SAFETY, A COMMITMENT Steve McGuire Hampton Lumber, Cowlitz Division Randle, Washington Safety is a com m itm ent; a way of life at work and at hom e. In the workplace and at hom e, the com m itm ent begins with each of us. W e m ust of course have the support and com m itm ent from those who direct our daily work. Likewise, we m ust lead by exam ple, at work and at hom e. All of us have som ething we like to do that takes us away from routine, daily tasks. W e m ust preserve our “quality of life” if we wish to participate in those things we like to do. A com m itm ent, as defined in m ost dictionaries, is an obligation, a prom ise and dedication. The obligation to work safely is based in expectations we have for ourselves. It is hum an nature to try and avoid any situation involving pain, yet m any tim es we take short cuts that increase the likelihood we will becom e injured. The reasons we take short cuts are varied but include pressure to perform , recognition and one that can be addictive, for the adrenalin rush. The prom ise we m ake ourselves is that we are not going to be injured or hurt because we do not like pain. Particularly when we are younger, we have the feeling we are invincible. However, keeping this prom ise becom es extrem ely difficult when we lose our focus on the tasks at hand. Focus is m ost often lost when we are doing fam iliar tasks and becom e com placent, letting our m inds “wander” or disengage. W hen our m inds are disengaged, even repetitive, m undane tasks can becom e hazardous. Finally, we m ust have the dedication to utilize thought processes that place our quality of life as the first priority. Such dedication will evolve into a lifestyle which will in turn becom e a foundation for establishing a culture where safe work practices and safe living habits just “happen”. In 2003, the supervisory, m anagem ent and safety com m ittee team s m ade a com m itm ent at Ham pton Lum ber Mills Cowlitz Division. W e com m itted to im proving our safety perform ance. W e m ade that com m itm ent because we believe it is our m oral and legal obligation to assure we provide a safe work environm ent for all our team m ates. Providing a safe work environm ent pertains to the physical condition of our m anufacturing operations as well as assuring all team m ates are supported in safe work practices. W e believe we have m ade significant progress in our quest to assist our team m ates to preserve their quality of life. At the end of the calendar year 2002 we had an accident incident rate of 10.88 in the Cowlitz Division. At the end of the calendar year 2005 we had an accident incident rate of 4.76. Many factors have contributed to our ongoing success to im prove our safety perform ance. The initial effort for im provem ent involved, at that tim e, our Cowlitz Division Operations Manager, plant supervisors, safety com m ittee m em bers and m yself, in the capacity as Division HR/Safety Manager. That initial effort began by addressing not only recordable accidents, but also any non-recordable injury, any near m iss and any property dam age. A team consisting of m yself, the Division Operations Manager, the departm ent supervisor and the departm ent safety com m ittee representative would m eet with each individual involved in any of the aforem entioned scenarios. Nearly all those involved in incidents were apprehensive at first regarding the m eetings because the m eetings occurred during operating hours in a highly visible location. The obvious thought process was an individual was probably going to receive som e kind of disciplinary action as a result of W estern Dry Kiln Association 75 May, 2006 having an accident or incident. However, the purpose of these m eetings was som ething all together different. The purpose of these m eetings was to convey, to the individual involved in an incident, no disciplinary action would be involved in this m eeting and the m otive of those present was to try and identify the controllable item s/actions that could have prevented the incident from occurring. In the first year of this effort, the aforem entioned individuals addressed over 600 separate incidents. This com m itm ent was successful because all involved believed in the process. To this day, this process continues, although the m akeup of review team s varies from tim e to tim e. Through the foregoing process, safety com m ittee m em bers have been em powered to establish and com m unicate safe work behaviors. Our philosophy states ownership for a safe work environm ent is a personal responsibility. Com m ittee m em bers have accepted that responsibility. The com m ittee m em bers conduct m onthly safety training within their respective departm ents. They have been instrum ental in the developm ent of annual safety plans. They have accepted the responsibility to visit with team m em bers through the course of the work day to identify areas of concern and opportunities for im provem ent and som e have provided docum entation, used as training guides, that convey safe work practices in a variety of entry level, production and m aintenance positions. All m em bers of the safety com m ittee, as well as all team m em bers, have received training that better enables each to successfully confront unsafe behaviors in a constructive, professional m anner. Each team m em ber is allowed and encouraged to approach any other team m em ber observed engaged in an unsafe work practice to coach and further train that individual. Each individual has their own style regarding how they approach a team m ate, but in every instance, constructive feedback is stressed as a necessity. Just as im portant as identifying opportunities for im provem ent in safety perform ance, it is im portant to recognize im provem ent, in individuals, departm ents and facilities. W e do take the tim e to celebrate achieving safety goals, as individuals, departm ents and entire facilities in a num ber of ways. A sim ple thank you for following safe work practices, from a constituent, supervisor or m anager is also em phasized. W e try very hard to place m ore em phasis on safe work practices, through positive reinforcem ent, than we do through a disciplinary process. However, we do not hesitate to use negative reinforcem ent when such is needed. Before using negative reinforcem ent, we review the assets we have provided an individual so we m ay be assured we have set that person up for success, not failure. If the answer is “yes”, we have set an individual up for success and that individual elects to ignore or decline that input, then and only then do we refer to negative reinforcem ent. You m ight ask how all of the foregoing applies to drying lum ber. The answer to such is quite sim ple. To be able to dry lum ber effectively, a hum an m ust be involved at som e point in the drying process. To achieve efficiency in lum ber drying, it m akes sense to have that task accom plished by the individual trained in that discipline rather than a substitute filling in for the trained individual. W hen a trained individual is assigned a particular task, the risk of injury or loss of quality of life is greatly reduced, as long as that person m aintains their focus on the tasks at hand. By far, our experience has been an increased exposure to injury, for our team m em bers, when an individual is involved in perform ing non-routine tasks. The foregoing provides som e insight regarding “A Com m itm ent” for safety perform ance im provem ent in the Cowlitz Division. W e continually seek opportunities for im provem ent in our processes with an em phasis we will preserve quality of life. It is also im portant to note we have not sacrificed perform ance in the other two areas of im portance in any m anufacturing operation, quality and production. The com m itm ent to im proved safety perform ance has created a pattern that transcends the other two areas of im portance, so W estern Dry Kiln Association 76 May, 2006 m uch so that while we have im proved our safety perform ance, we have continued to establish new production records on alm ost a m onthly basis while m aintaining custom er directed quality. Safety perform ance has becom e a com m itm ent because all involved understand the obligations and prom ises we have m ade in regard to working safely. Our dedication continues on a daily basis in the Cowlitz Division. W e all understand the com m itm ent, for our com pany, our fam ilies and ourselves so that each of us can enjoy our own quality of life. W estern Dry Kiln Association 77 May, 2006