Fall is near and we are heading in to the part of the season that is traditionally our worst as far as safety incidents are concerned. Pass the word on to everyone to stay alert and work safely. Our incident rate is down somewhat from last year at this time.  Let’s finish the year out with a “zero incident” mentality and end the year on a high note!

Between my observations and the visits from Joe Yuhas from Liberty Mutual, there seems to be an increase in seat belt use and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by the crews. Joe even gave out more Kum & Go gift certificates to employees on the PCC and ACC paving crews for having on their vests, hard hats and safety glasses. Keep up the good work!!

Safety is an attitude as much as a habit.  Even one injury to our most valuable resource (our employees) that could have been prevented by the use of PPE and Safe Practices is intolerable.  If you are unable to remember when and where PPE is to be worn, put them on!  It is better to have them on and not need them. Congratulations to the employees that lead by example and are living proof that wearing all your PPE won’t kill you and it may save your life!

 Seat belt use is up from what it was last year.  If you are in a company vehicle or piece of equipment that is equipped with a seat belt, the seat belt is REQUIRED to be worn while that piece of equipment is moving. The Iowa DOT Statewide Seat Belt Usage Survey for 2005 is 86%.  With teamwork, we should EASILY be able to achieve 100% of our employees buckling up 100% of the time.  Congrats to those of you that are already wearing your seat belts at all times!

The Ames Division had Dennis Reichardt and Kennan Arp from OSHA Consultation do a walk through inspection, air and noise testing. Joe Yuhas, Pat Jackson, Larry Ford, Duane Hassebrock and myself participated in the process. Dennis and Ken did a very thorough inspection of the Asphalt Plant, Ready Mix Plant, Shop, Blue building and our safety policies and procedures in the handbook. Overall the inspection went very well. Of course they found some violations that needed attended to but Duane, Larry and their crew had everything ship shape in good time. It was a great learning experience for everyone involved and gave us a good idea how an actual OSHA inspection would be handled. Thanks to everyone in the Ames Division for a job well done. Dennis and Ken will be heading for Metro next.

Again, I want to stress the fact we are moving into the time of year when we seem to have our most accidents and injuries. Supervisors keep an eye on your employees and make sure they are wearing their PPE and working safely. Employees look after one another and take the responsibility to make sure your fellow employees are working safely with the proper PPE. Safety is everyone’s responsibility.