Oct. 28, 2008

H.B. Fuller Company recognized for MNSTAR achievement recognized Nov. 3

Workplace safety and health representatives from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) will recognize H.B. Fuller Company's Window Division for its achievement as a MNSTAR (Minnesota Star) worksite, during a ceremony at 11:30 a.m., Nov. 3, at 5220 Main St. N.E., Fridley, Minn.

MNSTAR is a Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MNOSHA) program that recognizes worksites where managers and employees work together to develop safety and health management systems that go beyond basic compliance with all applicable OSHA standards and result in immediate and long-term prevention of job-related injuries and illnesses.

"We are pleased to reward H.B. Fuller for its efforts to develop and implement an exemplary safety and health management system," said Steve Sviggum, Department of Labor and Industry commissioner. "Its employees and management are to be commended for their joint efforts to ensure more employees return home safe and healthy each day."

To achieve MNSTAR status, H.B. Fuller Company worked with MNOSHA’s Workplace Safety Consultation to identify and eliminate current or future safety hazards. Key elements of this comprehensive program include: management leadership and employee involvement; an allocation of resources to address safety issues; systems that identify and control workplace hazards; and a plan for employee safety training and education.

"We are honored to receive the MNSTAR recognition," said Keith Archer, Fridley facility manager and interim director of North American Operations. "This award recognizes a commitment to do business in the right way through all levels of the company. This achievement in safety required the right corporate policies, an active safety committee in the plant, and especially the commitment of every Fridley employee to work safely every day."

H.B. Fuller Company manufactures and markets adhesives, sealants, paints and other specialty chemical products. Its Fridley facility manufactures sealants primarily for the window industry.

Sviggum and other DLI representatives will commemorate the company's employee-employer relationship by presenting a MNSTAR flag and a certificate that exempts the facility for three years from MNOSHA Compliance scheduled inspections.

MNSTAR began in Minnesota in January 1999, and is modeled after the federal OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), which began in 1982. The H.B. Fuller site is one of 27 MNSTAR worksites in Minnesota.

For more information, visit www.dli.mn.gov/mnstar.asp.

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News media contact:
James Honerman
(651) 284-5313