Interviewer – We are conducting a Six Sigma project to try to reduce the percentage of employees that are out of work due to injury. Please do not think that we are accusing you of the injury. In fact, we are trying to determine which processes the company could change to make the workplace safer. With that said, can I ask a few questions?
Safety Officer – Sure, we have tried a ton of things and I think that the goal may be just unrealistic in this type of workspace.
Interviewer – What type of training is conducted for safety?
Safety Officer – All employees receive initial safety training before they step foot into the warehouse for the first time. We also give them a copy of our Safety Handbook and have them sign that they have read it.
Interviewer – Any other safety training after that?
Safety Officer – There is annual training that we used to do in December, but that got replaced by other more intensive training when the CEO got involved last year.
Interviewer – What happened then?
Safety Officer – In June we implemented safety training before each shift, then in September we implemented training by department for those that had injuries.
Interviewer – Do you have the number of hours of safety training so that we could see if there were any significant changes based on those actions?
Safety Officer – Sure, we keep track of training hours by the day.
Interviewer – Have you ever considered incentives or punishments associated with injuries?
Safety Officer – That is where we started last year. On February 1st we tried an incentive program and ran it until March 15th. We didn’t see much change so the Operations Manager changed it to a punishment for not wearing PPE program that ran from April 1st through April 30th.
Interviewer – You mentioned a Safety Handbook. Can you tell me about that?
Safety Officer – Sure, it covers what each individual is supposed to do to be safe. It has all of the PPE requirements by job description and says who is responsible. It also says that if you have an accident that you must undergo drug testing at that time to make sure that it was not alcohol or drug related.
Interviewer – Does it cover safety inspections?
Safety Officer – No, safety inspections are the responsibility of everyone.
Interviewer – Are the safety inspections written down somewhere?
Safety Officer – No, they are all informal.
Interviewer – Thank you so much for your time, you have been very helpful.