etitive ligence Safety firsts

By Carla Waldemar

fT TAKES a village. as you've lheard. to raise a child. lt also takes that same kind of commitment from the entire population of your employees to earn a safety award.

Sanford & Hawley, Inc., a fouryard operation spanning Connecticut and Massachusetts, has achieved just that. They've won a coveted SHARP award from OSHA for each of its four locations, one year at a time. SHARP is the Safety and Health Recognition Program award presented by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Division-OSHAfor a voluntary program that recognizes exceptional safety-management systems.

And that achievement is "huge," says Ted Sanford, v.p. of operations, a pivotal member of the fourth generation to carry on the family business launched in 1884, along with brothers Bob, president, heading administrative functions, and Frank, overseeing pur- chasing and sales. All three boys have worked in the yard every minute they could spare from schoolbooks since they were eight, Ted says.

"There are just l2 business places in all of Connecticut that have achieved the SHARP award." he notes. "and three of them are ours: Unionville in 2005, Avon in 2008, and just recently, Manchester." (The West Springfield, Ma., yard made the cut in 2006.)

Wait a minute, Ted: it's voluntary, right? So, why put yourself through the paces? What prompted you to actually pick up the phone and call OSHA-an organization viewed by many in this industry as second only to Al Qaida in the threat it posesinviting them to snoop around for every little thing that's out of line, and then promise, in advance, to fix these unknown faults? Talk about martyrs for the cause.

To explain S&H's commitment to achieving and maintaining a state-ofthe-art safety regime, Ted takes us back to 1988. That year, in an accident in the millwork shop, a man was caught by a saw. "He recovered fully, but it set off an alarm in our minds." says Ted. "We saw that our safety moderating wasn't so great and was costing us money, too. So we decided to do something about it. We created a safety-awareness program, with the help of our insurance company, to educate and improve things. We launched a safety committee with reps from each location and my brother, Bob, from management, which helps us pay constant attention. They meet quarterly to discuss issues and make recommendations, often based on ideas brought to them by the workforce, such as: equipping trucks with Teledyne lifts; fixing potholes in the yards; posting speed limit signs to alert vendors and customers; adding strobe lights to forklifts; and forming a material-banding policy that calls for safety glasses and gloves."

Yes, that was 20 years ago, and yes, it took a while to get people behind it-to see the value of the thrust and work at it. The key to its success, Ted believes, "is the 1007o commitment by management to provide a safe working environment, and the constant reminders of its importance. We weren't going to forget about it. People finally saw the need, and the [ensuing] safety awards got their attention"

To reinforce the message, S&H created a Safety Incentive Program, with group awards in cash going to teams that meet goals, as well as individual monetary bonuses for those who sustain no injuries, along with clothing items with "Safety Award Winner" splashed across them to serve as walking role models and reminders. Last year, the company awarded $4,500 in safety bonuses. Speaking of awards, S&H also was recognized in 2007 by National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association as a National Industry Leader in Safety.

But, OSHA? Why ask for trouble? "We'd been looking at the voluntary inspection program for a while, and in 2000 finally made the commitment," says Ted. "We called the Connecticut inspector and started with the Unionville yard. It was a good experience altogether," he indicates, "but they did find a lot if issues-things like extension cords, which can't be used in place of permanent wiring, and exposed light bulbs with no covers, especially of concern in our old building from the mid-1800s with low ceilings-lots of electricat, things like that. Also, we needed to add guard rails and signage and machine shutoffs if the power goes out: nothing huge but a lot of small, little items, so it took a good deal of money to correct them Plus, we had no written policies, which OSHA requires. We didn't know we had to have one till they came out."

To achieve the written policies part, Ted and Bob created the company's first safety manual with sample OSHA documents to guide them, a 250-page book that covers everything from fire extinguishers to drills. Now every new employee receives a copy and must partake in a four-hour safety orientation before he starts. Annual refresher sessions are held for the entire staff.

Improvements took time and money, of course, but that didn't stand in the way of moving forward. After Unionville got up to speed and received SHARP recognition, the boys decided that the Avon facility was next in line. "It gets easier all the the time," Ted testifies. "You learn from the other yards' inspection and make changes before OSHA comes around."

Great to be a bleeding-heart employer and save bleeding on the job, or worse: But what about the bottom line? Can you afford to move in this direction?

Turns out, that's the sweet spot: "We've made great insurance savings from 1988 to now," Ted states. "In 1988, we were about to go into an insurance pool; now, we've improved moderating by 6o0/o, making for a great financial savings in our insurance premiums. Also, it's reduced costs arising from investigating accidents, medical care, and days lost on the job. People out on workmen's comp have been cut drastically. (We also instituted a light-duty program that, if they're injured, brings them back into the office, perhaps, rather than not be back at work.) We've minimized f-luctuations in capacity due to workers out with injuries."

As a bonus, morale among the staff of 68 is on the upswing, which pays off in lower turnover and adds to S&H's ability to hire prime applicants, who, says Ted, "will be a good, longterm fit and less likely to get injured."

Another positive turn: The company's focus on safety also has helped drive business among its contractor customers. S&H has launched a series of educational programs to which customers also are invited. such as a forklift safety program led by OSHA.

"We weren't sure what the response would be," Ted allows, "but over 20 customers attended. so we were very happy.We've since held a safe driving seminar put on by our insurance company and will continue with more. Also, our HR person spends a lot of time on safety and is a member of the Home Builders Association's safety committee. All this gains us the respect of our customers, and we promote ourselves as a resource for them to come to with safety concerns."

Still... in bed with the devil? Not according to Ted's thinking about OSHA. "Don't be afraid of the voluntary inspection program," he instructs. "They're not the big, bad guys of the f'ederal OSHA." To other dealers he urges, go for it: "They're interested in helping businesses be safe; they're on your side and want to help. The inspectors are great people who want to see that we succeed.

"They give a list of violations, which you have a specific period of time to correct; then they sign off. We in turn make the commitment that we'll fulfill them. That first year, that list was quite long, but it got shorter and shorter on our other locations as we learned along the way."

The moral here is the vintage one your mother taught you: Better safe than sorry. The silver lining is. it pays off nicely