Cloyes Gear and Products has announced that its Fort Smith distribution centre recently celebrated a major safety milestone.

The facility has been able to remain without a single lost time accident for 17 years in a row. This is the longest time period amongst all Cloyes manufacturing plants and distribution centres.

“Our engaged employees create a culture of safety, teamwork, and continuous improvement for the benefit of the company and the communities we live and work in,” said Dave Haley, Senior Vice President of Operations for Cloyes. “One of our company values is to be fully committed to employee health and safety, and our employees in Fort Smith certainly live up to that value every day.”

As explained by Cloyes, a lost time accident is an on-the-job accident that causes the absence of a Cloyes employee for at least one complete day of work.

“In the midst of the intensity that all companies are faced with to deliver sales growth, profitability, and increasing shareholder value, nothing is more important than making sure our employees are trained and work in a safe environment and get home as healthy as they were when they arrived to work,” said John Bohenick, Chief Executive Officer for Cloyes.

Cloyes follows a disciplined approach to safety incorporating training, auditing and reporting. The 30 plus employees at the Fort Smith distribution centre are well-versed with the company’s safety protocol.

“We cannot thank our employees enough for their dedication to health and safety as well as their continued focus when working in our facilities,” said Donna McCarley, Warehouse Manager for Cloyes. “We’re all very proud to be part of this team and hope be celebrating 18 years in 2021.”

The 52,500 sq ft distribution centre was opened in 1998. It currently distributes 3 million products every year to Cloyes customers worldwide.