HPC Industrial is proving its safety efforts are the best of the best.

Earlier this month, the company earned the “Best in Class” Safety Excellence Award for its practices throughout the Gulf.

The award is given out by the Houston Business Roundtable and the Houston Area Health and Safety Council, which together, annually recognize companies in the chemical, refining, and energy industries on the Gulf Coast for their efforts to improve on-site safety while reducing accidents and injuries.

Companies who earn the “Best in Class” designation for their category prove, through an audit by the Houston Business Roundtable, that their safety programs exceed the minimum requirements in areas like fatalities, total recordable injuries/lost workdays, training and year-to-year improvement.

HPC earned its award during a ceremony in Galveston, Texas (an island on the Gulf), on May 19 for the “Environmental Large” category, beating out one of its largest industry competitors, ENVENT.

“Our motto for HPC Industrial is that safety is a value and people are a priority,” said Senior Vice President of Industrial Services Bill Savoy. “Earning this top safety award through an independent audit only exemplifies that these tenets are working and that ‘Live It 3-6-5’ is the elite program when it comes to safety.”

To earn an award, organizations must be nominated by a customer. In January, Baytown, Texas-based companies, Covestro (a German company that manufacturers the materials used in bullet-proof glass and Gorilla Glue), and Exxon, along with Dow Chemical in Houston, and Pemex (a petroleum company) in Deer Park, submitted nominations to the Houston Business Roundtable for HPC Industrial.

In April, the Houston Business Roundtable visited the HPC Insite program at Covestro to audit the site’s entire health and safety program. HPC has worked with Covestro for 35 years and has well-established policies in place. In fact, earlier this year, HPC earned the 2022 contactor of the year award. The branch also maintains a phenomenal safety record. It's currently at more than five years without a recordable injury.

HPC’s work at all its sites is also nearly 100 percent automated – meaning machinery is operated with robotics, controlled by employees – which has allowed branches to work safer, maintain lower turnover and add value to its customers.

“I have been a part of the Houston Business Roundtable Safety Excellence Awards for many years. This year was particularly challenging because we were transitioning from legacy HydroChemPSC standards and policies to legacy Clean Harbors,” said Regional Health and Safety Manager Tonya Stevens, who led the audit at Covestro. “Our teams took the change and drilled it down to the field level. It took dedication and lots of hard work. The team exemplified living safely 3-6-5!"