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“After we brought in Safeway…we had zero lost-time accidents.”
— S.Z., Warehousing company
A business that provides warehousing and storage for the food service industry doesn't just have potential safety issues--it has safety challenges throughout its operations. From loading and unloading products from trucks, and transporting them to various locations on-site, to maintaining optimal temperatures to preserve food integrity and freshness at all times, it's clear that safety has to be a top priority at every moment.
For years, a warehousing company that handled food products for quick service restaurants was faced with numerous on-the-job employee injuries. S.Z, Senior Manager, says, "We were seeing double-digit numbers of forklift accidents, as well as lost time and damage expenses associated with those incidents. After we brought in Safeway, who helped us develop a comprehensive training program for our operators, we had zero lost-time accidents." This drastic reduction in forklift accidents also helped the company save approximately $150,000 a year in injury claims. In addition, the company's insurance premiums dropped by a whopping 30% afterwards.
Safeway also helped increase employee acceptance of the importance of safety. Employees used to be skeptical of in-house safety evaluations because they were limited only to management perspectives. To address this, Safeway created a concise observation-based program that anyone, at any level of the warehouse operation, could use to assess safety performance. "It gave us an easy way for anyone to accurately evaluate another employee--including their peers--on whether they're operating a forklift properly or acting in a safe manner," says S.Z. "It really got our employees involved in promoting safety and increased their buy-in on our overall safety program."
The advantages provided by Safeway services go on and on. "They have been instrumental in helping our safety committees become more organized and motivated," says S.Z. "Safeway also handles our injury procedures form beginning to end. From doctor visits to rehab to light duty, they are very proactive when it comes to working with physicians. Whenever we are unsure about an injury situation, we call on Safeway. They are an indispensable partner that truly cares about our company and our employees." |
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