Shining brightly
The National Safety Council presents the Rising Stars of Safety, Class of 2013
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Andrew Lampela 39 Supervisor – Health and Safety General Motors – Saginaw Metal Casting Operations Saginaw, MI |
| “Andy recognized that the follow-up to safety incidents was not as robust as it needed to be, so he instituted the safety ‘GO and SEE’ process at the plant. This required leadership and the work team (including the employee involved in the incident) to meet on the plant floor and review all causes and effects of the incident, then use the Hierarchy of Safety to implement high-level safety controls to reduce the potential for reoccurrence. As this process evolved, work teams and supervisors began to use the ‘GO and SEE’ process proactively to identify hazards and eliminate the potential for injuries before they could occur.” |
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Zachary LeMasters 30 Safety Engineer II ATK Rocket Center, WV |
| “Zachary developed an intranet website to aid his fellow safety engineers, supervisors and operators on the facility with safety communication on the ABL facility. The safety intranet site provides safety forms and information for supervisors and employees to use, as well as reminders and training tools. With the increased use of the website, the safety engineers have seen administrative tasks and questions reduced by 30 percent, which has given them the ability to spend more time on the floor being proactive.” |
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Nitelle Lau 27 Senior Environmental, Health and Safety Engineer Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems El Segundo, CA |
| “Nitelle led an initiative comparing completion of the voluntary computer risk assessment tool to injury data. The project demonstrated that employees who did not complete a computer risk assessment were 3 times more likely to experience an ergonomic-related injury than those who did. When presented with the data, executive management unanimously voted to make the assessment a mandatory annual requirement across the 11,000 employee business unit. Partnering with the training group, Nitelle developed an online interactive training program incorporating the computer risk assessment tool.” |
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Jeremy Miller 36 Ground Safety Officer Marine Aircraft Group 24 Kaneohe Bay, HI |
| “Ground Safety Officer Miller feels strongly that in order to unite people for a cause, the cause has to be engaging. To that end, he creates hands-on safety training that is engaging rather than sitting in a classroom reviewing PowerPoint slides. An example of this was his holiday safety stand-down, during which, through a series of nine stations, Marines and Sailors experienced first-hand the risk involved in different scenarios. He didn’t TELL them about how ladders can be dangerous; he set up ladders and demonstrated proper and improper usage. He actively engages personnel in his messages, thereby increasing awareness, which has led to a significant reduction in avoidable incidents. The end result of GySgt Miller’s approach is that Marines have bought into the safety culture and are keeping each other accountable, resulting in a heighte ned safety posture and fewer safety-related incidents.” |
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Raymond Ng 38 Safety and Loss Prevention Analyst Orange County Government – Risk Management Division Orlando, FL |
| “When Mr. Ng was assigned to oversee an agency under his jurisdiction, he noticed employees were provided limited safety training opportunities. He convinced senior management of the importance of safety smart employees and the benefits of increased productivity and lower workers’ compensation cost. Mr. Ng synchronized with the agency’s program coordinator and designed a safety-training program. His leadership ensured 109 supervisors and field technicians obtained their 10-hour Occupational Safety and Health Training Course in General Industry cards. The agency was the first county entity to establish such a safety-training milestone. Mr. Ng also instituted ongoing training sessions to maintain safety at the employees’ forefront.” |
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Thakur Pherwani 33 National Manager – Safety Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon, India |
| “Thakur has proactively guided a field team for 360-degree fool-proof machine guarding across 24 manufacturing plants. He also facilitated to establish fire detection system and fall protection hardware across 66 distribution centers. He established man-machine segregation for pedestrian safety across 90 locations. Thakur effectively seeks feedback and coaching for developing his own capability. He periodically takes feedback from 34 field safety resources via video conferencing, and gives equal opportunity to other associates to share safety-related initiatives and learning.” |
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Pramod Palat 34 Cummins Inc. Michigan OSHA, CET Division Columbus, IN |
| “Pramod recognized the need for a structured and common approach to the management of contractor safety. The cross-functional team, under Pramod’s leadership, introduced the industry-leading Global Contractor Safety Management Program in 2010. Widely accepted, it has been implemented successfully at all Cummins operating locations. The program mandated collective and active involvement of all internal functions during its implementation and maintenance, demanding big change in the traditional culture of contractor safety as solely the responsibility of the contractors and the safety department.” |
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Chad Positano 36 Compliance Assistant Specialistt OSHA Toledo, OH |
| “Chad has led and initiated numerous safety projects. His most recent would be the creation of a technical publication for the bioethanol/biofuels industry. It’s a technical assistance publication for employers, workers and contractors in the biofuels industry to assure they have the information necessary to assess and protect employees from the various hazards posed when processing biofuels. This places the agency in the forefront to provide employers in the industry with the necessary information they need to properly assess the hazards and promote the agency’s mission. This was a self-initiated project – he found the partnership program, obtained permission to apply, was accepted, and conducted all the work to prepare and publish a technical paper for the sheer intent to promote safety.” |
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Brittany Perry 29 Safety Manager L’Oreal USA Inc. Florence, KY |
| “Brittany created and implemented a supervisor notification process for all employee injuries that were called into the hospital injury hotline. Through her efforts, all staff supervisors, for an organization of 13,000-plus employees, were notified via the online injury management database within 24 hours of injuries that their direct reports had sustained. This notification process and Brittany’s efforts initiated important involvement and follow-up at the supervisory level, where safety changes to tasks, procedures, etc., are most impactful and have the greatest potential to be spread for organization-wide injury reduction. This notification process started a safety culture shift because it engaged front-line management in the process to understand and help mitigate safety hazards that caused staff injury or illness.” |
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Zachary Remington 30 Corporate Health and Safety Manager Atlantic Testing Laboratories Clifton Park, NY |
| “Zach has been proactive toward improving overall safety culture through obtaining involvement from top-level management to the lowest-level technical personnel. He consistently evaluates improvements to safe work routines, implements training/orientation programs, and makes safety a part of everyone’s daily job. Zach works tirelessly to analyze daily hazard hunts for safety issues, and works with management and staff on daily review of safety performance and near miss incidents. This analysis leads to improved safety processes and performance, which are reported monthly on the company-wide management teleconferences. He also develops quarterly safety programs required for all field and office staff, and has undertaken job-specific task analysis to assist staff to work safely on each and every assignment.” |
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