DC Velocity - July 2013

manager and moving down to regional managers, general managers, supervisors, and other local safety personnel—helps to ensure that consistent information will make its way to every worker. Regularly scheduled conference calls facilitate planning and information sharing among trainers. Video conferencing and webcasts can be especially effective tools for training the trainers because they allow people in multiple locations to see, hear, and discuss the same information simultaneously.

As for who should conduct the training, some companies make that part of the warehouse manager’s or supervisor’s job, while others appoint on-site or regional safety officers. NFI, for instance, uses a multilayered approach, beginning with supervisors discussing safety at the start of every shift. That’s followed by weekly meetings for all employees, in which supervisors and managers discuss current safety issues and other matters directly affecting associates. APLL, meanwhile, expects general managers to be knowledgeable about safety but has front-line supervisors train warehouse associates.

Kenco requires each of its facilities to des-
ignate a “safety advocate” who is a front-line
supervisor and is responsible for training
the warehouse associates as well as other
safety-related tasks. Each local advocate
reports to a divisional safety advocate who
oversees multiple facilities. Front-line
supervisors should always exhibit “sincere,
visible, and observable safety efforts”—oth-
erwise safety compliance among their sub-
ordinates will suffer, Tanner says. “Safety
does not come naturally—it’s a learned
behavior. Everything you say and do—or
don’t say or do—sends a message to
employees.”
Regardless of who conducts the training,
they will need to document what they did,
when they did it, and who attended the ses-
sions. Corporate safety managers can then
review the reports and determine whether all
sites are meeting the training requirements.

HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE The final component of multifacility safety compliance is accountability—holding people responsible for meeting established safety standards and following corporate policies. Audits are the most common means of

accomplishing this; they reveal shortcomings and help facilities develop a list of corrective actions that will bring them up to snuff.

Brock suggests sending monthly safety training and incident reports to warehouse managers and supervisors. Her reports include information for all facilities, such as OSHA-reportable incidents, “near misses” (incidents that did not require an OSHA report), and the percentage of scheduled training sessions completed, among other data. Showing managers and supervisors not just how their own facilities are doing but also how their peers are performing provides a powerful incentive to keep up with the leaders.

Tanner emphasizes the need to
keep safety front of mind no matter
what else may be going on in the
operation. “Safety should be a cul-
ture, not just the topic of the day,”
he says. “It has to be treated on the
same level as other key concerns,
like profitability, quality, produc-
tion, and productivity,” he asserts. If
it isn’t, problems in those and other
critical business areas can cause you
to “take your eye off the safety ball,”
he says.