ANAD welding employees feel empowered to make shop safer

By Mrs. Jennifer Bacchus (AMC)August 14, 2014

ANAD welding employees feel empowered to make shop safer
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ANAD welding employees feel empowered to make shop safer
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ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- Shops and office areas throughout Anniston Army Depot have been assessed through the Target Zero program for over a year, beginning in July 2013.

The first shop with less than 10 findings during its inspection hit that mark July 9.

The Vehicle Welding Branch's supervisor, employees and safety monitors prepared well for the inspection, which ended with only four findings and one suggestion.

According to Tony Carr, the supervisor for the Vehicle Welding Branch, the key to success came in being proactive.

"We spoke with cost centers which had been through Target Zero inspections and learned what items had been noted in their areas. We corrected some items ahead of time and requested a dry-run inspection from the Safety Office ahead of our Target Zero inspection," said Carr.

Safety changes for this cost center have been ongoing since 2009. That year, a lean event resulted in the construction of two model welding bays with new equipment and resurfaced floors.

The new equipment ensured hoses and electrical wires were kept off the floor, held by a hydraulic arm which could be moved by the welders wherever needed.

This reduced trip hazards throughout the area.

The welding bays have been a site of continuous improvement as each bay went from a curtained off zone into a walled bay containing everything the welder needed for his job duties.

Among the numerous improvements are scissor lifts, which assist welders working on the Stryker vehicles.

The lifts move welders to the height and position required to work on a vehicle while it is on a rollover machine.

"The employees started to see people cared about them," said Carr, adding that changes to correct safety issues resulted in higher morale for the employees and a change in the cost center's attitude toward safety.

In the past, supervisors handled every safety issue that arose. Now, those supervisors have the assistance of safety monitors and other employees.

"A few years ago, safety was important, but employees didn't feel like they were part of it," said Chris Turner, a safety monitor in the welding area. "When the Safety Office delegated authority to the safety monitors, it gave employees on the floor someone they could relate to."

With Target Zero, employees have seen more changes as a result of work orders. As problems are fixed, employees begin to feel the installation leadership really cares.

"We now talk about things like trip hazards and ways to keep our work areas neat," said Turner.

In the last four years, as the improvements have gone into effect, the Safety Office reports an average of 2.25 recordable accidents per year in the shop.