Vienna, OH: Above all else, safety first! That kind of thinking has resulted in 1604 accident free days among the 52 team members working at Millwood, Inc.’s pallet plant in Hamilton, OH.
“The last OSHA reportable accident was on February 9, 2006,” says Frank Hyatt, human resources manager and chaplain. “Our Milwaukee plant comes closest to that record with a 3-year history of accident free days.”
Plant manager Antonio Delgado attributes his plant’s success to a simple approach. “We stress that safety is a full-time job and not a part-time practice,” he says. “I remind my team members that safety doesn’t take break time, and that shortcuts that increase the chance of an injury aren’t worth the savings.”
Delgado keeps three principles top of mind in his plant:
* Training is the very first step before starting any job or assignment.
* A clean workplace is a safe workplace. For that reason, housekeeping and organization are critical to maintaining a safe environment.
* Enforcing the safety rules is an important part of his managers’ daily routines. “It’s better that we spend time retraining and even disciplining a team member than to spend time in the hospital because of an avoidable accident,” Delgado says.
According to Hyatt, Delgado’s attention to detail has not only created a safe working environment, it’s also led to a productive and successful facility. “Every September, we give out a best-in-class award to one of our managers based on their quality scores, accident free days, employee retention and execution of plan,” says Hyatt. “Antonio has won that award two years in a row, and he’s on track to win it again this fall.”
