Workplace safety matters. With June being National Safety Month, we want to discuss how seriously we take the safety of our employees and the products we manufacture at Draper.
“Safety is my passion and my sole interest is keeping employees safe, informed, and educated, while protecting the assets of the company,” said Bianca Heilman, Draper’s director of safety and wellness.
Heilman stepped into that role eight months ago and has been laser focused on undertaking the following safety initiatives:
- Self-rescue fall protection, including new safety harnesses for order pickers who are often working high above the factory floor
- Visibility lights on motorized carts
- Sharps containers and biohazard containers throughout the plant and office
- New Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), eyewash stations, and first aid cabinets
- Hearing conservation tests
- Ergonomics prevention for early detection of muscle strains
- Rejuvenating safety and ergonomic committees
Although this is an impressive list, training has been Draper’s main focus.
“Training is all about educating our employees on the OSHA requirements and the ‘why’ policy and procedures are so important to follow. Education/training empowers our employees to take that knowledge and understanding back to the plant floor to recognize and report workplace hazards,” said Heilman. “Hazard recognition is key to reducing workplace accidents and injuries. You can have the latest and greatest safety equipment, PPE, the best safety polices and machine procedures, but if your employees aren’t trained to wear, to use, or to operate equipment, or have never been shown the procedure or policy, then those policies, procedures, or safety equipment don’t mean a whole lot. Draper sees the value added in training and educating their employees.”
Among the training topics on which Draper has focused are:
- New hire and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance training
- Plant-wide blood-borne pathogens training
- Powered industrial truck training
- Hazard identification and risk assessment utilizing a risk matrix
Heilman and Draper’s safety team are currently working on even more initiatives, including department safety audits, air and noise monitoring, fire extinguisher training and first aid training, accident investigation, and introducing critical hazards.
Ensuring the safety of our employees is just part of Draper’s responsibility as a company. To learn more about our approach to corporate citizenship, click here.
