Ethicon celebrates safe work environment

At Ethicon in San Angelo, with more than 800 employees, a safe working environment is a top priority.  And on this day, it was the basis for a company-wide celebration.

Mike Beck/Plant Manager -- We've gone over a year without any lost work day accidents occurring in our facility. That's a record that we're very proud of, and want to maintain.

The theme for this event was "Celebrating Ethicon."  Exhibits focused on current and future company projects, while others showed what Ethicon is doing to support the community. And it gave employees the opportunity to see, in finished form, examples of all the products which the San Angelo ethicon plant manufactures, sterilizes and packages -- from stents to surgical sutures.

Some of the employees who helped plan this celebration have been working here for many years, in some cases decades. And yet they tell us planning this event has given them a greater appreciation for, and a broader understand of their own company.

Sylvia Falcon/Ethicon employee -- I've always liked Ethicon, but I now see that it's really a good thing for San Angelo.

Edward Shepheard/Ethicon employee -- I've only been here 16 years, I've met a lot of people I did not know worked here.

In recent years, some of the work which formerly took place at the San Angelo plant is now being handled at the Ethicon facility in Mexico.

Beck -- And we're actually able to partner with our plant in Juarez, where products are started in Juarez, and then flow through our site for the finishing steps in the manufacturing process.

And plant manager Mike Beck says Ethicon will have a facility in San Angelo for many years to come.

Beck -- So the changes we're making are really to improve our plant, and to set us up for the future.

Joel Fox, KLST News.