The way the plant was designed, large containers of cleansers had to be brought up stairs each night. We developed a method to pump the cleansers to a room upstairs and entirely the risks of physically moving the large containers, said Kenneth Roden, sanitation manager. Working with strong cleaning chemicals created other safety risks. To help address these risks, the department now buys pre-mixed chemicals, has clear bilingual labels on all products and stresses safety procedures with all employees. I tell my employees that I d rather fire them for not following the safety rules and have them walk out of here in one piece than have to carry them out after an accident, stressed Roden.
Employees also look after each other.
If an employee sees a loose brake on a jack, they think if the jack comes loose, it could hit me and hurt my leg, said Seabrook. But they also think that if that jack releases and hits someone on the saw line, they could lose their fingers. Employees have become attuned to the ramifications and take the time to make someone aware of the problem. Part of the enhanced safety awareness can be attributed to a new orientation program for employees. More than 5 hours are dedicated to safety training before a new employee ever steps out into the plant.