CHANNELLOCK® reached an incredible safety milestone this month. We’re proud to announce that Monday, June 6, marked 50 consecutive work days that CHANNELLOCK® associates went without an accident.

At CHANNELLOCK®, safety is one of our top priorities. If you’ve ever been to our plant or seen any one of our videos, you understand why that is. We operate machines and furnaces that forge, heat-treat and polish American 1080 steel. For example, our furnaces heat-treat steel to temperatures in excess of 1,500 degrees. Safety must be foremost in our associates’ minds at all times.

Reaching 50 days is quite an accomplishment, considering what we classify as an “accident.” Many manufacturers define an accident as something that would be reportable to state or federal regulators, like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). However, at CHANNELLOCK®, we consider an accident to be anything that results in one of our associates leaving the floor to get the most minor medical treatment. That could mean anything from a severe laceration, to a minor muscle pull or strain.

Even more impressive, is that CHANNELLOCK® employs more than 370 people and runs three-shifts a day. That equates to 1,200 hours without an accident!

The 50-day achievement adds to our already impressive record of safety. In 2008, CHANNELLOCK® won the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Safety Excellence. It’s an award given to a Pennsylvania-based company that demonstrates excellence in the areas of accident reduction, safety program implementation and employee safety involvement.  

This recent accomplishment, and our overall record of safety excellence, could not have been achieved without the help of all our employees and the collaborated efforts of our management team and union, who keep workplace safety top-of-mind at all times. To reward their efforts, every associate received two movie passes, a free catered lunch and had the chance to enter a raffle for a 50-inch, flat-screen, HD TV.

So next time you pick up a pair of CHANNELLOCK® pliers, know that you’re not only holding the best plier in the world, but that it was made in one of the safest plants in Pennsylvania, too.

Tim Davis

Safety Director

Channellock, Inc.