March 2007

(Oro Grande, CA) - Through its hard work and commitment to safety, ZCC’s team at TXI’s Oro Grande Cement Plant has earned the site acceptance into the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP), a prestigious program run by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that recognizes select worksites as exemplars for on-the-job safety and health practices.

Acceptance into the elite program follows on the heels of a successful emergency evacuation drill conducted at the plant on Oct. 27.
“We are extremely proud of being accepted into this elite program that focuses on practicing stellar safety, which truly culminated in October’s drill,” said Safety Manager Al Rios.

SHARP program status is available to privately owned employers that work in a high-hazard industry. The program requires participants to go above and beyond satisfying traditional OSHA safety standards by participating in a site consultation visit and undergoing a complete hazard identification survey; correcting all workplace safety and health hazards; lowering the site’s recordable incidents below the national average; and adopting and implementing effective safety and health management systems.

Due to OSHA safety guidelines, sites that achieve SHARP status automatically become an industry example of safety and are exempt from all worksite inspections for the entire period they are SHARP certified.

The TXI Oro Grande Cement Plant project, a joint venture between ZCC and AMEC, broke ground in October 2005. The plant should begin production in early 2008.

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