By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

Two Shelby County companies earned accolades for keeping their employees safe, and another company has been named a finalist for the Business Council of Alabama’s Manufacturer of the Year award.

Specification Rubber Products in Alabaster has been named as a finalist for the BCA’s Manufacturer of the Year award alongside five other companies from across the state. The winners of the awards in the small, medium and large company categories will be announced during a luncheon in Montgomery on Wednesday, May 1.

The Manufacturer of the Year award is bestowed upon companies “that bring uncompromising excellence to Alabama manufacturing.”

The Alabama Department of Labor and Manufacture Alabama also honored two local companies for their impeccable safety records during 2018 during an April 18 conference.

“No element of the manufacturing process is more important than worker safety, and this Manufacture Alabama awards program and safety conference is in line with our association’s commitment to helping our member companies achieve competitive excellence in all areas,” said Manufacture Alabama President George Clark. “We are proud of the outstanding record of Alabama’s manufacturing community in providing employees with a safe and healthy working environment, and we congratulate the fine companies and plants that are being honored today, and the many others with superb safety records who participate in our Safety Awards Program.”

A total of 51 companies from across the state participated in the Safety Awards Program, and 28 of those were honored at the conference for operating the most hours with the fewest accidents in 2018.

Carmeuse Lime and Stone in Alabaster earned first place in the Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing, 126-250 employees category, and Montevallo-based Central Machine and Fabrication earned first place in the Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing, up to 125 employees category.

Carmeuse was honored for recording 313,565 hours without a lost-time accident in 2018, and Central Machine and Fabrication was honored for recording 55,737 hours without a lost-time accident in 2018.