Marble Institute of America: Press Room

Newest MIA Management Tool Kit Focuses On Safety Meetings

CLEVELAND, OH, March 27, 2007— A management tool kit offering natural stone companies 65 safety meeting topics in paper and electronic format has been developed by the Marble Institute of America and is ready for distribution.

"This is the fifth in a continuing series of MIA Management Tool Kits," said Jim Hieb, director of special projects for the nearly 2,000-member organization. He added that this toolkit not only includes 65 safety meeting outlines, but comes packaged with three MIA safety videos.

In producing the kit, MIA solicited and received input from over a dozen companies throughout the industry. Hieb explained that the safety outlines are written with suggested talking points for the presenter and recap questions to help stimulate discussion.

The newest kit contains outlines on OSHA, personal protection equipment, electrical safety, hazard communication respiratory projection, equipment operation procedures, slab handling, compressed air safety and a number of general safety issues. Marc Rosenkrantz of Schechner Lifson Corporation, one of the contributing companies, added, "safety starts at the top and stone professionals have access to numerous safety related resources. The newly created safety meetings program assists management in implementing a formal safety program and assigning accountability. The end result will be a safer more profitable shop."

Jack Seiders, 2007 MIA president added, "This new resource is an excellent example of just one of the many new resources being developed by MIA to help natural stone companies succeed in their businesses. We believe safety is such a critical issue in our industry that we are exploring the option of providing a Spanish version of this important tool kit."

MIA members can purchase this or any of the management tool kits for $69 each. The non-member price is $99. For more information, contact MIA at (440) 250-9222, e-mail MIAinfo@marble-institute.com, or visit www.marble-institute.com.

About the Marble Institute of America
For over 60 years the Marble Institute of America (MIA) has been the world's leading information resource and advocate for the natural dimension stone industry. MIA members include marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and other natural stone producers and quarriers, fabricators, installers, distributors, and contractors around the world.