Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/370990
15 AGGREGATES MANAGER September 2014 PLANT PROFILE well-being comes before production and that we need their help to make this pro- gram effective." Other initiatives at the plant include re- quiring high-visibility clothing including t-shirts, vests, and hardhats; metatarsal protection on all safety footwear at the plant; and mandatory gloves at all times. Employees are asked to help choose the best glove for their particular jobs. "Now, everyone wears gloves even when they are not in a controlled environment," Malo- ney says. "This program was somewhat controversial at its inception, as many employees nationwide were skeptical that mandatory gloves at all times would be effective and not just a waste of money. Nearly a year into this program, the re- duction in hand injuries has been so dra- matic that everyone is now a believer." In order to ensure employees are sup- plied with everything they need to work safely, Guion has vending machines full of safety items. "Each employee finds his or her name on the computerized screen," Maloney says. "Then they can select what they need — gloves, safety glasses, ear plugs, lanyard, fall-protection harness, etc. Everything is readily available to the em- ployees so they can get it themselves, with- out having to hunt down a supervisor. This has been especially helpful at night. It's trackable, so we can see how many items an employee has taken. It's very effective and has been a good program for us." Another key program has been a strong emphasis on workplace exams at the op- eration. Each individual has responsibility for a particular area to assure accountabil- ity. The workplace exams are continually reworked to improve functionality. "The operators are expected to look for safety defects first, not only how the equipment is running, but if it is safe," Maloney explains. "They are expected to look for any problems that MSHA might see as a citation so that we can identify the problems first and fix them in real time, rather than waiting for MSHA to find them for us. These inspections also include heavy involvement from all the staff, including, and especially, the man- ager and superintendent, so that we can continue to improve the effectiveness of the inspections by reinforcing the items we are looking for and illustrate our com- mitment to the process. "We also like to reward the crews with a dinner when there are no citations issued during an MSHA inspection," Maloney continues. "We'll get a catered catfish dinner or cook steaks, so there's a reward at the end of the quarter if they do a good job. And the results speak for themselves." A year ago, senior management asked for each plant in the company to hold brainstorming sessions with all employees covering all areas to explore the possibil- ity of risks that had, perhaps, a very low probability of occurrence but potentially higher risk of serious injury should they occur. The idea was that perhaps em- ployees might be aware of such risks, but discount them because the likelihood of occurrence seems too remote. While, for- tunately, there was very little identified as high risk at Guion, some very good proj- ects came out of those meetings that will further improve safety (and efficiency) at the plant. One of these projects was to improve communications in the underground, and another was improving the size and func- tionality of the mine/mobile equipment shop. Both of these projects required a significant capital investment. As the employees see these projects take shape, they know the ideas came directly from those meetings, and they are seeing Uni- min step up to make the improvements happen. "We've got some good folks here, su- pervisors and operators out in the field," Maloney says. "It's a good combination, and everyone cares about safety. I don't think you can have a successful safety program if you don't have the backing of senior management. We try to go the ex- tra mile or two to make sure we're doing everything we need to do. Everybody's goal at the end of the day is to get the miner home safe, and it has been a good past several years as far as safety." AM Hydraulic fracturing sand, which is shipped primarily by rail, is loaded into bulk railcars.