Newspapers / Fotofax (Brevard, N.C.) / Jan. 1, 1977, edition 1 / Page 4
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FOTOFAX JANUARY, 1977 Brevard in Perspective - How We Can Improve Our Safety Performance Record ? By Fotofax Staff and Mike Moore Finishing Area Group Supervisor Trainee Du Pont has an excellent worldwide reputation for its safety program. The Kinston textile fibers plant in North Carolina continues to hold the world safety record for industrial plants with over 65 million hours without a lost time injury. While Kinston is riding along with zero injury frequency, the Company, the Photo Products Dept, and the Brevard Plant have injury frequency numbers to quote. In perspective, if you take the Company injury frequency and multiply by two, you get the Photo Products Dept, level. Again multiply by two and you get Brevard's frequency. While the Brevard injury frequency is only 1/3 of the level for the entire Chemical Industry, it's too high compared to the Du Pont Company and Photo Products. These comparisons indicate that Brevard has a relatively poor on-the-job safety performance record. What can we do to improve this record? A recent transferee to Brevard from another Du Pont plant was asked for suggestions. Mike Moore, Finishing Group Supervis or, came to Brevard in mid-November from the Martinsville, Va. Textile Fibers Dept, plant where he worked for three years. Martinsville is in the top twenty Du Pont plants for safety performance with over 8 million exposure hours since their last injury. Based on observations he has made since being here, Mike explain ed some of the safety standards set at Martinsville which he felt might help at Brevard. Mike said, "From my safety exposure with Du Pont, I've found these four principles would be most helpful." 1. "Everyone must have a personal discipline to accept responsibility for safety as the single most important aspect of their job performance. Anytime I felt it was dangerous to work around a machine, I considered shutting it down even if I had to make up production time in some other way. I was trained to never take a chance." Employee Ideas Help Correct Over 1600 Safety Hazards By P. A. Holden Computer Applications Supervisor That's right! in the past five years Brevard employees have eliminated 1623 unsafe conditions by writing safety suggestions. The Safety Suggestion System was established in 1972 to give employees an opportunity to formally present their safety ideas. Awards and recognition along with the satisfaction of improving plant safety has been their reward. Ideas have ranged in complexity from rounding off sharp edges on equipment to the design of complicated guards to protect personnel from moving equip ment. Over the years more than 50 per cent of submitted suggestions have been accepted and carried out. Safety Suggestion System awards include a safety key chain for the first five accepted suggestions, a six foot measuring tape for 10, a merchandise award for 25 and two merchandise awards for every 25 accepted thereafter. Merchandise awards are picked from the current list of avail able off-the-job prizes. In addition, a preferred safety parking space, adjacent to the plant gate, is awarded to individuals for every 5 accepted suggestions. In some cases employees in carpools have reserved spaces for consec utive periods of a year or more through the Safety Suggestion System. Outstanding individuals in the program include Nathan Thomas with awards for 75 accepted suggestions and Carol Talley, Harold Mason, Dave Barron, Carl Garren and Dan banning for 50 or more. Each employee is challenged to write at least one safety suggestion to help launch the 1977 Plant Safety Program. The one you write might save someone from a painful injury. 2. "Safety must be sold, just like a commodity, by supporting and maintain ing safety standards at the top and working down. A supervisor must maintain a safe approach and expect the men working under him to do the same." 3. "Preventive safety must be em phasized rather than corrective safety. Everyone must have an attitude to take preventive actions before an accident occurs, not just take corrective measures afterward." 4. "There must be 100% participation to have an improvement in the safety performance." Mike went on to say, "When I came to work for Du Pont, I was taught that safety was the most important thing about my job and I look for it now, automatical ly, even at home. It was just a part of my training — the Safety attitude!" If each of us will make safety an integral part of our lives like Mike has, then we can all be assured that we are working in a safe atmosphere where each individual assumes responsibility for safety not only for him self but those around him. Let's make a concentrated effort to improve our safety attitude, acceptance of safety responsibili ty, and our individual safety performance in 1977. in7 safe:ty Sl/GCBTION SYSTEM STATUS
Fotofax (Brevard, N.C.)
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Jan. 1, 1977, edition 1
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