The National Safety Council (NSC) announces its global leadership award to be presented annually to companies demonstrating commendable leadership and excellence in safety, health and environmental performance. The new award is underwritten by a 5-year, $1 million commitment from ExxonMobil through its foundation.

The award will recognize businesses that demonstrate the value of safety, health and environmental (SH&E) excellence while showing how measurable achievement in SH&E performance is linked to productivity, profitability and other measures of business performance. Notes NSC President Alan McMillan, “We believe that SH&E systems are not simply a necessary cost of doing business, but are a direct contributor to improved business performance… We want to use this award to educate the world's business leaders on how they may learn from the best and adopt leading-edge systems and practices that improve SH&E and overall business performance.”

ExxonMobil Chairman Lee Raymond adds, “We expect the award will identify best SH&E practices across the globe that all of industry can tap to drive improved performance.” Last year, he affirms, ExxonMobil recorded the safest year in the company's history. In 2002, ExxonMobil invested $186 million in SH&E technology research and development, capital project support and technical applications. ExxonMobil's Operational Integrity Management System (OIMS) serves as the company's framework for meeting the highest standards of safety, health and environmental protection. OIMS is designed to drive all operational incidents as close to zero as possible and helps support ExxonMobil's “Nobody Gets Hurt” program.

Winners of the award will be selected by a panel of 40 reviewers to be chosen by a group of international safety and health organizations. The reviewers will include internationally known experts and leaders in business, education, safety, health and environmental fields spanning all regions of the world and representing management, labor, academic and government perspectives. The review process will include comprehensive evaluations and site visits to finalist organizations. Applications for the award will be available from the National Safety Council and on the NSC Web site beginning October 2003. The first winners of the award are planned to be announced in October 2004.