Small Ways to Encourage Important Safety Reminders
Small Ways to Encourage Important Safety Reminders
BCMC: Safety Summit
Kent Pagel, Pagel Davis & Hill, P.C. • Rick Parrino, Plum Building Systems, LLC • Randy Rickels, Shelter Systems Limited
Building a positive and respected safety culture takes time, patience, and (maybe most importantly) buy-in from everyone from the top down. Rick Parrino, general manager of Plum Building Systems, LLC, has seen a solid return on investment when it comes to safety at his company. Using both the SBCA Operation Safety Program as well as internally developed processes and procedures, Plum has steadily improved the safety culture in their component manufacturing facility.
One of the most telling signs for Rick is how confident his employees feel about ensuring everyone is safe on the production floor…including the boss. Recently, Rick’s production manager and head of the safety team, Mike Boswell, was on his way out into the shop to check on something. “He was in a hurry and walked out from the office without putting on any safety glasses,” Rick recounts. Not more than a few steps onto the floor a member of the production crew stopped and reminded him that he needed to be wearing the proper personal protective equipment if he was planning to enter the manufacturing area.
Realizing his mistake, Mike quickly headed back into the office and returned with not only his safety glasses but also a $20 gift card for the employee. “Our managers want to make it clear, every chance they get, that watching out for all of your fellow employees is not only important, it should be praised and rewarded,” Rick says. At Plum, safety is at the heart of everything they do and that starts by empowering all of their employees to put safety in the spotlight, even if it means reminding the boss.
