GREENVILLE, N.C. (July 23, 2010) – NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc.’s (NMHG) Greenville, N.C., manufacturing facility has been honored with two safety awards from the N.C. Department of Labor. The plant, which produces Hyster brand lift trucks, received – for the sixth year in a row – the Gold Safety Award and the Million Hour Award.

“Our employees are our greatest asset, and their safety is our top priority,” said Colin Wilson, chief operating officer and president, Americas for NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. “These awards demonstrate that commitment and also speak to the dedication of our employees, who partner with us to promote a safe work environment.”

The Greenville, N.C., facility’s continued dedication to safety has also allowed it to apply for participation in the Carolina Star program. The Carolina Star program is a cooperative effort between the N.C. Occupational Safety and Health Division, company management and labor to achieve zero accidents, while recognizing and promoting effective safety and health management. It is N.C. state equivalent to the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program. More information about the Carolina Star program can be found on the N.C. Department of Labor’s website.

To receive the Gold Safety Award a company must have had no fatalities during the calendar year at the site and must have maintained an incidence rate at least 50 percent below the average for its particular industry group. The NMHG Greenville plant maintained a rate approximately 70 percent below the industry average. The Million Hour Award is presented when a company accumulates 1 million employee hours with no case of injury or illness involving days away from work.

NMHG’s commitment to a safe work environment reaches beyond the Greenville facility to all of its plants. NMHG Americas’ manufacturing facilities have a collective three-year average accident rate that is less than half of the U.S. industrial truck industry average, based on the last year reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. These numbers demonstrate NMHG’s continual safety improvement achieved by implementing an occupational health and safety management system, as well as using a 5S workplace organization.

NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. (NMHG) designs, engineers and manufactures materials handling equipment for virtually every market niche, including warehouse trucks, counterbalanced trucks and large capacity cargo and container handling trucks. NMHG is one of the world's largest lift truck manufacturers. NMHG, employs approximately 4,500 people worldwide, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE: NC).