'How we've gone 5 million man-hours without a lost time accident.' (steel foundry GH Hensley)

Reflecting on nearly five years without a lost-time accident, GH Hensley officials explain their record-setting safety marathon.

Editor's Note: In a time where employee recruitment and retainment is of the utmost importance (not to mention workers' compensation or insurance costs), one foundry is on a mission for a much safer manufacturing environment. That foundry is GH Hensley (GHH), Dallas, a 520-employee nobake, green and shell sand steel foundry recognized by AFS for achieving the foundry industry's all-time safety record. It is on a safety mission that has, thus far, logged more than 5 million man-hours - and nearly five years - without a single lost-time accident.

As reported in last month's modem casting (p. 14), the recent safety rates released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that foundries still register well above the national manufacturers' average for recordable injuries and illnesses. But as GH Hensley officials point out, and is demonstrated in this article, foundries can be much safer places to work. Here's their story...

GHH began the 1990s with a less than enviable position regarding safety and associated costs due to injury claims. We found out the hard way that you can't take injury claims for granted. We thought we were doing the right thing by shuttling workers into the workers' compensation system upon a claimed injury, but such was not the case.

In 1990, 27 out of GHH's 385 workers were on worker's compensation - most for back injury claims. Lost work days due to injuries were nearly 4000 and incurred costs exceeded $1.5 million that year, plus an additional $1 million in insurance premiums. A comprehensive analysis and investigation determined a significant portion of these injury claims were unsubstantiated. Investigators even discovered a ring of unscrupulous lawyers and doctors that targeted companies such as GHH for trumped up injury cases. In fact, workers often visited lawyers before going to the doctor.

Further investigations revealed employees claiming disability for back injuries were participating in sports, doing heavy mechanical work on their cars, hauling kids and groceries up flights of stairs and a multitude of other activities.

Reversing the Trend

In late 1990, the $1.5 million in workers' compensation costs GHH faced for the coming year was clearly too excessive a burden. A safety manager was hired and a safety dept. was established to reverse the trend through an all-out campaign. Meetings were held with employees to announce the new program and to voice management's concern and commitment to the program. Back support belts were provided for every employee. The company had always provided hard hats and safety glasses, but safety glasses hadn't been required in all areas. This rule changed - safety glasses were required everywhere, and additionally, workers were required to wear hard hats and safety glasses as they entered and left the plant each day.

Necessary compliance programs were initiated and the reactive philosophy to claims of injuries was reversed. A proactive policy of accident investigation was established. When a worker claimed an injury that wasn't witnessed or substantiated by obvious trauma, an immediate and thorough investigation was performed, including interviews of the worker and everyone else near the accident site. These investigations also included videotaping of all conditions relating to the supposed incident and a thorough reenactment of events. Not surprisingly, several claims couldn't be substantiated and dishonest employees were terminated. This quickly conveyed the message that GHH was no longer going to take a claim of injury for granted.

Engineering for Safety

Another initiative identified and eliminated inherently unsafe operations. Professional ergonomic assessments were conducted to analyze each job for physical hazards. This also indicated that each job had to be analyzed for the amount of physical labor required. Standards were established for many departments, and new hires were required to successfully complete an ergonomics test.

Through this assessment, many potential hazards were identified and analyzed. For instance, on an elevated deck where molds were set and assembled, workers had to step down several feet to obtain cores from a core cart, then climb up two steps again to set the cores. A scissors lift was installed so that core carts could be elevated to the molding deck and rolled directly to the row of molds.

Another potential problem was the amount of effort required to move molds. There was too much friction on the rail and car system and brute force was needed to move the molds. Thus, the entire system was redesigned to make the job easier. What once took several laborers was done easily by one after the changes.

Raw materials packaging also posed a problem, as workers were lifting 80-100 lb packages of various raw materials. GHH mandated from its suppliers that products be packaged in containers of no more than 50 lb for materials that had to be handled by hand. Materials that could be bulk handled were repackaged in bulk bags and handling devices were installed to deal with the bulk packaging.

The GHH ergonomics program is an ongoing effort. Plant engineering, supervision and the safety dept. are all constantly looking to improve the way things are done.

Housekeeping for Safety

Management also took on a new initiative to improve housekeeping. The president and vice president of manufacturing visited several plants worldwide and decided that just because a company processes "dirt" doesn't mean the plant has to be "dirty." This initiative provided the catalyst for a new housekeeping philosophy where everything has a place - and is kept in place.

Trash is placed only in containers. Smoking is allowed in the plant, as long as cigarette butts are properly disposed. Everyone cleans up at the end of each shift. Management and supervision set the tone by pitching in to pick up stray trash.

In times past, notices advised supervisors to clean up the plant for guest visits. Today, visitors can enter without notice because it is always presentable.

This makes for a much safer work environment for all employees. Plus, people are much more productive and motivated to work safely if they have a clean place to work.

Training for Safety

Once the new safety initiative was established, monthly safety meetings were scheduled to communicate safety to the employees. These meetings were held in the departments and minutes were written and sent to the vice president of manufacturing. Employees were required to sign the form to document attendance of the meetings. The vice president signed off on the minutes and forwarded them to the safety dept. for filing.

Eventually, a new training facility was built to accommodate up to 50 people for meetings. The safety dept. now holds regular meetings with individual departments in this facility for training and safety awareness updates. Frequent use is made of audiovisual programs to train employees on a wide range of topics such as proper lifting skills, MSDS, proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and updates of safety rules and procedures.

Each department also meets in-between the monthly safety meeting to review and discuss any safety issues. Also, supervisors take advantage of every opportunity to convey the message of safety. If a department is shut down for a major breakdown, they hold impromptu meetings on the shop floor to discuss relevant topics. Most supervisors hold meetings before and after holidays and shutdowns to encourage employees to be safe while they are traveling and to return to work with safety on their minds.

Certain groups of employees also receive specific training such as forklift operator authorization, emergency response training, CPR, bloodborne pathogens, lockout tagout, confined space access, etc. Employees that receive any training are required to sign the attendance roster for every session they attend. This becomes part of the permanent records of the safety dept. The training room is also used extensively for safety awards presentations, employee meetings, management meetings, superintendent meetings and all other larger meetings.

Supervising for Safety

Today's worker is more inclined to ask and demand more information than yesterday's counterpart. This is not to say that today's worker is "better" or "smarter" than yesterday's, but through various enhanced media sources today's worker is better informed of the hazards of the workplace.

In almost every organization there is a genuine concern for the safety, health and well-being of employees. The most important asset of any company is the people that perform the work. Today's economic environment requires everyone in an organization to produce more in less time. Increasing productivity, while emphasizing safety, requires everyone in a manufacturing company to remain committed to safety above all else by proactively refining and improving the safety process.

We constantly emphasize the importance of the individual employee and his or her role in making the safety program a success. We regularly remind every employee that the most important thing they can do is go home healthy to their families at the end of every day, and to do this requires that they make safety the first thought in every task. We also know that foundry work is demanding and lapses of proper safety can and do occur. Therefore, we ask each and every employee to watch out for each other. EmpLoyees are taught that they are the ones most responsible for their safety, but we also supervise for safety.

Awareness for Safety

When the new safety program was initiated, GHH recognized that safety awareness was a key issue. The safety dept. formalized a program of awareness that had an annual theme. These themes are kicked off with presentation of t-shirts that advertise the theme for the year. Departments wear their shirts for group pictures and on special days such as for tours for special visitors.

Most theme programs include games that instill fun and competition into the safety program. These programs include dividing departments into teams with professional sports team names that have various types of drawings and scratch-off competitions. One theme focused on lottery scratch-off type tickets that were issued based on the department's lack of "doctor cases."

Items with the themes advertised on them are distributed at the monthly safety meetings to continually remind employees of the theme and keep safety awareness in the forefront. Safety awareness items include caps, can coolers, nail clippers, flashlights, lunch totes, pot holders, cups, first-aid kits, sunglasses, etc. Most items are taken home, reminding spouses and children of the company safety program and how important it is.

Different themes have included quarterly awards of significant value. To be eligible for the quarterly award drawing, departments must not have had more than a preset number of injuries that required a doctor's intervention (minor injuries are handled in the health services facility). Other theme programs have had higher value individual awards that are presented to all employees in a department on a trimester basis (four month period) if the department does not exceed the preset number of "doctor cases."

The annual themes have included:

* Go Home Healthy - 1992;

* R.A.T. Patrol (Rub-out Accidents Today) - 1993;

* Safety Always A Winner - 1994;

* Safety A Winner Every Time - 1995;

* Cast For Safety - 1996;

* Safety For All Seasons - 1997.

Motivating for Safety

A key aspect of the safety program is keeping the employees motivated to think "Safety." When the program began, we instituted a system whereby employees could receive departmental awards based on the department completing annual goals of no lost time accidents. These awards were retroactive for departments that had already accumulated time without lost time injuries. The awards are as follows:

* 1 Year - cotton melter's jacket with employee name, department name embroidered on front and GH Hensley Safety emblem on back;

* 2 Years - Pair of Wall's cotton coveralls with name embroidery on front and safety emblem on back;

* 3 Years - Satin jacket with name embroidery and safety emblem on back; 4 Years - Set of six cotton long or short sleeve work shirts with name embroidery;

* 5 Years and above - Extra week of vacation, which may be used as vacation or sold to company as bonus.

All employees are eligible for departmental awards, regardless of seniority. An employee working for even one day in a department receives the award on the anniversary.

The departmental award program has created a tremendous amount of peer pressure to continue to work safely without a lost time accident, and it is undoubtedly the most powerful tool GHH has used to achieve the successful results.

Another tremendous motivator is the company-wide award. This award is an annual company-sponsored day for all employees and their families at a local theme park. This fourth year included a barbecue and a full day at the park for more than 2300 employees and family members. This is an event all employees talk about extensively and look forward to with great anticipation.

As you can see, these awards are big carrots no one wants to lose. The last lost time accident was on August 12, 1992, and the department in which the accident happened occurred previously had the best safety record. It went from being first to last and had to start all over again with its award programs.

Light Duty Program for Safety

Another key aspect is the light duty program. When an employee is injured at GH Hensley and can't perform his/her regular job, he/she enters the light duty program. This program allows employees to continue to draw full pay as long as they show up for work and perform tasks that they are physically able to perform. These tasks regularly include packaging small fasteners that the GHH sells with some of its castings, manning the electric furnace control room, manning the tool crib and even guarding the employee parking lot. This program is also extended to employees injured on their own time, demonstrating how much GHH cares for and respects its employees. Some checks and balances have been instituted to monitor and eliminate abuses in the program. But without this program, the successes to date would have been impossible.

Accidents will happen, and as a result, people will be injured. The company has still had some serious injuries such as partial amputation of fingers, broken feet, damaged knees, mashed hands, severe burns and a damaged spinal disc. Most of these injuries required surgery, but the employees and their doctors worked with the light duty program to keep the employees from missing work. Another important aspect is GHH's willingness to use specialists as needed to treat any injury. When employees are injured, a representative from the safety dept. goes with them to the hospital and explains the light duty program to the doctors. The company also provides transportation to and from work, doctor's offices, therapy, etc., for injured employees.

This light duty program has also proven that employees that come to work on a regular basis return to their regular jobs faster than if they were sitting at home worrying about how they were going to pay their bills. It also keeps them sitting in front of a TV feeling sorry for themselves while being bombarded by commercials from lawyers looking to strike it rich off of others' unfortunate situations.

GHH genuinely tries to help injured employees in any way possible. Staff members have even bought groceries for injured employees. These things are much appreciated by the majority of employees, but there will always be someone who thinks he can beat the system. Several attempts have been made to turn injuries into lawsuits over the past five years, but GH Hensley's good faith efforts and careful investigation and documentation of accidents has prevented that from happening.

The Cost of Safety

As you might imagine, there are significant costs attached to the GHH safety program, but the fact is, the current costs of maintaining this program are significantly lower than the $2.5 million it faced in 1991. In 1991, the company was forced to reserve a minimum of $40,000 on average for each claim of back injury.

Today, the picture is much brighter. The company is back on a true insurance program, and the total cost for the '96-'97 insurance year is less than $200,000. Additional costs for the various programs are:

Awareness Program = $50,000

Six Flags Program = $70,000

Motivation Program = 200,000

Total = $320,000

This is a total cost of just more than $500,000, but as far as GHH is concerned it is money well spent. It buys far more than just a good safety record. The company is now producing 57% more than in 1991 with only 40% more employees. And, these employees are happy, motivated and safe workers. They are proud of what they've achieved, and they've been amply rewarded for those achievements.

Having just passed the 5 million man-hours mark without a lost time accident in May, GHH, as of press time, was only four months away from operating five years free of lost time accidents. GHH and all of its employees are dedicated to continuing to work safely and ensuring that each and every employee goes home healthy every day.

Awards for Safety

1993-95 - Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Gold Award (for 2 million man-hours and recordable injuries less than one-half the industry average)

1993 - Texas Safety Assn. Award of Merit

1994 - Texas Safety Assn. Award of Merit

1995 - Texas Safety Assn. Award of Honor

1996 - Texas Safety Assn. Award of Honor

1996 - Texas Cast Metals Assn. Award of Excellence (for surpassing 4 million man-hours)

1996 - World Safety Assn. Concerned Company/Corp. Award (presented to only six companies worldwide per year)

Prescription for Effective Safety

* safety rules are written in blood!

* safety is an ongoing process;

* safety must be taken seriously and regularly to be effective;

* employee buy-in is a must!

* one person should be given overall responsibility for supervising your safety process;

* accountability must be shared.