The Renco Group's affiliated companies operate across a variety of industries, but they are united in their unwavering commitment to workplace safety. Be it at a steel processing plant in Canton, Michigan, or a copper mine in Cobriza, Peru, ensuring the well-being of employees as they perform their jobs takes precedence at each and every facility. As a result, even in industries often considered very dangerous, our companies have won accolades for their low incidence of reportable injuries and lost-time accidents as well as for their safe hazardous materials handling procedures.

Our Companies' Record of Achievement

Lost-Time Accidents

In 2006, The Doe Run Company mining and milling operation and resource recycling operation achieved a lost-time injury rate that was better than the national average for their respective industries. The lost-time injury rate at Fabricated Products, Inc. was two times better than the national fabricated metal products industry. The Fletcher and Sweetwater mines and Fabricated Products, Inc. completed 2006 with no lost-tine injuries. The Doe Run Company and its predecessor companies have won the prestigious Sentinels of Safety award 23 times since 1971. The annual award is sponsored by the Mine Safety & Health Administration and the National Mining Association. The Fletcher and Sweetwater mines are in contention for the 2006 award.

Unarco has been a member of the National Safety Council since 1966. In recent years, Unarco has implemented new safety programs that have lowered its work-time accidents well below the national average, and the company's most recent record for lost-time accidents exceeds one year.

Safety is part of the work culture at Doe Run Peru. Since being acquired in 1997, the accident frequency has fallen by 50 percent at La Oroya and by 85 percent at Cobriza. Fifteen sectors of the La Oroya facilities and the Cobriza mine have each compiled more than 1.5 million man-hours without a lost-time accident. The Peruvian government has awarded the La Oroya operations the National Mining Safety Prize for their exemplary safety record multiple times since 1998.

Employee Blood Lead Levels

The Doe Run Company's employees' blood lead levels have fallen by nearly 60 percent since 1979. Doe Run Peru has helped lower the average blood lead level of La Oroya employees by more than 32 percent through 2006 since Doe Run Peru became a Renco Group company in 1997.

Further reflecting the Renco Group’s commitment to workplace safety, one of The Doe Run Company’s mine rescue teams recently took top honors at the Southern Regional Mine Rescue Contest. The multi-phase contest includes written tests, simulated mine rescues and emergency first-aid response. Regional competitions such as this are part of Doe Run’s mine rescue training program; they help prepare Doe Run’s teams for the annual National Mine Rescue Contest and ultimately, make sure the teams are always fully prepared should a mine emergency occur.

Hazardous Materials Shipping

US Magnesium has shown that the risk involved in shipping hazardous materials (Hazmats) can be significantly reduced through vigilant workplace safety initiatives. US Magnesium's facility received the Pinnacle Award for 2003 from Union Pacific Railroad. The company was one of 24 hazardous materials shippers out of 1,200 surveyed that reported no chemical releases and employed safe loading practices. In the same year, US Magnesium showed a reduction in each of the rates of reportable injuries (injuries that result in death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness), lost-time injuries, and severity of injuries, and these rates have each continued to drop in 2004.