Blog Written by Jonathan Shaffer; Director of Safety for Rochester.
Re:Build Optimation Technology just accomplished one of our goals we set two years ago:
Reduce our Lost Time Injuries to zero.
Not only did we accomplish this feat, but we also reduced our OSHA recordable injuries to just one in the past 21 months. We had some close calls, but with vigor and determination our team took every near miss seriously. We treated our work environment with the respect it deserves, and kept each other safe through leadership, planning, and quality training. Leadership can be seen throughout our organization, from a first-year Electrical Apprentice to a Project Manager with over 20
years of experience. We all had a stake in our Health, Safety and Environment process and we all had a hand in leading our team to success. Our team has always consisted of our customers, vendors, and communities we operate in. We ensure everyone is involved in our planning process to minimize hazards and keep our team safe.
In 2022, our team stopped hazardous work that did not have the appropriate plan, we identified unsafe work conditions and reported them promptly, and we decided to use the tools at our disposal to mitigate hazards prior to work. Our team continually improved through open communication, and realistic assessment of risk. We all committed to getting everyone home safely, and then committed ourselves just the same the very next day. This accomplishment is not the product of a fad safety program, nor was it born from strict, over the top compliance to standards with unrealistic applicability. These situations tend to drive a culture with poor attitudes due to the micromanagement of safety. Rather, we improved our quality of training and built trust in the individual worker with newly forged skills.
We have had tremendous support from Re:Build Manufacturing, leveraging resources to improve engineering controls and workplace organization to minimize our exposure to occupational hazards. At Re:Build Optimation we value safety, and integrate it into our work. We improved our culture with commitment from our teammates. We made safety user friendly again and grew it from the ground up. While we are focused on our situation at hand, we are also paying attention to hazards over the horizon. We look forward to meeting our new challenge to attain even higher goals. As we continue to plan our work to reduce unexpected outcomes, we will work that plan until a Teammate says, “stop work”.
