ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- The depot's Safety Office is working to set standards for color coded markings, cleanliness and other elements which ensure the safety of employees through a model shop established in the installation's industrial area.
"One of the goals of the Target Zero safety program was to find safety issues and use their solutions to create a model shop," said John Rogers, a safety engineer with the depot's Safety Office.
The machine shop chosen for the project had to fit certain criteria.
• It had to be centrally located, so employees could visit and see how things are different than their work areas.
• It must be an older shop, not a new facility; because the Safety Office wanted to show a realistic view of changes.
"We want this shop to be what the rest of the depot looks like, as far as color codes, lockout/tagout and other safety items," said Rogers.
Rogers said improvements will be ongoing in the shop, as they are throughout the installation. As new, and better, procedures are developed, they will be incorporated into this work space.
"We are never through. We have to keep improving," said Rogers.
Part of the improvement process relies on employees throughout the industrial area. All are invited to visit the shop, look at the changes and make suggestions for the future.
"Plant-wide, we have had a lot of improvements in safety over the last four years," said Jeff Simmons, the depot's director of Production, as he stressed the importance of continuous improvement and housekeeping to those gathered for a tour of the model shop.
Housekeeping was also stressed by Col. Martine Kidd, the depot's commander.
"To the best of our ability, when we keep things clean, neat and organized, some amazing things happen with productivity," she said.
Supervisor Steve Cain said job hazard analyses for the shop was done in conjunction with one of the other machine shops on the installation, combining the knowledge and processes of both areas to create documents that work well.
"The process of creating a model shop has led employees to change the way they look at safety," said Cain. "They no longer do something the way it has always been done, but the right way."
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