Record for Safestart

We are extremely proud of the employees of Chester County Coca-Cola for their dedicated focus on safety at home and in the workplace.  Safestart has become a way of life.  Chester County Coca-Cola has broken their record for days without a lost time injury.  Presently they are at 1206 days without a lost time injury.  The prior company record was 1203.  They have NOT had a recordable injury in 2013!  Please join me in congratulating them on a daily job well done.

By: Chris Horn, Director of Human Resources

Emergency Preparedness

Coca-Cola Bottling of Chester County and Coca-Cola Bottling of the Lehigh Valley, both completed fire extinguisher training!  Thanks to everyone who volunteered! Let's hope we never need to use the training.

Walt Gursky in action!

Fight Complacency: learn from the actions of others

Complacency is perhaps one of the biggest problems we face in completing our day-to-day tasks. We are “used” to things being a certain way each time and unless the obvious comes right out and hits us . . . we can be oblivious to it all. This is state of mind can affect many things such as productivity, quality and safety.

There is much danger in going into “autopilot” when working on the job. All too often we don’t realize how complacent we are until we have a near miss or close call. Those events tend to jump start our hearts and focus our attention . . . at least for a little while, on the task at hand. 

Wet roads, leaves lead to accidents. Keep your eyes on the conditions.

One technique found to be effective in battling complacency in your own actions is to watch the actions of other while they work. This has a dual-fold effect in that it raises your awareness as you examine the actions of a coworker as they are working and it may raise your coworker’s awareness if you share with them some of the observations you made that would allow them to do their job in a safer manner. It can be a win-win.

Try this technique today as you are working and feel yourself going into the complacent state of auto-pilot. You'll find it truly can work well . . . for everyone. Fight complacency, work on your habits so you’re safe 24/7!

Use safe lifting techniques every time

Rushing

Rushing is a part of life, especially these days.  It is not something that is going to go away – it’s probably going to get worse.  As soon as you realize you are going faster than you normally go, slow down.  Or if that’s not possible, make sure you’re looking at what you are doing and thinking about the line-of-fire and balance, traction or grip.

Trying to do many things at once is another form of rushing. It’s different than walking faster or trying to drive faster. Trying to do lots of things faster, all at the same time can easily cause eyes on task and mind on task problems. Consider a restaurant where a group of people or groups of people just happen to all come in at the same time.  The chef will have more orders, appetizers, salads and entrees on the go than normal.  More than likely, the chef will rush.

When you know you are doing more things at once than you normally would, you should:

·         Pause for a second and look around for anything that could hurt you if you made a critical error

·         Think about the correct order or sequence

·         Do one thing at a time and think about what you’re doing until it’s finished; then move on to the next task

·         Remind yourself that it’s not worth getting hurt over

Even if you slow down to a pace that allows you to avoid critical errors, it does not mean everyone else will.  When other people are rushing, they will be more likely to make mistakes and the chance of them hurting you or someone else increases.

If you see someone else rushing – whether it’s on foot or in a vehicle, you should:

·         Recognize they will be more likely to make an error

·         Try to stay out of their way (get out of the line of fire)

The idea that rushing causes mistakes is as old as the hills. “Haste makes waste” is not a new expression.  Time management, organizational skills and planning can prevent having to rush.  If you can’t prevent rushing, use your Critical Error Reduction Techniques, or CERTS, to help you recognize the patterns that increase risk of injury and how to reduce the risk.

Safety - 24/7

As we continue to utilize our SafeStart training, we realize how important it is to keep our eyes and mind on safety, 24/7 - not only for ourselves, but for our co-workers, family, friends and strangers, as well.

So what does it mean to take safety with you, 24/7?

It means driving defensively, using seat belts in our vehicles, using firearms safely when hunting and applying safety practices at home, including wearing safety shoes when mowing the lawn; wearing safety eyewear while hammering nails; using lighter fluid to start charcoal grills, not gasoline; turning off a circuit breaker before replacing a light fixture.

We want everyone to develop the habit of thinking about safety during a work shift, on the way home, at home or on vacation. Thus, think about safety before you start any job, when you go to do something that's potentially dangerous (i.e., lighting a gas burner, jump-starting a vehicle, etc.), when putting on safety equipment and by making sure machine guards are in place. Think about safety several times; particularly, if you have to change what you are doing. 

Ask yourself the following questions at work and at home:

-       Do I know the safety procedures for this job or task? Are they adequate? Do I really understand them? 

-       What personal protective equipment do I need? Is it in good condition? Is it adequate? 

-       What tools and other equipment do I need to do the job safely? Are they the correct ones? Are they in good condition? Do I know how to use them? 

-       Are there other risks to my safety or the safety of others? What if something happens quickly or unexpectedly? Do I know how to respond to avoid injury? 

How often should we have thoughts about safety? Constantly! The human mind is one of the fastest processors of information. To think about all of this need only take a few seconds.

Keep your eyes and mind on task so you and your loved ones stay safe!

Stretch and Flex, Chester County

During the month of August, our Chester County employees went through Stretch and Flex exercises with Lester Jiles, Nutritional Consultant and Personal Trainer.  The facility was buzzing with excitement after the sessions, not only because Les showed us some new techniques, but because he took the time to work one on one with employees so they could feel the stretch and warm up their muscles properly.  Let's keep the momentum going with daily stretches!

  

Safety Update

Due to our aggressive Extended Unit One training and our incentives, Coca-Cola Bottling of the Lehigh Valley and Chester County employees have called the SafeStart Hotline 461 times in 2013 alone; (in comparison to 27 calls from the remainder of the ABARTA units).  In addition, the Dorney Park incentive was a huge hit with the majority of the departments completing the toolbox talks. 

In mid-June, an OSHA representative arrived on Lehigh Valley’s doorstep due to 2009 DART rates.  Her opening statement was that she would be on-site for the remainder of the week; however, after the initial walk through, she departed the facility at noon of the same day.  Our local Steering Committee’s commitment to OSHA compliance/regulations paid off with minimal findings from the audit.