[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 158 (Wednesday, November 10, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2328-E2329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CONGRATULATING BUSH BOAKE ALLEN INC.

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 9, 1999

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Bush Boake Allen 
Inc. of Montvale, New Jersey, on receiving the Voluntary Protection 
Program Star Award from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration for its Norwood flavors and fragrances facility. This 
prestigious award is presented for safety and health training, hazard 
prevention and control and related programs that help maintain a safe 
workplace. This award is evidence that BBA values its hard-working 
employees and goes to extra lengths to protect their health and safety 
on the job.
  BBA is one of only 20 companies in New Jersey honored with the VPP 
Star Award and the only company in the flavors and fragrance industry 
to receive the award.
  Businesses that receive the VPP Star Award have the best OSHA 
compliance records in the nation and often exceed OSHA standards. In 
addition to management agreeing to meet health and safety goals, 
workers participate and work with management to create a safe and 
healthy workplace. Admission to the VPP program requires an extensive 
review and inspection by OSHA to verify that the business meets OSHA 
standards.
  The VPP Star Award is considered such a high standard of OSHA 
compliance that recipients receive a three-year exemption from routine 
OSHA inspections. VPP participants typically experience lower workers' 
compensation costs and 60-80 percent fewer workdays lost to workplace 
injuries than would expected at an average business location in the 
same industry.
  At BBA, the company set a corporate goal in 1996 that all four of its 
U.S. facilities would

[[Page E2329]]

receive the VPP Star Award, and the Norwood facility is the first to 
achieve that goal. The company implemented a series of health and 
safety audits, meetings with both management and workers and training 
for all employees. Safety standard were set for every individual from 
the plant manager down to factory workers. Employee groups were formed 
to address specific health and safety issues, operating procedures were 
reviewed and protective safety equipment was added to equipment as 
needed.
  As an example of a safety improvement, it was found that production 
and warehouse workers were suffering repeated injuries during manual 
handling of 55-pound containers used extensively throughout the 
building. BBA eliminated the large containers seven years ago and has 
not had a single material handling injury since.
  The improvements have given the 35-employee plant a three-year 
average injury incidence rate of 1.7, compared with an industry average 
of 5.4, and seven years without a lost-time injury.
  With 250 employees in New Jersey, BBA is a major employer and one of 
the leading fragrance/flavor companies in our state. BBA traces its 
origins to 1870 and three English makers of flavors and fragrances--
W.J. Bush Ltd., A Boake Roberts Ltd., and Stafford Allen Ltd. The three 
companies were eventually combined as Bush Boake Allen by the Albright 
& Wilson division of Tenneco, and were then acquired by Union Camp 
Corp. in 1982. BBA operated as a division of Union Camp until it was 
taken public in 1994, with its own listings on the New York Stock 
Exchange.
  Today, BBA is as major international flavor, fragrance and aroma 
chemical company as well as a producer of chemicals and chemical 
intermediaries for industrial and agricultural applications. 
Headquartered in Montvale, the company conducts business in 60 
locations in 38 countries on six continents worldwide. Annual sales 
total approximately $500 million.
  Flavors produced by BBA are used in beverages, dairy products, baked 
goods, confectionery items and processed foods. Fragrance compounds are 
used in perfumes and colognes, soaps, detergents and cleansers, air 
fresheners, cosmetics and a variety of personal care products. The 
company's aroma chemicals are used as raw materials for a variety of 
compounded flavors and fragrances.
  I would like to ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to 
join me in congratulating BBA on this award and all that this 
commitment to health and safety it represents.

                          ____________________