Jan. 29, 2008 – HOVENSA L.L.C. employees had the best safety performance in the history of the company in calendar year 2007. The company's employees had seven recordable injuries in 2007, which is an OSHA recordable injury rate of 0.43 per 100 employees. The previous record achieved by employees was 0.53 in 2002, according to a press release from Richard Smullen, Hovensa vice president of environment, health and safety.
The rate of 0.43 was 50 percent better than the most recent average injury rate for all companies that are members of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, an association of virtually all the refiners and petrochemical manufacturers in the United States. The company surpassed its goal for the year, which was 0.45.
Hovensa President Larry Kupfer commended employees on their achievement and urged them to continue to observe safety procedures and carefully plan all tasks before carrying them out as the company strives to achieve a goal of 0.40 in 2008. "We must continue to pursue our vision to be the safest refinery for the world," Kupfer said.