Alcoa Recognised as Having the Best Safety Performance in the Aluminum Industry

Alcoa announced today that it was the recipient of the International Aluminium Institute’s award for Best Safety Performance in the Worldwide Aluminum Industry for 2007 during the organization’s Annual General Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, last week. The IAI is the global forum of the world's aluminum producers. The Institute has 25 member companies; together these companies represent more than 80% of world primary aluminum production.

Alcoa’s Poços de Caldas, Brazil, Operations was honored in two categories: Best Performing Mine and its 96,000-metric-ton-per-year aluminum smelter won in the Best Performing Smelter in the category of greater than 1.3 million hours worked. Alcoa’s San Ciprian alumina refinery in Spain won as the Best Performing Refinery in the less than 2 million hours worked category.

Data for 18 mines, 35 refineries and 102 smelters worldwide was collected and evaluated by the Institute. The top performers in safety are determined following a rigorous multi-stage assessment that includes reviews of Total Recordable Incident Frequency, Lost Time Incident Frequency, and Incident Severity Rate, together with improvements on the previous year’s performance. Short-listed plants also carry out a self-assessment, followed by an on site assessment by the IAI.

'We are extremely proud that Alcoa is leading the way in safety performance in the worldwide aluminum industry,' said Alcoa Chairman Alain Belda. 'This accomplishment is a result of the dedicated effort of all Alcoa employees to work safely and a firm belief that safety is the highest internal priority at Alcoa.'