Quebecor Covington plant receives state safety recognition

Quebecor World Corporation's Covington plant has become the first printing operation in Tennessee to be recognized for 3 million employee hours without a lost-time accident.

Jim Flanagan, assistant commissioner of the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, presented an award signifying the achievement to Quebecor World and the Covington plant Wednesday.

"We are very pleased to present this award in the area of workplace safety to the Quebecor World Covington plant," Flanagan said. "Quebecor employees have worked more than 3 million man hours without a lost-time injury. I would also like to note that this is the first printing facility to qualify for this award."

Quebecor World's Covington facility employs approximately 550 people and prints magazines and retail insets for some of North America's largest publishers and retailers.

"This award is a testament to our employees and I would like to thank all of them for their diligent attention to maintaining a safe working environment while providing a quality product for our customers," said Chuck Moran, Covington's general manager. "But this award is also a testament to the philosophy of Quebecor World. We are a company that places a top priority on safety and we pride ourselves in promoting a safe workplace at all our facilities."

Moran said the plant's employee-safety committee includes 12 employees and the group is involved in implementing a year-around safety program.

"We put an emphasis in all areas of the workplace on safety for all employees," he said. "We talk about safety at daily shift and crew meetings," he said. "We also inspect equipment daily to make sure it is safe."

Quebecor World is one of the largest commercial printers in the world. It is a market leader in most of its major product categories which include magazines, inserts and circulars, books, catalogs, specialty printing and direct mail, directories, digital pre-media, logistics, mail list technologies and other value-added services. Quebecor World has approximately 37,000 employees working in more than 160 printing and related facilities in the United States, Canada, Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and India.

In Tennessee, Quebecor operates printing plants in Clarksville, Covington, Dickson, Dresden, Dyersburg, Kingsport, Memphis and Trenton and has a sales office in Nashville.