At Progressive Materials, we are dedicated to creating the most educated workforce in the coatings industry. One way we do this is by ensuring our facilities are as safe as possible for employees and customers. In today’s blog we will explore potential workplace hazards and how PM takes steps to reduce workplace risks.
Potential hazards
In any manufacturing environment, any number of issues could be considered workplace hazards. Across the U.S., the National Safety Council says a worker is injured on the job every seven seconds.
These injuries result in 99 million days of lost productivity on an annual basis. This means that, on average, each work injury results in 21 days of disability, the safety council said. These injuries create concerns for workers and can hamper a company’s ability to deliver on-time products to customers. In addition, improper labeling on products could create dangers both at the manufacturing facility and for those who use the end products.
Safety steps
One step we have recently taken to create a safer workplace is by designating our Director of Environmental, Health & Safety, Ross Heinz, as an Associate Safety Professional from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals.
Heinz has been PM’s safety director for more than three years and has been at the forefront of our safety programs. His professional designations show his high level of experience in our industry and that he has a professional degree of knowledge on safety in general. “It can boost confidence that we know the (safety) regulations … and know how to create a process that meets the highest standards,” he said.
He recently introduced one program that targets the risk of workplace injuries. It offers better ergonomics engineering and improved worker methods. If a silicone batch mixer was shut down in the past due to an employee’s injury, that created two concerns – the worker’s welfare and possible delays in product delivery to customers. “We now have programs in place for reporting early stages of injury, if needed, and have created worker job rotations to help improve safety for our employees,” Heinz said. “Our customers trust us. We want to eliminate any barrier that would hurt our service to them. It starts with us maintaining a healthy team.”
Heinz also oversees product labeling at PM. His oversight ensures products going out the door are properly labeled, which helps alleviate transportation hangups and any on-site headaches or misuse of material in the field. Safety data sheets and other technical resources on our products are available here.
Conclusion
With 7 million work injuries reported per year, workplace safety is a real issue nationwide. PM directly addresses this potential problem with programs like Heinz’s Associate Safety Professional designation. The extensive safety work and hours of education required for this ongoing designation show PM’s dedication to setting the highest standards for our team, products, and service. “I continually fine-tune programs that boost care for our team,” Heinz said. “This designation is one way of showing that they exceed strict regulations.”
Thanks for reading. You can see more about our company’s core values here.
