'We Don't Need Heroes'
"Mike Brown threw the gauntlet down and said, 'We don't need heroes. We don't need people going out and doing things that are saving the plant,'" Flynn recalls. "'We make wire for God's sake! We want everyone to go home safe.'"
Previously a textbook example of risky behavior, the maintenance department set the tone for the rest of the plant by fixing unsafe equipment -- and doing it safely. (In September 2010, the maintenance department smashed all previous plant safety records by hitting 850 incident-free days.)
"That was a real game changer for the culture in the plant," Flynn says.
In 2008, the Lincoln plant launched behavioral-based safety audits, in which workers evaluate their peers on their work practices and, if necessary, provide feedback on safer approaches.
| IndustryWeek is pleased to announce that representatives of the 2011 winners will be presenting their stories at the annual IW Best Plants conference, scheduled for April 23-25, 2012, in Indianapolis. Look for continuing informational updates on the IW Best Plants conference Web site. |
At first, the veteran workforce resisted, worrying that the audits would lead to disciplinary actions for unsafe behaviors. To overcome this pushback, the plant began providing Dunkin' Donuts gift cards, lottery tickets and other prizes to the workers being audited, while emphasizing that the workers' safety was the most important objective.
"People love Dunkin' Donuts gift cards," Brown says. "But the real key was when they realized that there were no repercussions when [the auditors] found something that wasn't right.
"When something wasn't right, we got it fixed, as opposed to saying, 'Whoa, Tom's been without his safety glasses six times. We're gonna fire this guy.' We didn't do that. We said, 'This is something that we all want to learn and get better at.'
"It's a trust factor with these guys."
Plant management has leveraged that trust by connecting workplace safety to the personal safety of the workers and their families at home. Through the "Zero & Beyond" program launched in 2009, for example, the plant invited workers' children to share their safe trick-or-treating practices prior to Halloween. And before the plant's two annual shutdowns, plant management provides workers with gift bags that include safety-related items such as bug spray, sunscreen and first-aid kits, with the goal of keeping safety top of mind at all times.
"That's the culture change -- that they truly believe that everyone in management truly cares about them," Brown says. "Until you get that, you can talk all you want, but things don't change."
