2020 Award Recipients
Leaders Staffing LLC
Education and Outreach for a Small-sized Company
Leaders Staffing LLC, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, places temporary employees in manufacturing and production, as well as filling professional-level roles in management, engineering, accounting and customer service.
Recently, they developed a Multi-Lingual Safety Orientation Manual to train new hires to the OSHA standards regarding their agency and the companies they staff. Internal staff from the company president to individual department supervision train using the manual and employ methods that reach multiple areas of the brain to help ensure the information is retained by the employees. Their worker’s compensation carrier’s risk management now uses this document as a guide to assist other staffing agencies.
Schneider Electric
Education and Outreach for a Medium-sized Company
The employees at the Schneider Electric Huntington Plant, located in Huntington, Indiana, use various types of equipment to manufacture, assemble and test their products. These products include low-voltage instrumentation, many different types of power transformers and medical room control panels.
As part of their local safety and health management system, Schneider Electric adopted a Dock Safety Procedure to protect the operators who load and unload the trailers. As well as creating a pre-entry trailer checklist, Dock Safety Visual Indicator Boards were produced and have been adopted not just by Schneider Electric, but other manufacturers nationwide.
Subaru of Indiana Automotive
Education and Outreach for a Large-sized Company
Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is Subaru’s sole automobile manufacturing center in the United States, located in Lafayette, Indiana. They utilize a variety of equipment including hand tools, stamping presses, conveyors, cranes and robots to produce the Subaru Ascent, Impreza, Legacy and Outback.
In 2019, Subaru of Indiana Automotive offered employees “The Agreement.” Designed to help combat their biggest injury-causing event, slips, trips and falls, employees were asked to voluntarily agree to perform daily stretch and strengthening exercises designed to improve balance and posture. By the end of 2019, they saw a 22% decrease in all OSHA recordable, and an 80% decrease in the number of slips, trips and falls.
Louis Dreyfus Company Agricultural Industries
Innovations in General Industry
The Louis Dreyfus Company Agricultural Industries Claypool facility, in Claypool, Indiana, extracts oil from soybeans and produces meal, biodiesel and glycerin. Working with an outside consultant, Dekra, they implemented a safety and health program that emphasizes employee participation, hazard recognition and hazard elimination. Employees working in the ten plant processes and operation groups were asked to identify their top five safety concerns. As these concerns are addressed and eliminated, the employees have recognized the value in the program. By using mobile tablets in the plant, Louis Dreyfus Company Agricultural Industries has been able to better document job safety analyses and facilitate safety observations and incident investigations.
Gribbins Insulation
Innovations in Construction
Founded in 1985, Gribbins Insulation is a commercial and industrial mechanical insulation specialty contractor, installing fiberglass, calcium silicate, mineral wool, elastometric insulation and other materials. They are located in Evansville, Indiana.
Frustrated by a plateau in reducing injury and illness rates, Gribbins Insulation initiated several programs to increase employee engagement in safety and health. They polled their employees with surveys to see what changes might be necessary to improve their safety and health program. Along with numerous other programs, employees were tapped to help design Safety Task Assignments that are carried out by employees and foremen before each shift and Surveying At-risk For Elimination, or SAFE, cards that are used to promote behavior-based safety.
Sustainable Sourcing LLC
Partnerships
Sustainable Sourcing, LLC, of Clinton, Indiana, is engaged in the processing of animal fats and oils for use in the pharmaceutical, biodiesel and animal feed industries. Trained technicians operate the plant on a 24-hour, 5-day schedule, and company employees perform all tasks associated with the process.
Sustainable Sourcing LLC operates inside the Elanco manufacturing site in Clinton, Indiana. Through this shared real estate, Sustainable Sourcing LLC developed a plan to benchmark and mirror their pharmaceutical partners. They surmised that working with a world-class company could make them world-class, too. By partnering with Elanco and a safety consulting firm, Optimum Safety Management, Sustainable Sourcing LLC just celebrated their seventh year without a recordable injury.
ORG CHEM Group
Rising Star for a Small-sized Company
ORG CHEM Group is a chemical reclamation company in Troy, Indiana, that uses steam and other means to extract reusable chemicals from waste that would otherwise end up in landfills or waste facilities.
ORG CHEM Group was facing issues shared by many employers—high incident rates, rising worker’s comp costs and loss of business due to a negative perception of their worker safety. To them, however, sending people home injured was the real catalyst for change. They decided to hire a Health and Environmental Safety manager and dedicate a team to pursue and achieve an Environmental Health, Safety and Sustainability Responsible Care Certification, leading to two consecutive years of zero recordable injuries.
Meritor
Rising Star for a Medium-sized Company
Meritor Aftermarket is North America’s leading source of brake, wheel-end, drivetrain, steering and suspension products for commercial vehicles and trailers.
Prior to 2016, Meritor Plainfield had the highest incident rates within the company and was not performing to corporate expectations. Their journey toward better workplace safety and health started from the top down, with a restructuring of the leadership team that included safety in every process. Their safety overhaul included establishing safety teams, incorporating toolbox talks, retooling some areas to reduce ergonomic stress and personal recognition of employees who demonstrate safety and health excellence. In short, they moved safety from a program to a core value upon which all decisions, large or small, are made. The Plainfield location has experienced a 38% decrease in their top 3 injuries, and a half-million dollar decrease in their worker’s comp costs.
Indiana Packers Corporation
Rising Star for a Large-sized Company
Indiana Packers Corporation is the only high-volume, fully integrated pork supplier that operates sourcing, production, sales and shipping all from one location in Delphi, Indiana.
In 2017, Indiana Packers Corporation embarked on a journey of changing their culture to provide a safer working environment. They noted that communication was weak and began holding huddled meetings with all team members. They standardized safety information in common areas and set and trained staff on clear goals for lagging and leading safety indicators. Although the initial culture changes were met with some resistance, the Indiana Packers Corporation saw a 28% reduction in injuries and illnesses from 2016 to 2019, bringing them 36% below the national average for their industry.
View the recipients of the 2020 Everyday Safety Hero Award by clicking here!