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Mathews Brothers Receives OSHA-SHARP Designation
Joins ranks as 1 of 28 companies in Maine to achieve certification

(06/21/2011) - Mathews Brothers Company, America’s oldest window manufacturer, has been awarded the OSHA Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) designation, for its efforts in providing a safe and healthy work environment. At a ceremony hosted at the company’s Belfast facility, Department of Labor officials presented the company with SHARP certificate of achievement.

“This award represents Mathews Brothers’ high standards and employee involvement in creating a safe workplace,” said Robert Winglass Commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor. Mathews Brothers is the only window company in New England, and is one of about 28 companies in Maine to achieve this designation.

“We are extremely proud of this achievement,” stated company President, Scott Hawthorne. “It has been a long journey to get here, and has taken the conscious efforts of each and every team member working together towards this goal to make it happen. Our business incorporates several hazardous operations, including various cutting and punching operations, not to mention working with glass.”

SHARP offers incentives to private sector employers that take a proactive approach to workplace safety. The SHARP certificate is granted to employers who have demonstrated exemplary achievements in workplace safety and health by receiving a comprehensive safety and health consultation visit, correcting all workplace safety and health hazards, adopting and implementing effective safety and health management systems, and agreeing to request further consultative visits if major changes in working conditions or processes occur that may introduce new hazards. Employers meeting these specific program requirements may be exempt from general scheduled Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections for two years.

SafetyWorks! consultants worked with Mathews Brothers to improve safety in all operational areas with a focus on injury prevention. SafetyWorks! is an outreach program of the Maine Department of Labor designed to reduce job-related injuries, illnesses and deaths. The program provided safety and health training to over 10,000 Maine workers last year and consultation services to hundreds of employers. SafetyWorks! services are voluntary and offered free of charge.

To earn the designation, Mathews Brothers worked closely with SafetyWorks! consultants and Loss Control specialists from the Forest Products Group Trust to strengthen existing safety practices into all aspects of the company, including the training program, ergonomics, electric and physical equipment safety, and health and wellness programs for all employees, supervisors and managers.

For more information about the SHARP program or any of the other free safety and health services offered by the Maine Department of Labor SafetyWorks! program, call (207) 623-7900 (TTY: 1-800-794-1110) or visit www.safetyworksmaine.com.

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