Top Plant 2012: Masco Cabinetry

Jack Smith

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“We had to get past normal,” Hawthorne said. “You can get used to seeing brooms leaning against equipment and pallets lying on the floor—they eventually seem normal there. However, these fairly normal situations can lead to unsafe conditions that must be noticed and corrected.”

Each employee receives initial safety training during the first week of employment. This training includes lock-out/tag-out, emergency evacuation, mobile equipment, PPE, hazard communication, general practices, and job-specific requirements. Examples of job-specific training include confined space entry, fall protection, respiratory protection, and advanced electrical training such as NFPA 70E standards.

Bustin said that regarding safety, the plant has a high level of employee engagement. “Every day starts with a review of five key metrics,” Bustin said. “Safety is always the first one that we review, and we have conversations about how to improve those metrics. And as a result, we have developed a culture where identifying ideas and identifying safety hazards is a daily event. We also have a group of employees, including managers, supervisors, leads, and our safety committee, that has one-on-one conversations with employees in the plant every day.”

Jack Smith is an industry consultant and writer, and served as an editor for Plant Engineering. Reach him at jsmith(at)cfemedia.com.