April 18, 2008. GELITA USA Inc., Chicago, one of the world’s largest gelatine producers, announced that it has been recognized and awarded for its safety practices and record.

The National Safety Council has awarded GELITA the Occupational Excellence Achievement Award. To qualify for this prestigious national award, a company’s lost workday incident rate must be equal to or less than 50 percent of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rating for the national average of its North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. GELITA’s lost workday incident rate was zero.

The Iowa-Illinois Safety Council has also awarded GELITA with a safety award acknowledging GELITA’s outstanding achievement in accident prevention during the 2007 calendar year. The award also recognizes GELITA’s commitment to promoting active safety programs and reducing OSHA recordable injuries among their employees. This is the second year that GELITA USA Inc., Chicago has earned this award.

“This is a great honor for our GELITA employees and operation,” said GELITA USA’s plant manager, Jim Boguslawski. “These awards showcase the importance of GELITA’s commitment to safety. Company and employee dedication to safety actually helps GELITA compete in the global marketplace. Good safety performance reduces costs and improves productivity.”

In addition to these national and regional awards, GELITA USA Inc., Chicago has achieved an important safety milestone in the first quarter of 2008. During this time, GELITA employees experienced no recordable injuries. In fact, this facility has not encountered a lost-time recordable injury for the past two years. “GELITA incents employees to continue

impeccable safety practices by hosting a ‘Safety Lunch’ whenever they meet quarterly safety goals,” said Boguslawski. “These lunches are a tremendous opportunity for GELITA management to underscore the importance of safety and to build employee camaraderie.” This quarter’s lunch was hosted at GELITA’s plant in Calumet City on Friday, April 18.

About:

The National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit, non-governmental, international public service organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health, was founded in 1913 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1953. Its mission is to educate, protect, and influence society to adopt safety practices that prevent and mitigate human suffering and economic losses at work in homes and communities and on roads and highways.

The Iowa–Illinois Safety Council is a Chapter of the National Safety Council and is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health. The mission of the Council is to educate society to adopt safety, health and environmental practices and to provide high quality, value-added training and services.

GELITA USA Inc., Chicago has pork gelatine manufacturing operations at their Calumet City, Illinois facility. In addition to this operation, the firm also has North American production facilities in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa and Toluca, Mexico. The company’s United States headquarters are in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. GELITA provides gelatine and collagen products worldwide to a host of industrial concerns. The firm is a subsidiary of GELITA AG (Germany) which also has regional operations in Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand and China.