More than 4.2 million on-the-job injuries in the last year alone proves that safety is serious business, according to Phil Wijmer, vice president of operations at Western Pacific Pulp & Paper, Downey, Calif., who addressed attendees of a logistical and operations luncheon at the PSI Fall Meeting held recently in California.
Wijmer said WPPP’s safety record came from a four-step plan that he described as Dedicate, Communicate, Educate and Motivate. Wijmer said the issue of plant safety should get as much attention as sales and other business issues and that it should be included in any company’s strategic plan. Senior management can educate employees about safety by educating themselves on current laws and setting standards that meet or exceed those regulations. Motivation comes from empowering employees to take responsibility for safety at the plant, Wijmer said.
He added that employee retention also goes a long way to building a safe work environment.
John Gilstrap, director of safety at ISRI, agreed that management plays a key role in promoting safety at the workplace. “Safety is a management challenge—it’s that simple,” Gilstrap said.
He said management can promote safety by making commitments to following regulations and sticking to them—practicing what they preach. “It’s a difference between what management says and what management winks at,” Gilstrap said.
He discussed safety services ISRI provides, including OSHA training classes and the Scrap Safety Blueprint, which helps companies evaluate their safety practices and see where they can improve.
Paper recyclers don’t just need to protect themselves and their staff from the physical dangers of the job—they must also guard against the financial and legal risks. Monica McNally of RecycleGuard introduced her company’s ShreddGuard insurance plan specifically designed for the secure document destruction industry. As the secure shredding industry expands, lawsuits are becoming more and more common, McNally said. Claim examples include suits over documents spilled or lost by a shredding company or cases where shredding company employees sell a customer’s information, she said. Shredder specific insurance can help companies protect themselves and differentiate themselves from their competitors, according to McNally.