AK Steel Chairman Honored by National Safety Council
2 October 2000
AK Steel Chairman Honored by National Safety Council
NEW YORK, Oct. 2 Richard M. Wardrop, Jr., chairman and
chief executive officer of AK Steel Corporation was honored by the
National Safety Council (NSC) here September 25 for his longstanding
commitment to workplace safety.
Nearly 650 people gathered for a black-tie gala at the Waldorf-Astoria as
the council presented its inaugural Green Cross for Safety medal to Mr.
Wardrop. Guests represented a broad range of steel, safety, industrial, union
and professional services industries.
Andrew G. Sharkey, president of the American Iron and Steel Institute,
spoke of the significance of Mr. Wardrop's safety commitment to the steel
industry.
"Leading by example, Dick Wardrop has revolutionized the way our industry
looks at safety, and I am tremendously proud to be here tonight to honor that
accomplishment," he said. "We've seen what Mr. Wardrop's unrelenting pursuit
of excellence has done for AK Steel's productivity and quality. How very
fitting that he is honored for applying that same tenacity to employee and
contractor safety."
Gerald Scannell, president of the National Safety Council, praised Mr.
Wardrop for making safety the top operating priority for AK Steel.
"It is not often, in our environment, that safety is given such a high
corporate operating priority. We find it reflected in the intense focus on
injury prevention by everyone who works at AK Steel, which results in an
unusually fine and highly commendable workplace safety record. AK Steel
prides itself on being 'first in safety' in the steel industry. Tonight, the
leader of AK Steel has been judged first in safety by the National Safety
Council," he said.
In accepting the award, Mr. Wardrop reflected on the importance of
receiving the Green Cross award.
"I have been fortunate to have been at the helm of AK Steel when our
company has been recognized for many prestigious awards," he said. "Make no
mistake, this medallion will sit at the pinnacle of our wall of honor."
Mr. Wardrop said the safety council's recognition truly belonged with all
AK Steel employees and all the employees and companies that support its
businesses.
"While I am flattered to be the individual here tonight accepting this
award, I won't for a moment pretend that it belongs to me. This award belongs
to me and 11,000 other AK Steel employees and to those organizations and
companies that support in many ways the success of AK Steel," Mr. Wardrop
said.
Mr. Wardrop also cited several individuals for their contributions to AK
Steel's safety program excellence, including James Stanley, AK Steel's vice
president of safety and health, Robert Shearer, executive director of SHIELD
(a contractor safety organization in Middletown, Ohio), Donald Vidourek,
president, Butler County (OH) Building Trades Council and AK Steel's union
safety coordinators.
Stanley Tipton was one of four union safety coordinators attending the
event. Prior to delivering the benediction, Mr. Tipton, who works at the
company's largest plant in Middletown, Ohio, reflected on the safety
commitment at AK Steel.
"I'd like to extend a personal thank-you to Mr. Wardrop for all he has
done for AK Steel," Mr. Tipton said. "Safety at AK Steel is driven from the
top, and the attitudes of the employees about safety are going to the top."
Joining in congratulating Mr. Wardrop for the honor with written comments
were New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and U.S. Congressman John A. Boehner,
who read congratulatory remarks into the Congressional Record.
"Mr. Dick Wardrop, Jr. is a true leader whose hard work and dedication
should serve as an example for all of us. Every American should aspire to
this kind of enthusiastic commitment to service. I am proud to know and
represent a person like Mr. Wardrop and AK Steel in Congress," said
Congressman Boehner in concluding his Congressional Record remarks on
September 13, 2000.
Mr. Wardrop joined AK Steel in 1992 and was instrumental in turning the
troubled firm, then known as Armco Steel Company, L.P., into one of the
country's most successful steel companies. AK Steel has led the steel
industry in operating profit per ton, a key industry measurement, for more
than six consecutive years. In fact, AK Steel's financial performance has
been as much as four times higher than the industry average.
Forbes Magazine, in its January 11, 1999, issue, named Mr. Wardrop to its
"Platinum List" for his leadership in steering AK Steel to its position as the
best-performing company in the metals industry. AK Steel has also been named
to the Fortune 500 list, Fortune Most Admired Companies list, Industry Week's
100 Best Managed Companies in the World list and the Cleveland Plain Dealer
100.
AK Steel's safety program has three major elements: a complete management
commitment to safety; a strong employee and contractor safety program; and
extensive employee participation in the most comprehensive safety training and
awareness programs in the steel industry.
More than 30 union production and maintenance employees work as full-time
safety coordinators at AK Steel's plants, augmenting a staff of more than 30
safety and industrial hygiene professionals as well as contractor safety
specialists. AK Steel managers conduct more than 7,000 safety observations
each week.
As a result of its three-pronged approach to safety, AK Steel has the best
safety record in the steel industry. In 1999 AK Steel had a total recordable
injury rate of 1.63, an improvement of more than 9 per cent over the previous
year, and about one-third of the carbon steel industry average. Through the
first half of 2000, AK Steel's rate is 1.48, or about 9 percent decrease from
1999.
AK Steel's Middletown Works Coke Department was named the safest in the
industry for two straight years. Since its initial startup in mid-1998, the
company's Rockport (IN) Works has experienced zero lost workday injuries,
leading the Indiana Chamber of Commerce to award Rockport Works its Chamber
Safety Award for two consecutive years. The construction safety record for the
plant was equally impressive - about 13 times better than the national average
for major construction projects. And the company's Butler (PA) plant had its
best safety year in history in 1999, and was awarded the Pennsylvania
Governor's Safety Award, Award of Honor from the National Safety Council and
Outstanding Achievement Award from the Western Pennsylvania Safety Council.
Mr. Wardrop received a bachelor's degree in metallurgy from The Penn State
University in 1968, and was named the 1995 recipient of the David Ford
McFarland Award for Achievement in Metallurgy. Prior to joining AK Steel, Mr.
Wardrop worked for U.S. Steel and Washington Steel.