West Kingston plant earns an OSHA award
Games might be the best way to encourage employees to participate in workplace safety. At least that’s what works for the Modine Manufacturing Co.
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Modine’s West Kingston plant, which is one of about 38 worldwide, recently won a “Star” award from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for going above and beyond the federal standards for workplace safety.
It’s a big deal for the 64-employee plant, which manufactures commercial heaters for hospitals, schools, warehouses and offices, because the equipment there is so dangerous. Sheet metal work and welding create opportunities for cuts and burns, which make up the majority of the plant’s recordable injuries.
“We have 450-ton presses,” said plant manager Mike Richards. “If not guarded correctly, a person could have an amputation, crushed limb, removed digits.”
Guarding equipment has been paramount at the plant for the last 17 years, he said.
“Taking it to the next step is really where getting the employees involved has been key,” Richards said. “The main thing we’re looking at is how do we energize the safety culture here? Safety has to be first at a facility like ours, where you deal with a lot of dangerous situations with presses, and sheet metal and flames.”
The company’s investment in games like Safety Bingo and Safety Jackpot have turned around the number of injuries and illnesses recorded, making the plant eligible to apply for OSHA’s “Star” designation, he said.
Safety Bingo, which was implemented about five years ago, involves drawing a number each day the plant experiences no recordable injury. Then employees can mark the number on their bingo card until they spell BINGO, at which point they can get a cash reward of $50 to $250, said Sherry Arnold, human resources manager at the plant.
“I think this has been successful because it really opened people’s eyes, because some people really get into the game,” Arnold said, adding that every time the plant reaches 30 days without a recordable injury, employees get a celebration with food and extended breaks.
Safety Jackpot also provides incentives for employees by giving them a scratch ticket every time they identify a safety hazard or suggest a way to improve safety at the work site, she said. Each scratch ticket allows employees to gain points used to earn prizes they pick from the Safety Jackpot catalog. Prizes include jewelry, electronics, home goods and up to a $10,000 reward drawn quarterly from the nation’s pool of participants.
As a result, since the company implemented the game about one year ago, it has addressed more than 100 safety issues, ranging from frayed plug-in cords to guards on torches, Richards said. The game also significantly reduced the number of injuries at the plant.
OSHA’s New England outreach manager, Bob Sands, took note of Modine’s enthusiastic employees when he performed a weeklong evaluation of the site for “Star” status.
Though OSHA measures employees’ and managers’ level of involvement in a company’s safety program, “we do not require that they be enthusiastic,” he said.
“Modine’s employees were particularly involved,” Sands said. “They were very much a part of it. They felt ownership of the safety program.”
The company’s commitment to safety creates some level of comfort among the employees, said safety committee member Ron Gaudlap, a Modine employee of 17 years.
New employees go through hours of training before working on the floor, he said. And they are encouraged to stretch for 10 minutes before their shift to help prevent injury by loosening the muscles and joints.
In addition, the plant’s safety program involves regular ergonomic and hazard assessments of each task performed, Richards said. The plant undergoes a complete ergonomic assessment of each task every three years.
The ergonomics of a job are assessed by videotaping a worker’s movements while he performs a task. The video is reviewed by a physical therapist, who identifies risk factors.
“Repetitive injuries are probably the biggest challenge we have at this point,” Richards said, adding the plant is purchasing a new, more automated system to paint sheet metal to reduce the wear and tear on employees’ shoulders.
Though the cost of safety can be expensive, Richards said spending money on safety is cost avoidance.
“One workers’ comp case can more than swamp the cost of Safety Jackpot,” he said.
“You don’t lose productivity by making the facility safe. In a lot of instances, you gain productivity, because you’re looking at the ergonomics and people are not as tired or hurting. You are avoiding workers’ comp, so it’s good for the people and it’s good for the business.”
