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It’s been a very busy winter. We have had a lot
of training classes that have included CPR/First
Aid, Under Ground Competent Person, Boom/Scissor
Lift, MSHA Refresher, Ready Mix Electrical
Plant, Fork Lift and Decision driving classes.
We also had an Appreciation day here in Brooklyn
for all the Safety Committee Members. Brad
Manatt addressed the group first expressing his
appreciation and gratitude to the Safety
Committee Members for stepping up to the plate
and being safety leaders. Joe Yuhas and
Stephanie Bostwick from Liberty Mutual did
presentations on incidents from 2005 and Safety
Committee goals, frustrations and
accomplishments. John Kulper, Safety Director
from Wendling Quarries, discussed how Wendling’s
Safety Committee functioned and how they are
constantly striving to improve the safety
culture with new and innovative ideas. The
Committee Members were treated to a great meal
from Farmer Nicks at noon. After lunch there
were discussions about previous accomplishments,
setting goals for the upcoming year and setting
guidelines for members of the safety committees.
Some of the previous accomplishments were the
implementation of mandatory safety glasses on
the shops, doing inspections and identifying
hazards and training needs. Some of the areas
that still need improvement that were discussed
were production taking precedence over safety in
some areas, lack of uniform disciplinary
procedures and rushing our truck drivers. At the
end of the day all of the Safety Committee
Members that were present were presented an
appreciation plaque from Upper Management for
being safety leaders and participating on a
safety committee in 2005.
On February 7th
and 8th
we held our annual Supervisor’s Safety Meeting
in Brooklyn. This year we used an entirely
different format from other years. I assigned
teams from each division to gather information
and put together a thirty-minute presentation at
the meeting. The criteria for the presentation
was to review incidents and production from
2005, report on an assigned safety topic and
have a game plan for improved safety and
production for 2006. Based on the comments from
attendees I feel the format worked very well.
Most of the presentations were well researched
and some had an excellent power point
presentation. I would like to thank all the team
members for putting together and delivering the
presentations. We also had presentations Joe
Yuhas from Liberty Mutual on incidents and
incident trends, Carol Cooper on Drug and
Alcohol issues and Dennis Reichhardt from OSHA
Consultation on OSHA Inspections, safety
responsibilities and training. I feel it was a
very productive and informative two days.
Hopefully everyone will work toward a “ZERO
INCIDENT” mentality for 2006. As I stated at the
end of the Supervisor’s Safety Meeting-
“Remember OSHA regulations are just minimum
safety standards so to get to where we need to
be and “ TO SAFELY DO EVERYTHING WE DO BETTER
THAN ANYONE ELSE” we need to set higher
standards than our competition and hold our
employees to these higher standards!
The 2006 season will be starting soon. Let’s
make it the best season ever. Take Charge and be
a leader!! After all Safety is your
responsibility.
THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO DO THE WRONG THING! |
