizations with the most exemplary health and safety practices are considered for the award each year, and in most years only a handful are recognized. This year ACOEM named two recipients: the Chrysler Group and Quad Graphics, one of the world's largest printing companies.

Recipients of the annual award are judged on the strength of their health and safety programs for individual employees, their programs to protect the environment, their leadership and management, and for their efforts to create an overall work culture that stresses healthy lifestyles and safety consciousness.

In announcing the award, ACOEM singled out several Chrysler Group successes. Among them are:

* B.E.S.T.: Chrysler Group's Bringing Excellence to Safety Teams process, implemented in 1999, empowers employees to become involved in a company-wide safety improvement process. The program is hailed as a model of cooperation between management and a trade union (United Auto Workers) and it has helped the Chrysler Group reduce its rate of injuries and lost workdays by more than 75 percent, while saving millions of dollars in workers compensation expense.

* Ergonomic injury rate: Chrysler Group started a comprehensive effort to improve ergonomic engineering and increase employee awareness of ergonomics in 1999, resulting in a dramatic drop in ergonomic injuries. By 2004, the ergonomic injury trend had been reduced by more than 80 percent.

* Standardized care: Chrysler Group took measures to standardize its medical care for employees starting in 1999, with an in-house medical and pharmaceutical formulary, electronic ordering system for supplies and other improvements. Its medically-related services are now significantly more efficient, saving the company an estimated $500,000 annually in medical supplies expenditures alone.

The Chrysler Group, a unit of DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth largest automaker is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich. and has a workforce of 85,000. Its brands include Chrysler, Jeep(R) and Dodge and feature some of the world's most recognizable vehicles, including the Dodge Viper, Jeep Wrangler and Chrysler PT Cruiser. In 2004 the Chrysler Group sold 2.7 million vehicles worldwide. The DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund, the Company's philanthropic arm, gave more than $22 million in grants last year.

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