Making Safety Count
It’s almost time for AIA members to receive their applications for the 2010 AIA Safety Benchmarking and Awards Program. This relatively new program was established five years ago by AIA’s Environment, Safety and Health Committee, which is chaired by Tom Gentner of Rockwell Collins. The program, which last year expanded to include a benchmarking component, recognizes AIA member companies with excellent worker safety programs and policies. It also looks for exemplary records of workplace injury and illness rates, using data collected and recorded by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The Environmental, Safety and Health Committee established the awards in 2005 as a way to recognize outstanding member company achievement, encourage further workplace improvements and promote industry information sharing of health and safety data and best practices.
In response to member requests, AIA placed the company-submitted safety data on our website, allowing companies to benchmark their individual corporate programs against those of their aerospace industry peers. All individual data is kept confidential. As in previous years, for companies electing to participate in the program award component, the data will also be used to identify AIA companies that have the lowest injury rates and the best worker safety performance and practices.
With last year’s expansion, member participation almost doubled. This year we hope to build on last year’s growth both in member participation and member performance. The data compiled last year were impressive, confirming that aerospace and defense companies are very committed to ensuring that our workers have a safe and healthy working environment.
AIA encourages all member companies to submit their injury data for benchmarking purposes. Companies can indicate whether they want to be considered for the awards program. Companies with low-injury rates and strong safety programs may choose to apply for one of the AIA Safety Awards. Worker Safety Excellence Awards are determined by industry sector. The Worker Safety Improvement Award is for the most improved program.
- AIA Worker Safety Excellence Awards: Three awards recognize AIA member companies that have achieved the lowest total incident rates and have demonstrated excellence in their safety program elements. These award are stratified by the three aerospace categories to ensure fair comparisons between different operations and risks. The 2010 award is for the achievements in the 2009 calendar year, thus data for year-end 2009 will be evaluated.
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AIA Worker Safety Improvement Award: One overall award will recognize the AIA member company that has achieved the greatest reduction in injuries and illnesses over the 2008-2009 calendar years and has demonstrated excellence in safety program elements. Applications under this award will be evaluated on the average percentage reduction in total incident rate, lost workday case rate and lost workday rate for U.S. aerospace operations as calculated with the OSHA method. Companies are expected to report at the highest aerospace level possible (corporate); division or sector. This award will not be stratified by industry type because it will be measured by improvement against a company’s existing rates, and are further evaluated by the following elements:
Management Leadership and Employee Involvement: Top site management’s personal commitment and involvement in safety and health; safety and health policies; safety and health management system elements and goals; employee involvement in the safety and health program.
Hazard Identification, Analysis, and Control: Systems in place for eliminating or controlling hazards, including: evaluation processes, employee hazard reporting systems, incident investigation processes, incident analyses and hazard correction tracking.
Safety and Health Training and Communication: Training and communication processes for managers and supervisors that address safety and health systems, hazards and controls.
Safety and Health Best Practice Sharing: Demonstrated sharing of safety and health processes, systems, or technologies with other U.S. aerospace companies resulting in improved safety and health of workers.
We welcome all participating AIA members and, most importantly, we wish you success in demonstrating commitment to achieving exemplary performance through worker safety.
AIA Source: lisa.goldberg[at]aia-aerospace.org
