Some people believe that injuries are to be expected in certain industries; they are just the cost of doing business. Three Oregon CEOs—Lynne Saxton, Matthew Smith, and Steffanie Smith—reject that idea. They considered the number of injuries in their organizations unacceptable and acted decisively to create successful safety cultures. Their stories show what can be done when you make safety an important value.
River Point Farms
Onion farming and processing
HERMISTON
Greg Hadden, SAIF senior safety management consultant, doesn't mince words when talking about the safety record that River Point Farms had in 2007-2008.
"It was horrendous," he said.
When American Onion and Rivergate Farms merged to create River Point Farms in 2007, the new company became the largest grower and processor of yellow, red, and sweet onions in the United States.
The new company, which today employs about 600 workers, had three plants performing different kinds of labor under changing management, a culture that didn't value safety, and lots of injuries. In just the last half of 2007, there were nearly 40 claims. In 2008, the claim count skyrocketed to 60, with 449 time-loss days.
But in just one year, River Point Farms cut those numbers almost in half.
"They went through a complete culture change," said Hadden, who gives credit to the company's new CEO, Steffanie Smith, and to Jamie Cimmiyotti, vice president of human resources.
Smith and Cimmiyotti, who both joined the company in 2008, share a commitment to safety. But from the beginning, they knew they faced monumental challenges. The first was blending two companies that had no experience with enacting a safety program.
"We had basically two companies with different cultures, processes, and risks," said Smith, "and although there had been some individual effort at preventing injuries, no one really had the skills or training to do the job."
"Each division has very different needs, from farm hazards to a plant where everyone is using a knife," said Cimmiyotti.
"Leadership must make safety a part of the culture from the very beginning."
They knew they would need to train employees on preventing injuries—mostly cuts, slips and falls, eye injuries, and strains—but before they could do that, they had to stabilize the workforce, which consisted of 400 temporary workers, who made up most of the employee base.
"Now it's all our own people," said Cimmiyotti. "That eliminated a lot of the chaos."
Cimmiyotti said an important piece of creating a permanent workforce was being flexible with scheduling. "We had to look outside the box," she said, "to make sure people weren't laid off when the farm season was over, but could move into the processing or packing plants. This way they are all under the same safety umbrella."
In addition to employee training and monthly safety meetings that include Hadden and company leadership, River Point Farms also made changes to facilities.
"We enhanced equipment for safety and added lots of guards," said Lenny Pelifian, vice president of operations. "If guarding is missing, we won't run that machine."
The company has made everyone who works there accountable for safety, accepting occasionally slower production as a cost of being safe. The company investigates all accidents, and people are disciplined for breaking the safety rules.
"Their improvement has been dramatic," said Hadden, "and it just keeps getting better. They've done a great job of implementing an effective safety culture in a short time."
Read other CEO safety stories | ChristieCare | L&M Welding
Reprinted from Comp News, Spring 2010