MIDLAND, MI - May 22, 2012
The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and The Pennsylvania State University are expanding their strategic partnership by launching a pilot program to increase safety awareness and practices in the university’s Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering. The program will leverage key elements of Dow’s best-in-class practices to help elevate university laboratory safety. In April, Dow announced a similar safety partnership pilot program with the University of Minnesota.
This new partnership with Penn State reinforces Dow’s commitment to stimulate collaborative innovation with U.S. universities. Dow announced in October 2011 it would invest $25 million per year for 10 years among 11 academic institutions, including Penn State, to strengthen research in scientific fields important to Dow and to the nation’s future.
“A core part of our mission at Dow is to support universities and help them continue the tradition of excellence in chemical engineering, chemistry, and materials science,” said Dr. William F. Banholzer, Ph.D., executive vice president and Dow’s chief technology officer. “Dow recognizes that laboratory safety is a continuing challenge for universities everywhere, and we have the expertise to be part of the solution. This pilot program leverages Dow’s strength in creating and sustaining a culture of safety in our labs — a culture that centers on driving behavior toward incident prevention, with a high level of employee engagement.”
University laboratory safety has improved steadily over the last two decades, thanks largely to the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Laboratory Safety Act in 1990. With a transient student population and, at times, inadequate infrastructure — especially in facilities built before 1990 — nurturing and sustaining a safety culture is a challenge. Based on 2010 OSHA personal injury rate data, it’s about seven times safer to work in a Dow laboratory than a university or college laboratory.
“We’re honored that Dow approached us with this opportunity to improve safety performance in our laboratories,” said Dr. Henry C. Foley, Ph.D., Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Penn State. “Our partnership with Dow will ultimately lead to a more rewarding research experience for our students and a safer work environment for our faculty.”
Successful elements of the pilot programs with Penn State and the University of Minnesota could be leveraged to other departments within the two universities as well as to other universities, as appropriate.
For more information on Dow’s industry-leading partnerships with U.S. Universities, visit www.dow.com/innovation/partnership.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2011, Dow had annual sales of $60 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 197 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
About Penn State
The Pennsylvania State University is a state-related, land-grant university. Founded in 1855 as an agricultural college, Penn State received university status in 1953. Penn State has 24 campuses throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including undergraduate locations as well as special-mission campuses such as the College of Medicine in Hershey. The Penn State World Campus is the University's online distance education component. The University awards more associate, bachelor's and graduate degrees than any other institution in the Commonwealth. Its mission is to improve the lives of the people of Pennsylvania, the nation and the world through integrated, high-quality programs in teaching, research and service.
For Editorial Information:
Fernão Silveira
The Dow Chemical Company
+1-989-638-1006
FSilveira@dow.com