Ports America Garners Top West Coast PMA Awards for 2010
At the recent Pacific Maritime Association’s 62nd Annual Safety Awards Banquets held at various locations on the U.S. West Coast, Ports America was honored with numerous awards for its achievements in workplace safety in 2010, including the 1st Place Coast Award and 1st Place Local Area Award Group A Stevedore for its Los Angeles/Long Beach operations and Coast Zero Incident Rate Award for its San Diego operation. Ports America set a record in its Group A Stevedore category with 11 first-place Coast Awards in the past 13 years and an unprecedented 13 of the past 16 years.
COAST Safety Awards:
- 1st Place Coast Award Group A Stevedore: Ports America - Los Angeles/Long Beach
- Coast Zero Incident Rate Award: Ports America - San Diego
AREA Safety Awards:
- 1st Place Lowest Injury Rate Award Group A Stevedore Operations and Reduced Injury/Illness Incident Rate Certificate: Ports America - Los Angeles/Long Beach
- 2nd Place Lowest Injury Rate Group C Stevedore and Reduced Injury/Illness Incident Rate Certificate: Ports America - San Diego
- 2nd Place Group B Container and Reduced Incident Rate Award: Ports America - Puget Sound
- Reduced Injury/Illness Incident Rate Certificate: Ports America - Port of Hueneme and Nationals Line Bureau - Los Angeles/Long Beach
- Reduced Incident Rate Award Ports America - San Francisco Bay
- Reduced Incident Rate Award Ports America - Stockton
Ports America Vice President Labor Relations and Safety Sean Lindsay commented on the company’s overall accomplishments.
“Safety has always been a top priority in all Ports America operations,” said Lindsay. “We are especially proud of our long and successful partnership in safety with the ILWU. Without the leadership of the ILWU international officers and the commitment of the rank and file to safety in the workplace, these accomplishments would not be possible.
The success of our safety program, and our drive towards zero harm, is truly a collaborative effort between Ports America and the members of the ILWU,” Lindsay added. “It is no surprise that longshore Local 13 and foremen Local 94 both won the Coast Safety Award for Injury Frequency reduction in 2010. Their success is our success and vise versa.
The awards rules are established by the awards committee. The awards committee is composed of members from all areas on the West Coast. Award winners are determined by companies attaining the lowest incident rate within their category. Companies are divided into categories and subcategories based on their type of operation and the number of hours worked for an entire year by longshoremen, clerks, and foremen. The categories are stevedoring companies, container companies, terminal companies, bulk operators and lines companies.
Ports America, headquartered in Iselin, N.J., is the largest independent marine terminal operator in North America, providing terminal management and a full suite of stevedoring and related services. Ports America, including its predecessor companies, has more than 85 years of experience operating American seaports. Its current business includes more than 80 terminals in 42 ports in North America, handling containers, roll on/roll off cargo, general cargo and cruise line passengers. As one of the largest employers of maritime labor in North America, Ports America employs more than 12,000 people each day at its operations, including full-time equivalent employees. For further information on Ports America, please visit its Web site: www.portsamerica.com.