Justin Jolliffe, Teknor Apex Co.

Dec 12, 2023

Justin Jolliffe

As the senior environmental, health and safety manager for Pawtucket, R.I.-based Teknor Apex Co., Justin Jolliffe, 30, said injury prevention is one of the main facets of his job. During his first year at his facility, the number of recordable injuries dropped from 26 the previous year to 10. "Being able to reduce the number of injuries at my workplace and sending our employees home safe is something I'm proud of," Jolliffe said.

A graduate of Keene State College in New Hampshire with a bachelor's degree in safety and occupational health applied sciences, Jolliffe said he's always enjoyed watching the Discovery Channel and shows like How It's Made.

"My first plastics job was while I was working at a factory in Leominster, Mass., for Georgia-Pacific. As a fresh college graduate, I was keen on seeing what sort of machinery people had built to help manufacture goods that we use all over the world, and boy, did I hit the jackpot! To this day, seeing the feats of engineering we've installed on our production lines at manufacturing facilities never ceases to amaze me," said Jolliffe, who joined Teknor Apex in 2019. "Plastic is an incredibly versatile material, and what we've been able to build and create with it is truly amazing."

Jolliffe is involved with the Safety Association of Rhode Island and the Plastics Industry Association's Future Leaders in Plastics. He obtained his Associate Safety Professional designation and is pursuing the next level of certification, Certified Safety Professional.

Jolliffe also is "actively taking on more responsibility in my current role by joining the innovation team and traveling to other locations to broaden my knowledge in the field."

Read about more of our 2023 Rising Stars

Q: What has been the biggest impact/challenge on your career from the coronavirus pandemic?

Jolliffe: Enforcement of masking policies by a long shot. A close second would be managing our employees to work in small teams to limit exposure to large groups and slowing the detrimental impacts to the business during quarantines as employees become exposed.

Q: What is your philosophy related to plastics and sustainability? What steps have you taken to improve plastics' sustainability, either in work, your community or personal life?

Jolliffe: We need to be more sustainable as an industry on the environmental front. At my site, I champion the Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) Team to help reduce pellet flake and powder loss to the environment, and so far we've seen great success.

Q: What is your current challenge at work?

Jolliffe: Shifting the culture towards one where employees look out for the safety of each other. Many workplaces use a top-down approach where management has to constantly force safety regulations and procedures onto line-level employees. Breaking that mentality and reforming it so that employees care for one another takes persistence, patience and practice.

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