At The Core

There are many reasons why recyclers should promote safety in the workplace. These include not only the practical—such as reducing insurance premiums—but also critical intangibles, such as preserving the health, welfare and morale of employees.

Cap Grossman, owner of Grossman Iron & Steel, St. Louis, thought he had a safety plan that covered all these safety components and more. His view changed, however, after an employee death occurred in his yard, followed by surprising feedback from employees on a safety survey. These events made him realize he couldn’t have his employees viewing safety as one of several competing priorities, but rather as a core value if he wanted them to be happy and safe.

Grossman has made it his mission to share this core value concept with the industry in honor of the life that was lost at his yard. And in case managers are worried that raising the safety banner is a distraction, Grossman has a message. "Happier employees work better, which in turn, causes operations to run more efficiently and smoothly," Grossman states.

Among the challenges recyclers face when changing their safety cultures is that it doesn’t happen overnight. Rather, it is a gradual process, recyclers say. Greg Newsome joined City Scrap and Salvage, Akron, Ohio, as director of safety and human resources three years ago. He says it takes at least three to five years to change a company’s safety culture. "You can’t come in with guns blazing because the guys aren’t going to respect you," Newsome says. "You have to do it slowly."

To some extent recyclers are still dealing with the same safety issues they were dealing with 30 years ago when it comes to equipment, radiation and safety gear, including hats, goggles and jumpsuits. Recyclers also acknowledge a disconnect somewhere down the chain of command when it comes to safety in theory and safety in practice and they are attempting to address the situation at their yards.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, also sees this disconnect and has been working with scrap industry leaders to put into action a new safety program with the lead message that safety is not just a priority, but a core value.

Newsome says employees can be reluctant to accept a new business culture and change the status quo. This mentality can make a safety director’s job even harder when implementing new safety rules.

Improving a company’s safety culture is also made difficult by the fact that most people encounter a mental roadblock when it comes to safety, according to John Gilstrap, director of safety for ISRI. "Recyclers need to realize managing for safety is no different than managing anything else." He adds, "Management wouldn’t let an employee get away with tardiness, so why should they allow employees to get away with not wearing their safety goggles?"

Not wearing safety goggles is the most common safety violation recyclers say they witness at scrap yards. Employees often cite discomfort or lack of time as excuses for not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Their disregard of PPE also can result from the example company owners and supervisors set for them.

Enforcing safety falls on the shoulders of supervisors, according to recyclers. Grossman asks, "So if the supervisors aren’t believers, how can they expect the rest of the team to be?"

Grossman has been in the recycling business for 40 years and learned the importance of safety from his father. His biggest concern is that the commitment to safety just isn’t there at some companies. For example, in some scrap yards it may be common to see the company’s owners or supervisors walking around the facility without wearing their hard hats. "If wearing a hard hat is a requirement, as it is in most yards, and the owner goes out without one, he has just killed that part of his program," Gilstrap says. "Enforcement and especially consistency of enforcement for the employers plays an important role in a successful safety program," he adds.

The question on many scrap yard owners’ and managers’ minds is how to go about upgrading the safety culture at their companies.

Enforcement is one tool recycling companies can use to change their safety culture, but in some cases it may not be the most effective.

When implementing a new safety program, industry advisors recommend involving employees in the process. Companies can put this idea to work starting by introducing safety messages during training sessions and department meetings. During training sessions, City Scrap’s Newsome say he will discuss the safety violations occurring in the yard or have a topic in mind, such as the benefits of working in a drug-free environment.

Industry professionals also recommend using these meetings to ask employees if they have any concerns to share. "Keeping the lines of communication open is a crucial step in building a safety culture," Newsome says.

According to Cap Grossman, a safety program consists of more than just distributing safety posters, videos and manuals. "You need all these tools to build a safety program, but they won’t work if you don’t have a culture of commitment and the heart and conviction to make believers out of everyone," he says. For Grossman it’s about getting his employees to follow the safety rules not because they have to, but because they want to.

Grossman says he has structured his company’s safety program like a tripod. The first leg involves providing employees with the best training and education possible. He does this through numerous planned safety meetings, including quarterly sessions with the entire plant as well as monthly departmental and daily production and trucking meetings. The theme for many of the department meetings is usually Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA) required programs, such as annual fall-protection training. Employees are also trained in safety procedures regarding lift truck operation, blood-borne pathogens and lock-out/tag-out protocols as well as in the importance of PPE. During production meetings supervisors will discuss with employees the team safety goals as well as hazard awareness for upcoming projects. Grossman employees also regularly attend Grossman University classes where they learn equipment operating skills, metal identification, torching and welding techniques and a full array of maintenance disciplines and troubleshooting skills.

The second leg of the Grossman Iron & Steel safety program deals with reinforcing positive behavior rather than punishing employees for lapses in safety. "This entails looking for employees following correct practices and reinforcing those behaviors as opposed to searching for employees doing the wrong things," Grossman says.

The third leg of Grossman’s safety program involves celebrating successes and rewarding those employees who have been demonstrating safe behavior. For example, during the company’s quarterly safety meetings, Grossman recognizes the employees of the month for the past three months with a $50 cash award, of which there are seven per month. On the last day of Safety Week, Grossman recognizes annual employee achievements by awarding the "Man of Steel" honor in the operations group and the "Driver of the Year" honor in the transportation group. Each award includes a $600 cash bonus and a trophy.

Grossman says Safety Week is an important part of the company’s safety program. Every October the whole team comes together for a week-long celebration of the past year’s safety successes. The week’s agenda consists of a health fair, a crane and truck skills rodeo, torching skills, fire extinguisher OSHA training, an employee assistance program and a barbeque for employees and their families.

Awards and financial incentives are great motivational tools, but in the end recyclers say commitment is ultimately what makes a safety program successful. Companies can demonstrate their commitment to safety by getting involved with ISRI’s revamped safety program.

Nearly three-and-a half years ago, some ISRI members and staffers realized that often a company’s verbal commitment to safety is not carried out in practice. To fix this disconnect, ISRI has created a safety program that

"It’s not about safety first; it’s about safely or not at all," Gilstrap says of the association’s stance on scrap yard safety.

ISRI created its Safety Council as part of the association’s new safety program. This past May, 120 professionals gathered in St. Louis for three days of meetings and programs as part of ISRI’s Safety Council. "Topics ranged from transportation and environmental issues to how to motivate employees," Gilstrap says. Also present at the meeting was a local OSHA representative who addressed questions from ISRI members focused on clarifying various regulations as they apply to the scrap recycling industry.

Members of the industry are split down the middle when it comes to how they perceive OSHA. Grossman’s Safety Director Harry Garber says that at least half of the yards view OSHA as an adversary and are scared of any involvement or assistance the agency might offer. He says the other half of the yards view OSHA as helpful and welcome its partnership. These companies are not afraid of OSHA visiting their yards or of calling the agency for advice.

In recycling-related activity, OSHA has recently released a safety and heath information bulletin titled "Crushing Hazards Associated with Dumpsters and Rear-loading Trash Trucks" as well as implemented its National Emphasis Program on Amputations, which includes a guide titled "Safeguarding Equipment and Protecting Employees from Amputations" as well as outreach to scrap yards.

To strengthen its relationship with the solid waste and recycling industries, OSHA has formed an alliance with the Integrated Waste Services Association (IWSA) to provide safety and health information to IWSA members. Together with the IWSA, OSHA promotes an annual hauler safety campaign called "Safety –Do It for Life." The agency also has certified and created the framework for a 10-Hour Training program that ISRI offers to its members.

OSHA has also recognized a number of recycling companies for their commitment to safety through its Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). SHARP recognizes small employers who operate laudable safety and health management systems. The current list of facilities honored includes IMCO Recycling, Idaho; Aleris International, Coldwater, Mich.; Aleris Recycling Inc., Sapulpa, Okla.; Balcones Recycling, Austin, Texas; Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Junction, Texas; Pacific Steel & Recycling, Gillette, Wyo.; and Wyoming Recycling Iron & Metal, Mills, Wyo. Once a site has been certified as a SHARP site, it is granted an exemption from programmed inspections for up to two years, according to OSHA.

ISRI is also doing its part to promote safety by establishing recommended industry safety practices (RISPs). At the Safety Council meeting in May,

Safety was also a prominent theme of many sessions at this year’s ISRI Convention in Las Vegas. During the radiation session, industry leaders discussed how radioactive materials found within the scrap stream were a source of concern for scrap yards. To combat this issue, ISRI recommends that recyclers use its radiation safety flashcards and the new radiation safety manual, which will be released in 2009. The new flashcards are meant to help recyclers identify radioactive materials that may be mixed in with scrap.

During the convention, ISRI also introduced its new Transportation Safety Program, which it describes as a multi-focused strategy designed to educate members on the requirements and best practices of an effective fleet safety program. The program includes a driver handbook as well as a CD-ROM guidance manual. The program also includes ride-along coaching.

The message that ISRI and industry leaders are trying to convey through the Safety Council and its various programs is that by embracing a safety culture, companies will see more production and fewer accidents occurring in their yards. Since implementing its new safety program, according to Grossman, his company is cleaner, more efficient and more profitable.

The author is assistant editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted at kmorris@gie.net.