Goodyear: Workplace safety “not where we want it to be”

Akron, Ohio - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has issued details of progress being made against a series of workplace-safety metrics across the group's operations worldwide.

In its recently issued Corporate Sustainability Report 2023, the Akron group reported a significant improvement in its total incident rate*: to 1.87 from a prior-year 2.05 and 2.10 in 2021.

Meanwhile, the ‘serious injury rate’** at Goodyear’s operations decreased to 0.03, compared to 0.06 in 2022 and 0.02 in the previous year. 

The number of serious injuries - defined as "permanently life-altering or life-threatening" - reduced to 20 incidents, from 38 last year but above the 13 recorded in 2022.

However, the report did not reference three fatalities confirmed by Goodyear in 2023: the deaths of a worker at its Texarkana, Arkansas plant on 27 July and of two Luxembourg-based employees at the Nurburgring test track in Germany on 9 August.

“There is nothing more important than safety, and our safety rating is not where we want it to be,” Goodyear president and CEO Mark Stewart did comment in the corporate report. 

“We need to continue to enhance our culture of safety,” added Stewart, “by taking the actions needed to further our goal of eliminating all serious injuries and fatalities in our workplace.” 

*Total incident rate (medical treatment above first aid and restricted/lost-time injuries) is based on 200,000 hours worked.

**Serious injury rate: Rate based on 200,000 hours worked. Includes Goodyear associates, supervised and independent contractors.