AUGUSTA — Commissioner of Labor Jeanne Paquette recently announced that Morris Yachts and Reed & Reed’s Turner-Greene Bridge worksites have earned the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program Award (SHARP). This certification recognizes businesses that voluntarily undertake a rigorous safety achievement program.

“Employers earn SHARP recognition by operating their facility under exemplary safety and health management standards,” said Gov. Paul LePage. “I congratulate Morris Yachts and Reed & Reed. When businesses and workers partner to make safety a priority, everyone benefits.”

Acceptance into SHARP by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recognizes each business as a model for worksite safety and health standards.

“We congratulate Morris Yachts and Reed & Reed’s Turner-Greene Bridge construction site becoming certified,” Paquette said. “These SHARP employers demonstrate the importance of focusing on worker safety. They know that better safety means less lost time due to injury and illness as well as lower workers’ comp costs.”

To qualify for SHARP, companies must undergo a comprehensive audit, correct all hazards identified during an on-site health and safety consultation, demonstrate that effective safety and health programs are in place and maintain injury rates below the industry average for the last year of completed data.

After awarding the SHARP designation, OSHA will remove Morris Yachts from its general scheduled inspection list for two years. If the company continues to meet all con- ditions of the program, the SHARP designation may be renewed for another two years.

Reed & Reed’s bridge repair is a construction worksite and falls under Maine’s construction pilot SHARP program. These are one-year awards that can be renewed for additional one-year periods provided appropriate safety standards are maintained.

Fewer than 2,000 worksites in the United States have earned SHARP certification.

Employers interested in learning more about the SHARP designation should contact SafetyWorks! at 1-877-SAFE 345 (1-877-723-3345) or www.safetyworksmaine.com. SafetyWorks! provides a trained consultant with industryspecific expertise who will review the facility by appointment.

SafetyWorks! is not OSHA and cannot issue fines or citations to private businesses. While SafetyWorks! helps businesses of any size, priority is given to small businesses. The program trains about 8,000 people and consults at nearly 1,000 worksites in Maine each year.