OGDEN — If Autoliv employees ever wonder whether their work is worthwhile, all they have to do is ask a couple of colleagues.
Erika Anderson and Jennifer Durrant are among car-crash survivors who credit the auto safety company with saving their lives.
If co-workers didn't know before, they learned about it Friday when company employees gathered to celebrate the winning of a manufacturing honor and the production of the 100 millionth air bag module in Ogden.
In Anderson's case, she suffered only a cut on her elbow — no broken bones — when her Honda Accord was smashed by a pickup truck. The other driver died after being thrown from his flipping vehicle.
"I survived because of the seat belt and air bag. There's absolutely no way I'd be here today, standing here talking to you, if it were not for those two things," she said through her tears.
"I'm alive because of the dedicated hard work of all the Autoliv employees. You are here to save lives, and one of those lives saved is mine, and my family and I will be forever grateful to you."
Durrant and two children likewise survived after their car was hit by a truck and pushed down an embankment in a December 2001 crash.
"We walked away with just a few cuts and bruises from an accident that looked like it was unsurvivable," Durrant told the crowd at the Ogden air bag module facility.
Likewise David Cook. The Canadian's Volvo, on display at Friday's ceremony, was crumpled in late 2002 when a trailer rolled over it and then overturned twice itself. "I honestly did think my life was over," he said.
But side-curtain air bags, designed to protect the head during side-impact and rollover accidents, saved him, he said.
"Not only should you be proud of this accomplishment," he said of the 100 millionth air bag module achievement, "but also be proud of the product you provide to society. Who would have thought I could survive this and be standing here today?"
Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt lauded Autoliv employees for helping people worldwide survive such "life-defining moments."
"Everyone wants to feel as though what they do for a living makes a difference, and what gratification you must receive today, knowing that every one of the bags that you produce, every one that goes into a car, goes about saving lives," he said.
The sobering stories provided a stark contrast to the celebratory tone of reaching the 100 millionth air bag module milestone and having three facilities earn a prestigious Shingo Award for Excellence in Manufacturing.
"In achieving the 100 millionth milestone, you've saved a lot of people and protected millions more," Norb Markert, president of Autoliv North America, told the crowd.
The module facility began operations in 1992. It and air bag inflator plants in Ogden and Brigham City were among winners of the prize, which honors world-class manufacturers among North American companies. The award program is administered by Utah State University's College of Business in partnership with the National Association of Manufacturers.
Managers of those three facilities Friday commended workers' commitment to quality and noted that improvements are still attainable.
Those plants are among six facilities in northern Utah where Sweden-based Autoliv has about 4,500 workers.
The Ogden module facility, with more than 1,300 workers, manufactures driver-side, passenger-side, side-impact, knee and side-curtain air bags for customers in North America and Asia. It produces more than 13.5 million air bag modules annually.
The inflator plants design and produce more than 30 million driver, passenger and side-impact inflation products yearly.
Workers in Ogden, Brigham City, Promontory and Tremonton provide components for companies in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.
Autoliv has 80 facilities and more than 34,000 workers worldwide. Its 2002 sales totaled about $4.4 billion.
E-MAIL: bwallace@desnews.com