INDUSTRY NEWS
Letter to the Editor I read Darren Hunter’s column,
“I2P2: When will OSHA Finally Pull the Trigger?” in Modern Casting. Nice job. It was a good article. I’ve been in manufacturing for over 20 years as a production supervisor. For the first nine years I worked for Archer Daniels Mid- land. Tey did an excellent job rolling out the typical OSHA safety programs, but I learned people still found ways to get injured no matter how formal the training or how closely a facility fol- lowed the basic OSHA programs. In the last 7 years I’ve focused on
how my employees get injured in the facility. While OHSA programs are covered in safety meetings, my priority was basically an I2P2. It wasn’t formal. I didn’t talk about the concept much with others in management for a few years and never directly discussed where I want to go with my employees. Priori- ties were reducing accidents and looking for ways employees actually are injured in a specific facility, rather than theories. For instance, after a couple years of
forklifts hitting and damaging equip- ment in the palletizing center, it was ob- vious the same incidents were occurring over and over by new, inexperienced employees. Training was given on 25 specific times inexperienced employees would fail to recognize a hazard and why. Incidents went down to nothing and no modification was made to the plant. It was just a matter of training. Te same can be said about carton
erection and case packing of bottles. Tere is no OSHA standard on how to operate the equipment. While equipment operation flies underneath OSHA’s radar, focusing on how ac- cidents can occur while operating this equipment is very important training. Yes, I2P2 works. In a plant that has
an average recordable rate, there hasn’t been an accident on a shift under my direction since December 15, 2009. Promoting discussion during safety meetings about the potential hazards we face and how to avoid them has been a huge part of my success. To make I2P2 work, the key is identification and training about the potential hazards of shortcuts or distractions, and not focus- ing on costly plant modifications.
September 2014 MODERN CASTING | 15 Te media can play armchair quar-
terback after an accident, and this is the problem with I2P2. It will require strong engaged leadership by the manufacturing companies to steer the risk assessment in the right direction. You are correct, there is huge potential for labor to send this program in a direction that costs the company money and resources, and poorly trained leadership also can drive
an agenda in the wrong direction. It’s much easier to practice I2P2 con- cepts independently as a shift supervisor. OSHA can turn something wholesome into an uncontrollable litigation animal. It’s not often I see a good article about safety, and yours was excellent.
Scott Thorsen Ottawa, Ill.
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