Before arriving at Amgen’s West Greenwich facility in February 2008, Lynette Hodgden had become the company’s safety net.
Beginning her career at the biopharmaceutical manufacturer in 1997, Hodgden split time between Amgen’s two Colorado facilities.
It was at the LakeCentre, Colo., plant that her leadership was put to the test. She was charged with spearheading the effort to overhaul the safety culture at the facility, which suffered from a historically high injury rate.
Leading a team that worked to change practices from the manufacturing floor through the senior management offices, Hodgden played a key role in increasing overall safety at the facility.
New tools were put in place, including easier hazard-reporting methods, in-depth assessments and cascading safety meetings.
“These efforts helped decrease LakeCentre’s reported injury rate by an astonishing 63 percent in one year,” Hodgden wrote in her 40 Under Forty application. “Just as important, the systems and tools … became recognized as best practices within all of Amgen.”
Her impact has already been felt at the company’s West Greenwich facility, where she serves as director of environment, health and safety. Under her leadership, rates of reported injuries and illnesses have dropped dramatically. The facility went 13 months without a lost-time injury, the first time an Amgen facility went a year without one.
She has also helped provide a boost for the company’s environmental efforts. The facility’s diversion rate – the percentage of items reused or recycled – reached 78 percent in 2008, by far surpassing the site’s goal of 45 percent. This year, the West Greenwich facility has a diversion rate of 96 percent.
Those results show Hodgden that her efforts have been effective.
“As a leader, it is very rewarding to know that you watch your team produce amazing results,” she said. “A high-functioning team can accomplish anything.” •
