Safety Programs Benefit Employees, Customers and the Bottom Line
No matter where you look these days, from professional sports to food production to society’s driving habits, there is a growing emphasis on safety. Manufacturing is no different. At Chemstar, we’ve put additional muscle behind our safety programs in recent years. In fact, I was hired earlier this year to further improve our safety culture and ensure that everyone in our facilities, from employees to contractors, comply with federal regulations and our additional safety policies. Our mission is quite simple – to reduce employee injuries and ultimately create an injury free workplace.
If you’re wondering why you should care if your supply partners are committed to safety, there are a few important things to consider. A safe workplace is rewarded with greater productivity, lower expenses and a healthier bottom line, which leads to greater longevity.
At Chemstar, all employees go through numerous hours of classroom training each year. There are currently 29 safety courses we use as training curriculum each year due to federal regulation or voluntary training, which keeps safety top-of-mind. Chemstar employees receive training based on regulatory requirements from OSHA’s 1910 Standards for General Industry and from the EPA. In addition, our facilities receive a monthly “tool box talk” topic which focuses on the following areas (among others):
- Proper lifting techniques
- Safety signs and tags
- Slips, trips and falls
- Electrical safe work practices
- Machine guarding
One of the most positive safety programs we have in place is the involvement of our Safety Councils at each facility. These are employees who serve as representatives from Maintenance, Warehouse and Production and Management, all working together to improve the safety in our workplace.
On top of that, I conduct quarterly “spot checks” at each facility to ensure we’re following our procedures and meeting our safety goals. Some of the spot checks are announced and some aren’t. These spot checks have become a valuable opportunity to discuss safety issues with employees, provide additional education and get their feedback on ways we can improve employee safety.
If you’d like to learn more about our safety programs, please let me know. I’d be happy to speak with you in greater detail.
-Warren Nuce
Environmental Health & Safety Manager