As 2018 closed out, SPX Transformer Solutions employees achieved another year of positive safety results. To celebrate this achievement, management attended the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) Safety Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 2, 2019, at Lane Tree Golf Club in Goldsboro, during which North Carolina’s Labor Commissioner, Ms. Cherie Berry, presented the company with the Gold Award.
Commissioner Berry spoke to the group of Wayne County businesses about the importance of safety to all organizations—especially in manufacturing—and what an outstanding accomplishment they have achieved in pursuit of safety excellence. This segued into the award presentations.
NCDOL’s Safety Awards Program is administered through its Education, Training and Technical Assistance Bureau of the Occupational Safety and Health Division. Through the Safety Awards Program, private and public firms that achieve and maintain good safety records are recognized. This program is designed to stimulate interest in accident prevention and to promote safety in the workplace by providing an incentive to employers and employees to maintain a safe and healthful workplace. To qualify for any annual safety award, a company must first have no fatalities during the calendar year at the location for which the award was given and have maintained an incidence rate at least 50 percent below the average for its particular industry group. The Gold Award, specifically, is then also based on the “days away, restricted or transferred” (DART) rate, which includes cases of days away from work, restricted activity or job transfer.
Employee involvement is the key component of the program in Goldsboro. The Safety Committee and Risk Assessment Team identify and work to resolve safety issues before an injury occurs. The facility also has a Medical Emergency Response Team with employees trained in first aid/CPR/automated external defibrillator (AED), confined space rescue and spill response, which helps to raise awareness for health and safety issues throughout the plant. Additionally, supervisors are trained on understanding OSHA rules and regulations as well as essential safety principles, practices and management techniques to help them understand the importance of the programs in which their direct reports participate. The Goldsboro facility sustains its excellent safety results by all these teams working together toward common goals.
Receiving the Gold Award helps validate the effectiveness of the safety management program at SPX Transformer Solutions. The program involves all employees working cooperatively and proactively to prevent injuries and illnesses through a system focused on hazard prevention and control, worksite analysis, training, management commitment and teamwork.
Congratulations to everyone at the Goldsboro facility on this achievement and for committing to strive for even higher safety goals in the future. Keep up the great work!