The Secret to a Successful Corporate Safety Program
All of AIA’s 2012 Worker Safety Program finalists agree that engagement from the top of their corporations is key to implementing a successful safety program. Behind the metrics that companies file with the government and use internally to track the safety of their workers are the policies and funding that provide training, equipment and best practice sharing. All of these activities help to ensure that workers are protected while performing even the most hazardous jobs involved in producing aerospace products.
Support from upper management is one of the criteria used for evaluating company programs in the AIA Worker Safety Program. The program recognizes companies in two categories: Most Improved and Excellence in Manufacturing. The companies with the lowest three rates for total recordable injuries (TRIR) in each of four manufacturing sectors advance as finalists in the Excellence category. For the Most Improved category, the top three companies with the largest percent improvement over the previous year for both the TRIR and Days Away from Work (DAWR) rates advance to the finals. Seventy-five percent of the final score is the company’s ratings, and the remaining 25 percent is based on the combined review of the company’s management support, training, hazard analysis and best practice sharing.
(AIA Vice Chairman and Northrop Grumman Chairman, CEO and President Wes Bush recieves award from AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey)
The 2012 award winners for the AIA Worker Safety Program are Honeywell Aerospace, Raytheon Company, LMI Aerospace and Northrop Grumman Corporation. All of the companies with the exception of LMI are repeat winners, some for multiple categories. Textron earned an honorable mention by claiming a spot as a finalist in three categories. LMI’s recognition is notable as well. As a relatively small company with only 2.3 million worker hours, LMI’s improvement occurred during a period of substantial growth when multiple challenges could have resulted in an adverse effect. In comparison to the majority of AIA members that participate in the AIA Worker Safety Program, only two companies reported smaller workforces than LMI in 2012. The remaining member companies reported workforces ranging from 12 million employees and more than 300 million worker hours. Another first in this year’s program occurred with a near tie for Excellence in Manufacturing within in the aircraft sector. As companies strive to drive down their injury rates, they are demonstrating the dictum of recognized industry safety expert, Skipper Kendrick who stated during his keynote at last month’s AIA EHS Spring Conference, “safety must be part of a corporate culture, integrated into the total value of a company’s worth.” In anticipation of recurring incidents of close data sets, the EHS Committee will consider expanding the criteria used to distinguish between the AIA member safety programs.
The AIA EHS Committee hopes that AIA members of all sizes participate in 2013. Please note that data for this year’s program may still be submitted for educational purposes. All members and Spring Conference attendees benefit from reviewing the data collected through the program.
Please click here to see the corresponding press release highlighting the program and the 2012 Worker Safety Excellence Award winners.
AIA Source: lisa.goldberg[at]aia-aerospace.org
