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Emphasis on safety, health makes Simmons plant an OSHA 'star'

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Simmons employee Lori Comins loads coil springs into a machine that helps form them into the interior of a mattress. The Janesville manufacturer's safety practices have earned it a Star Award from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Chris Sheldon stacks a freshly quilted mattress top with others scheduled to be moved farther into production at Janesville's Simmons plant.

JANESVILLE — The Simmons bedding plant in Janesville is a star in eyes of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

It's also a star in the eyes of the company's leader, who said Tuesday that the Janesville plant would not close when the company gets new owners as part of an ongoing financial restructuring.

"Janesville will not be a plant that closes," said Steve Fendrich. "That's ludicrous, crazy, and no one who has expressed an interest in buying Simmons has any intention of closing this plant."

Fendrich was in Janesville to celebrate the plant earning the Star Award from OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program. The stringent federal program sets performance-based criteria for a managed safety and health system, invites sites to apply, and then assesses applicants against those criteria. Its verification includes an application review and a rigorous on-site evaluation by a team of OSHA safety and health experts.

Simmons is only the third company in Rock County to earn the OSHA recognition. Frito Lay in Beloit did it in 1997, and the Monsanto Janesville Breeding Station was recognized in 2004.

While celebrating the achievement of the plant's 250 employees, Fendrich worked to dispel plant-floor rumors that the company is in deep financial trouble and the Janesville plant would close by mid-summer.

The Atlanta-based company has been working with creditors to extend $200 million in loans, he said. Ultimately, he said, the debt will be lessoned and refinanced and the company will have new owners.

Since Simmons' last sale in 2003, the company has been carrying too much debt that now is combined with a sour economy and rising material costs. A new owner will inherit a company with much less debt and 13 consecutive quarters of sales dominance in the domestic bedding industry, Fendrich said.

"All of this has zero affect on our operations," Fendrich said. "And it's not happening because we are operating the business poorly. It's just that the market went soft, and there is too much debt tied to Simmons."

Fendrich said Simmons restructured its organization last year by cutting costs—both salaried and hourly—and closing two plants.

One thing the company didn't cut, however, is its commitment to safety, he said. Of all the bedding manufacturers in the country, Simmons is the only one to have participated in the OSHA program.

Simmons has 11 OSHA-certified plants and is working to bring its others to that level.

"We've taken a stand on safety, and it really has become part of our culture," he said. "The difference between good companies and great companies is that great companies always seem to do the right thing.

"Safety is the right thing."