The Compressed Gas Association (CGA) announced the winners of its industry-leading safety awards during the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Association, held virtually on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. CGA is dedicated to the development and promotion of safety standards and safe practices in the industrial, medical, and food gases industry.
We’re proud to recognize the dedication to safety exhibited by the companies and individuals honored this year.
Environmental Awards
The Environmental Awards are presented annually to deserving individuals, teams, or facilities that have conducted activities that meet defined criteria for environmental excellence.
The following were recipients of the Environmental Awards:
Matheson (New Johnsonville, Tennessee)
Contaminated Toxic Gas Reclamation Process
Airgas Merchant Gases Division, Distribution and Logistics
AMG Distribution Fleet Efficiency Project
Air Products and Chemicals, Project Engineering Group (St. Louis, Missouri)
PRISM Membranes Utilities Reduction Project
Fleet Safety Excellence Awards
The Fleet Safety Awards, sponsored by Praxair, Inc., a Linde company, recognize outstanding safety performance among the industry’s bulk and cylinder delivery fleets. The awards are presented to the CGA member companies with the lowest total vehicle accident frequency rates in their categories.
The following companies were awarded the Fleet Safety Excellence Awards:
Cylinder Gas Transportation, Less than 3 Million Miles Per Year:
Butler Gas Products
Cylinder Gas Transportation, Over 3 Million Miles Per Year:
Matheson
Bulk Gas Transportation, Less than 20 Million Miles Per Year:
Roberts Oxygen Company, Inc.
Bulk Gas Transportation, Over 20 Million Miles Per Year:
American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc.
Leonard Parker Pool Safety Awards
Sponsored by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., the Leonard Parker Pool Safety Awards are presented annually to participating CGA member companies recording the greatest improvement in safety performance during the previous two years, and are based upon the total recordable case incidence rates as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The following companies were awarded the Leonard Parker Pool Safety Awards:
Group I – More than 2 Million Employee Exposure Hours:
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Group II – 2 Million or Less Employee Exposure Hours:
Eleet Cryogenics
Safe Facility Performance Awards
New this year, the Safe Facility Performance Awards recognize U.S. and Canadian facilities of CGA member companies that have maintained an incident-free safety performance record for a defined period of time. Participating facilities are recognized at 8 levels as they achieve new milestones without any lost time injuries.
In our inaugural year for this program, we received applications from 266 facilities.
We thank all our members for your ongoing commitment to safety and extend our congratulations to the facilities recognized under this new program. We look forward to continuing to grow this program in the future.
The following were awarded the Safe Facility Performance Awards for this inaugural year:
Safe Facility Performance Awards – Bronze Level
250,000 Hours or 5 Years with no lost time work accidents
Matheson
31 Facilities
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
21 Facilities
Messer North America Inc.
6 Facilities
Airgas, Inc., an Air Liquide Company
2 Facilities
Roberts Oxygen Company, Inc.
2 Facilities
American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. & Air Liquide Canada Inc.
1 Facility
Luxfer Gas Cylinders
1 Facility
Western International Gas & Cylinders
1 Facility
Safe Facility Performance Awards – Silver Level
500,000 Hours or 10 Years with no lost time work accidents
Matheson
100 Facilities
Messer North America Inc.
23 Facilities
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
8 Facilities
Airgas, Inc., an Air Liquide Company
6 Facilities
American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. & Air Liquide Canada Inc.
3 Facilities
Luxfer Gas Cylinders
1 Facility
Roberts Oxygen Company, Inc.
1 Facility
Safe Facility Performance Awards – Gold Level
750,000 Hours or 15 Years with no lost time work accidents
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
13 Facilities
Matheson
2 Facilities
Messer North America Inc.
2 Facilities
Airgas, Inc., an Air Liquide Company
1 Facility
American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. & Air Liquide Canada Inc.
1 Facility
Roberts Oxygen Company, Inc.
1 Facility
Safe Facility Performance Awards – Gold 1-Star Level
1,000,000 Hours or 20 Years with no lost time work accidents
American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. & Air Liquide Canada, Inc.
Freeport HPU*
Geismar ASU/Cogen Facility*
Norco
Scotford Complex
Airgas, Inc., an Air Liquide Company
Airgas Specialty Gases Houston
Rock Hill Production Facility
Specialty Gases Piscataway
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
Kingsport
Oak Creek
Winnemucca*
Messer North America Inc.
Birmingham, Alabama
Hopewell, Virginia
Acme Cryogenics
Allentown Field Service Group
Matheson
Montgomeryville Plant
* Designates facilities with no lost time accidents since commissioning
Safe Facility Performance Awards – Gold 2-Star Level
1,250,000 Hours or 25 Years with no lost time work accidents
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
Austin Gen Gas
Cleveland
LaSalle
Liberal Plant
Sante Fe Springs ASU*
Airgas, Inc., an Air Liquide Company
Airgas Specialty Gases Los Angeles
Blytheville Distribution Facility
American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. & Air Liquide Canada Inc.
Port Neches ASU*
Messer North America Inc.
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
* Designates facilities with no lost time accidents since commissioning
Safe Facility Performance Awards – Gold 3-Star Level
1,500,000 Hours or 30 Years with no lost time work accidents
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
Brampton*
Chandler
Manalapan*
Sacramento Production*
* Designates facilities with no lost time accidents since commissioning
Safe Facility Performance Awards – Gold 4-Star Level
1,750,000 Hours or 35 Years with no lost time work accidents
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
Largo*
Plaquemine*
Puyallup
American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. & Air Liquide Canada Inc.
Victoria ASU*
* Designates facilities with no lost time accidents since commissioning
Safe Facility Performance Awards – Platinum Level
2,000,000 Hours or 40 Years with no lost time work accidents
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
Butler, PA*
Conyers
La Porte HYCO*
Sarnia
Airgas, Inc., an Air Liquide Company
Augusta Production & Distribution Facility
Calgaz
American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. & Air Liquide Canada, Inc.
Corpus Christi SMR*
Luxfer Gas Cylinders
Riverside, California
* Designates facilities with no lost time accidents since commissioning
CGA & GAWDA Distributor Safety Awards
The CGA/GAWDA Distributor Safety Award recognizes companies showing the greatest improvement in safety performance and encourages a renewed focus on safe corporate cultures within the distributor community.
The following GAWDA (Gases and Welding Distributors Association) Distributor Members were recognized for their safety achievements:
Group I – More than 100,000 employee exposure hours:
S.J. Smith Co. of Davenport, Iowa
Group II – 100,000 or fewer employee exposure hours:
Willard C. Starcher of Spencer, West Virginia
New Committee Member of the Year Award
The New Committee Member of the Year Award, sponsored by Chart Industries, is presented to individuals with less than three years of CGA participation to recognize their character, commitment, and contributions to our committee efforts.
This year, two individuals were recognized in this category for their substantial contributions to CGA committee work:
John de Leon, Label Solutions, Inc.
John has become an integral part of the Hazard Communication Committee, spearheading the re-invigoration of CGA’s industry safety posters and actively participating on the revision of CGA C-7, Guide to Classification and Labeling of Compressed Gases.
Robert Stauder, Linde North America, Inc.
Robert has become a substantial contributor on the Acetylene Committee where he serves as Vice Chair and has worked on more than 20 work items in the last 3 years. In September 2019, he presented the CGA technical webinar, “Mastering the Unique Challenges of Acetylene Piping.”
Charles H. Glasier Safety Award
Sponsored by American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc., the Charles H. Glasier Award is presented annually to an individual in recognition of their safety leadership in the industrial gas industry.
This year’s recipient was Joseph Bernacki of CryoVation, who has been an active member of CGA since 1978. In that time, he has served on numerous CGA committees and supported over 100 work items. He has often served in leadership roles and lead the development of several critical publications that stand today as the highest standards for industry safety. Beyond CGA, he has shared his expertise as a participant in ISO standards development.
In addition to the standards work that he has contributed to over the years, Joseph Bernacki is viewed by many as a mentor. His committee peers recognize him as a staunch advocate for the advancement of safety. Throughout his CGA involvement, he has demonstrated the qualities of leadership, safety stewardship, and active participation recognized by this award.
H. Emerson Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award
The CGA Lifetime Achievement Award is named for H. Emerson Thomas, who served in a leadership capacity with CGA for more than 60 years. This award is based on the individual’s record of achievement on behalf of CGA and the industry; the individual’s reputation among industry peers and regulatory authorities; and his/her professional recognition over a lifetime.
This year’s award was presented posthumously to Mia Daniels of Chester Valve Corporation.
She joined CGA in 2000 and rapidly gained recognition as a subject matter expert on the Cylinder Valve Committee. Over the years her participation grew to include several other committees. In addition to her technical knowledge, she was recognized by many for her leadership, tact, and ability to draw others into the conversation and develop a consensus around even the most contentious issues. These qualities ultimately led to Mia Daniels’ appointment to Standards Council, where she served as Chair from 2013 to 2015 and provided leadership on several critical work items.
Beyond CGA, Mia Daniels was recognized at all levels for her contributions to the development of ISO standards and support of other global harmonization efforts. She was generous with her time and knowledge, welcoming to others, and dedicated to improving industry safety.
Although sadly Mia passed away in 2019, her impact will be felt for years to come and her legacy will live on with all those who knew and worked with her.
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