Safety is a Top Priority for the Vinyl Industry

The members of the Vinyl Institute take health, safety, and environmental performance seriously. It is our number one priority. We all want clean air, safe drinking water, clean and safe food supply. We protect our workers, neighbors, and customers.   In fact, the vinyl industry safety record is one of the best in the manufacturing industry. Resin and monomer producer members have an OSHA illness and injury rate that is 1/3rd the injury and illness rate for all U.S. chemical manufacturing and 1/5^th the illness and injury rate for all U.S. manufacturing[1].

The vinyl industry has designed and implemented worker best safety practices for nearly 40 years. And the commitment to safety starts at the top with senior management and it is driven up, down, and across the organizations of each member company.

Each year, the Vinyl Institute recognizes member companies for protecting the environment and improving worker safety at manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada. In 2022, VI members received a letter from Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, Douglas Parker, commending them on their safety performance record.

Outstanding Performance in Health & Safety

The VI annually awards facilities for outstanding health and safety performance based on the facility performance according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable incidents during a calendar year.

We give special recognition to those facilities with five or more consecutive years with no OHSA recordable incidents – During the calendar year of 2021, 13 facilities received the Safety Excellence Award for achieving 5 or more consecutive years without a recordable incident (up from 7 facilities in 2019). Thirty facilities were recognized for zero OSHA recordable incidents in one year.

Outstanding Environmental Performance.

The vinyl industry is committed not only to the health and safety of our workers but also to continual improvements in our environmental practices that keep our workers and communities safe as well. Our member companies continue to make numerous investments to monitor and reduce emissions.

In fact, ambient emissions to air and water have declined according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data for:

• vinyl chloride ambient emissions have declined by 88% on a unit basis since 1987
• ethylene dichloride ambient emissions have declined by 97% on a unit basis since 1987
• dioxin emissions have decreased by 52% since 2009.[2]

The VI recognizes facilities for outstanding environmental performance based on the EPA’s National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), and the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory data for air and water during a calendar year.

In 2022, the VI awarded 13 facilities with the Environmental Excellence award which recognizes facilities that have gone five or more consecutive years without a recordable release.

Our industry continues to make investments in our people and technologies that advance our safety and environmental performance. It is a continual improvement performance process that is job number one for VI members.

[1] U.S. Bureau of Labor & Occupational Safety & Health Administration 2020 data

[2] U.S. EPA Toxic Release Inventory Data & American Chemistry Council Resin Report