Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/540088
2 0 1 5 V 2 | BULLDOG | 9 Building a team safety mentality starts during the hiring process for Florida Rock & Tank, Anderson says. The petroleum hauler sets high standards by seeking drivers who are committed to safety. The interview pro- cess includes safety related questions designed to assess their skills and safety consciousness. Once hired, Florida Rock & Tank drivers go through an orientation program and then work exclusively with a driver trainer for a minimum of three weeks. At the end of that period, a senior trainer has to validate the driver's competency. In addition, within their fi rst 90 days, drivers also attend a three-day driver training school which covers a variety of topics including the National Safety Council's Defensive Driving program, loading and unloading procedures, fatigue aware- ness, rollover prevention, transporting haz- ardous materials and other topics. "It really is a fi nishing school for the fi eld training," Anderson says. Stan St. Clair, operations manager at Portland-based McCracken Motor Freight, takes a similar approach. "We just don't throw a guy out and say, 'Here, go out in the truck and take off,'" St. Clair says. Instead, McCracken has an employee dedicated to training, and all new drivers must work with him before going out on the road. "Some guys are only with him a day or two, and then some are with him a month," St. Clair says. "He won't let them go until he knows they are safe and ready and good to go on the road. These guys have 80,000 pounds that they are going down the road with, so we make sure they are capable of doing so." Innocon, a ready-mix fl eet with 191 tractors based in Toronto, has a formal training pro- gram, but the company also has a database of every safety-related incident so it can see where problems are throughout the organization. "We have specifi c targets for safety, and we make sure that we are having conversations about safety," says Andy Ludwik, Innocon's fl eet manager. "But we also commend people that follow safe work practices." Your safety culture must be grounded in fairness, Fielkow says. Employees have to know that not all unsafe acts will be treated the same. Sometimes coaching and support is all you need to make somebody better. Other times you have to act more aggressively. "It is really creating a culture where people feel like they are treated justly," Fielkow says. "If you have a culture that says every accident and every near miss is going to be treated equally and harshly, how likely is someone to bring a near miss or a hazard to the table?" he asks. Getting the safety message out to employ- ee's families is also critical. "It is no longer enough to transmit the safety message only to your drivers," Fielkow says. "Families have to understand that their loved ones are per- forming safety critical functions. Disruptions and distractions could be the difference between life and death." At the end of the day, safety is not about rules and regulations. "People don't read through and digest a 400-page handbook," Fielkow says. "Rules and regulations are the bare minimum of what you should be doing. Just because you comply with the rules and regulations doesn't make you safe. It's about building a behavior-based culture." Rigorously training drivers may be one of the most important ways to reduce accidents and increase safety awareness. Hire and train for safety 'We have specifi c targets for safety, and we make sure that we are having conversations about safety.' Andy Ludwik, Innocon's fl eet manager