Lost Time Falls by 87% in 2003
January 8th, 2004 by Hal
Work Injury Free
They designed a system that is coherent. The interests of the individuals are in alignment with the interests of the company and the customers. They are careful what they measure. They tie rewards directly to the behavior they want. They made safety a team sport.
- Crews are rewarded for working safely as the precondition for working productively. Safety is the quid pro quo. Only safe crews get in the bonus pool.
- A company executive drops in on every crew on a regular basis to perform a 100-item check on their behavior. Just two or three items out of order can put their eligibility at risk.
- They track violations of the safety policy. Those numbers are down by more than their lost time is down. By the way, not reporting a violation has more severe consequences to the individual and the team than letting it go.
- They are serious about violations. If a crew member is working on a roof without fall-protection the crew leader will put the individual on written warning. A second offense gets a three-day suspension. A third offense results in termination.
- People accumulate "safe working points" on an individual and crew basis. Sweeteners are added for continued safe work. These points can be exchanged for valuable gifts. The company's budget for this is increasing as people string together long stretches of working without injuries.
In the conversation we wondered together if their approach will continue to produce improvements in the safety record. Another 87% reduction seems too much to hope for. They are still not satisfied where they are. They seem intent on making another significant reduction. In the words of the head of operations, "Safety is our way of life."
My take:
This company will continue to improve. Their commitment to safety is at all levels in the company. They've done an exceptional job of adopting a behavioral safety approach and are reaping the rewards of it. However, I don't see how their current approach will get them to an injury-free environment. They need to systematically reduce the exposure to risk not just work safely in the presence of risk.
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