Why Are 3M Dental Unit Workers in Irvine Smiling?

When you’ve got it, flaunt it.

That’s what Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing’s Irvine division is doing with a banner going up this week on the fence outside its McGaw Avenue plant.

The banner’s message, sure to dumbfound passing motorists, will read: “We are proud of our 14001 certification.” For the uninitiated, “14001 certification” amounts to a seal of approval in the international business community. The recognition means the plant has met international standards for management of environmental issues.

“We’re very excited about it,” said Ajay Myer, the plant’s manager. The plant, which makes composite dental fillings, crowns and materials for making impressions, already sells more than half of its products overseas, he said, and the new certification should further boost foreign sales.

The standards, developed by the International Standards Organization in Geneva, are to encourage worldwide companies to help clean up the environment. Myer says the factory’s 200 employees worked for more than a year to brush up operations so it could qualify.

Among other changes, he says, the plant switched from several flammable solvents to nonflammable materials. As a result, he says, the plant can reduce expenses for protecting employees and the workplace from fire hazards.

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Barbara Marsh covers health care for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7762 and at barbara.marsh@latimes.com.