Caterpillar Inc. received the 2007 Corporate Health Achievement Award given by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). The award recognizes outstanding dedication to environmental quality and product safety in the communities where Caterpillar operates. It also highlights Caterpillar's commitment to creating healthy, safe and productive workplace environments for its more than 95,000 employees around the world.
“Since 2000, we have cut recordable workplace injuries by 75 percent,” said Sid Banwart, vice president with responsibility for Caterpillar's Human Services Division. “While we have made considerable progress, we can still do better for our employees and their families. We believe all accidents and injuries are preventable, so our ultimate goal is zero.”
Maintaining healthy employees continues after a work shift ends. The ACOEM award also acknowledges Caterpillar's Healthy Balance health promotion program, which identifies modifiable health risks and provides lifestyle recommendations that decrease risk. This, in turn, helps workers make wise lifestyle and healthcare decisions.
"We are focused on treatment and, more importantly, prevention," said Stephen Goldman, Caterpillar's corporate medical director. "Not only can we help employees manage chronic conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure, but we are also using software to more robustly predict those at risk for future disease. Combining these initiatives with healthcare benefits, including free physicals and cancer screenings for age-eligible employees, helps create a healthier workforce. And a healthy company is a better business."
In addition, the Corporate Health Achievement Award values the company's dedication to environmental excellence. Caterpillar continues to make significant strides in reducing the environmental impact of facility operations. For example, in January 2005, the company publicly pledged to voluntarily reduce global greenhouse gas emissions intensity 20 percent by 2010. Caterpillar has far exceeded that goal by achieving a 35-percent intensity reduction.
