You Hold the Key to Everyone’s Safety
At GIW, we’re proud of our employees’ commitment to their own safety and to the safety of their friends, peers, and co-workers. We’re especially proud when we look at how far we’ve come and how far ahead we are compared to others in the industry.
That’s because we know that a safe workplace doesn’t just happen. It takes buy-in from all levels: from workers on the foundry floor all the way up to upper management. It takes a mental and cultural shift to move an entire company away from assuming that safety is a workplace problem to realizing it’s an individual commitment.
In other words, it takes you to make behavioral-based safety work.
Renewing your commitment to safety
We want to maintain our high standards and continue our successful commitment to behavioral-based safety in 2016 and beyond. Here are a few reminders on how to keep yourself and everyone at GIW as safe as possible:
- Stay alert. When you’re tired or distracted, the risk of hurting yourself or someone around you multiplies. Of course we work with dangerous materials and heavy equipment that requires constant vigilance, but it’s important to stay engaged during routine activities, too. Putting a little extra focus on the task at hand will help you prevent slips and falls, cuts and burns, and other life- and limb-threatening accidents.
- Know the rules. Review your training and safety measures regularly, and don’t be afraid to ask questions during training or anytime afterward; it’s much easier to correct a behavior before you make a dangerous or destructive mistake! It’s also important never to perform work you’re not properly trained for. Doing so puts you and everyone around you in harm’s way.
- Follow the rules. Once you’re familiar with all of the proper procedures and regulations, stick to them — shortcuts will always jeopardize your safety. Make sure you wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and follow all posted warning signs, labels, and guidelines. If you see someone who isn’t following the rules, show them how to do it correctly or notify management. Remember: Protecting yourself and your co-workers is never tattling.
- Tell us when the rules need to change. Your observations and suggestions make a huge difference in how we approach job and safety training. Whether you notice unsafe behaviors outside of your workspace or you think of a new way to make your own job better or safer, management is always open and available to hear about it.
- Be open to adjustments. There’s almost always a better, more efficient, or safer way to do a job, and often, it’s a worker who identifies it. When new rules or procedures are implemented, be willing to adapt. And if you know the person who helped inspire the change, thank that individual — he or she just made GIW an even safer place for you to work!
Thanks for your ongoing dedication to GIW’s safety-minded culture. Together, we can make this another safe and successful year!
