Committees Are Key To Safety
REGARDLESS OF THE INDUSTRY, REGULAR SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETINGS ARE A SURE-FIRE WAY TO ALLEVIATE WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS AND MAINTAIN GOOD PLANT MORAL.
By Sean Riley
From the time they are born, children are inundated with an informal committee of adults ranging from parents to teachers, telling them things they can and cannot do. They hear ‘put on your seatbelt,’ when they get into the car; ‘wear your helmet,’ when they ride their bike; and ‘put on a scarf’ when the weather turns cold.
“But why?” the child inevitably will whine, with any member of the committee quickly replying that they are only trying to keep them safe.
More often than not, the child will quickly fire back, “I can’t wait until I’m an adult and can do whatever I want with nobody telling me what to do.”
Unfortunately, grownups know that’s not always the case.
When it comes to issues of safety in the workplace good employers, just like good parents or teachers, must teach sound practices. Plant workers might not like being constantly badgered with creeds touting safety first and warning signs littering the plant landscape, but safety is a constant issue in any environment, including where packaging machinery is being used.
George Forrester is the principal of Armfield, Harrison & Thomas Inc. (AH&T), Leesburg, Va., and has been director of PMMI’s Risk Management Program for nearly a decade. He believes a proactive, visible safety committee is vital to keeping safety constantly on the minds of plant labor because in many cases plant injuries are avoidable.
Using insurance claims history from the past two and a half years as an example, Forrester noted that slips, trips and falls accounted for 33 percent of the total incurred cost (paid and reserve) for these claims. The most severe of these incidents were mostly avoidable accidents such as falling on a wet floor, tripping over the desk leg in the office and slipping on ice in the parking lot.
The second most costly cause of loss at 23 percent involved being struck by an object or hitting a fixed object, including contusions to the hands and/or fingers from handling parts, being struck from falling parts and running into fixed objects like conveyors or the frame of a machine. Employee injuries as the result of materials being manually handled (i.e. incorrect form when lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing, and pulling) actually accounted for the highest number of claims, but only resulted in the third highest cost at 18 percent.
OEMS ENDORSE COMMITTEE APPROACH
Packaging machinery manufacturers big and small agree with Forrester’s sentiments that safety committees can be the leading catalysts in helping to ensure that complacency doesn’t lead to unnecessary plant mishaps. Looking at the larger picture, committees have helped manufacturers devise strategies to be prepared ahead of time for larger disasters, such as the recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.
Nordson’s Safety and Security Director, Matt Doyle indicated that the Westlake, Ohio-based packaging adhesive systems manufacturer employs the group effort when it comes to safety. “Committees are required to meet regularly and manage the hazards and incidents in their respective areas,” he explains.
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SIMPLE STEPS TO SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENTS Most good manufacturers should have a workplace safety committee. These committees should meet periodically (preferably monthly) and be proactive and not reactive in nature. A key objective with a proactive, visible safety committee is keeping safety constantly on the minds of plant labor. An overwhelming majority of work place accidents are avoidable since most of them occur because of “operator error.” The simple reiteration of safety ideals, both verbally and visually, keeps workers alert and aware. The Safety committee can educate and deploy programs in a myriad of areas including: Ergonomics: This usually consists of an analysis of work places or workstations and considers activities like repetitive motion (lifting, bending etc.) and can be very useful in reducing injuries that can be sustained due to continuous movement resulting from the physical activities and set up of a workplace. Noise sampling and Air sampling: These tests can measure noise and air quality to determine if there can be harm to the hearing or respiratory systems of plant labor. Proactive incident/accident investigation: As in all activities described this is another function of the workplace safety committee and consists of written protocol for injuries if and when they occur. It usually includes a classification system of an injury and the appropriate response from First Aid at the plant to a 911 call. George Forrester |
In addition to managing risks as they happen, the corporation has a formal safety program that includes safety training, education and analysis managed in an ISO-type closed loop management system. He further explained that the system includes instructions, audits and solutions/corrective actions.
ITW Stretch Packaging Systems, Glenview, Ill., has incorporated a video program into their monthly safety meetings, according to Marketing Coordinator, Bonnie Lipner. ITW employees can see mishaps first hand on tape and discuss the reasons for the happenings, ranging from absentmindedness to poor lifting form.
While Canadian companies have different governmental health and safety requirements, some packaging machinery manufacturers north of the border strive to surpass the minimum requirements with in house committees.
In Ontario for example, it is mandatory under the authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act to maintain a Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC). ATS Automation, Cambridge, ON, goes beyond the minimum requirements of the act by holding monthly JHSC meetings rather than the mandatory quarterly requirements. “This keeps information flowing between management and employees, and important issues can be dealt with quickly,” explains Marketing Support Specialist, Gayle Kalbfleisch.
She added that having the meetings more frequently also keeps them shorter. This makes it much easier to ensure a good crisp exchange of ideas, rather than an environment where attendees feel forced to attend.
“In general, ATS has a policy of empowerment and accountability when it comes to workplace safety,” she says. “Employees and supervisors alike are provided with a forum to express their concerns about safety in the workplace and procedures are in place to ensure that management acts upon those concerns as they arise.”
Conversely, employees at ATS must understand their responsibility to adhere to safety rules that are put in place, and supervisors have a clear set of disciplinary procedures to guide them when employees fail to act responsibly.
Weighpack, Montreal, QC, has similar procedures in place, but rarely needs to enact them. “Though we are a company with a variety of different functions, at the end of the day we are a team,” says Production Director James Taraborelli. “We are always ready to either call 911 or transport someone to the hospital, but I have been here for over five years and have never seen a serious injury.”
These team-oriented strategies have helped manufacturers like ATS and Weighpack develop more unique training models for more specific needs.
For example, ATS’s Environment, Health and Safety Manager, Scott Davidson, reasons that the typical classroom training course for lift device training is inappropriate for the ATS working environment because lifting devices are used in very particular ways in each area of the shop floor.
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"[Committees] keep information flowing between management and employees, and important safety issues can be dealt with quickly". |
“The warehouse tends to use lifting devices for moving palletized inventory on and off of shelves, while the shipping/receiving area has to handle large, oddly proportioned pieces of machinery or complete automation cells,” he says. “The classroom training would be geared more towards the warehouse uses, but may not address the more hazardous lifting tasks of the shipping/receiving department.”
To address this gap, Davidson has developed a knowledge transfer training model where an individual in each department requiring lift device training is assigned and trained to coach any new people coming into the department. Working as a team, the coach and department supervisor identify the actual lifting tasks that must be mastered to safely conduct the daily business of the department. Trainees still attend the classroom theoretical training, but then return to the department for specific practical training under the supervision of the training coach.
The coach must assess the trainee using a three-point skill level framework – first the trainee must observe the task being completed by the coach; then the trainee must perform the task under the direction of the coach; and finally, the trainee must complete the task while being observed by the coach without any interference. It is only upon reaching the third skill level that the trainee is recommended for authorization by the coach.
COUNT ON INDIRECT COSTS
Beyond the obvious reasons for ensuring workplace safety through a committee approach, Forrester cautions that companies sometimes do not take into consideration the indirect costs to a manufacturer when there is a worker injured. “Often, manufacturers as well as insurers focus on the direct loss dollars for a work related injury such as medical costs paid or lost wages,” he says. Workplace injuries can also have an effect on plant morale, not to mention the time senior management must use to handle the claim and hire or train a new employee
“Continually promote safety,” Forrester sums up. “It is good for morale and the bottom line.”
Working to cultivate a safe work environment may seem like an arduous, thankless task, but in the end, he says, the day-to-day benefits can far outweigh the cost of injury claims, not to mention the cost of productivity disruptions that inevitably occur when accidents happen.
Sean Riley is editor of PMT.
