- Resources >
- Magazine & eNewsletter >
- Enterprise Minnesota Magazine >
- 2011 September >
- Safety First
Enterprise Minnesota Magazine - September 2011
HELPING MANUFACTURERS GROW PROFITABLY
Safety First with Water Heater Innovations
In Eagan, Water Heater Innovations is honored with the Minnesota Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program award for exceptional worker safety.
The sun was shining May 17 when Water Heater Innovations was honored as a Minnesota Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (MNSHARP) certified worksite. MNSHARP is a Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MNOSHA) program of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, and recognizes companies demonstrating health and safety programs that go above and beyond applicable OSHA standards.
Water Heater Innovations is the Eagan-based subsidiary of Rheem Manufacturing Company, and manufactures Marathon® water heaters. As the 41st company to earn the MNSHARP certification since the program began in 1996, it joins an elite group of businesses committed to putting safety first for employees.
“Today is the realization of a safety vision formed three years ago,” Shirley Bonawitz, human resources manager, told employees at the outdoor celebration.
To qualify, Water Heater Innovations worked with the Department of Labor and Industry’s Workplace Safety Consultation unit to correct any potential hazards within its facility and to develop a written worksite safety program. Improvements during the company’s three-year safety overhaul included upgraded wiring throughout the plant, written procedures for conducting safety training and internal audits, and a new dust mitigation system to prevent combustion of fine particulates in the air. Every three years, it will also undergo a thorough review process to maintain its MNSHARP certification.
The company’s safety efforts have brought its total recordable cases rate down from 21 percent in 2006 to 3.9 percent in 2010. Its DART rate, which is based on injuries and illnesses serious enough to warrant Days Away from work, work Restrictions or Transfers, has also decreased significantly, from 18 injuries per year per 100 employees in 2006 to 1.9 in 2010. Improved safety has also reduced the company’s health insurance premiums due to fewer liabilities and injuries within the plant.
General Manager Jeff Scholten credits worker engagement with the success of the multi-year initiative. Early in the certification process, the company established a safety committee of employees from all departments to identify and eliminate hazards within the plant on an ongoing basis. It also encourages all employees to suggest safety improvements, and even offers a rewards program for some of the best ideas. Since 2008, employees have submitted 173 ideas about making Water Heater Innovations a safer place to work.
“We worked with everybody to switch from saying, ‘this is how we’ve always done it,’ to, ‘this is how we need to do it to be safe,’ understanding the OSHA standards are a minimum,” Scholten says. “In the past, our culture was reactionary. Now, we have become proactive in looking for things, wanting to make sure that we have a safe plant … where the employees watch out for one another.”
©2011, Enterprise Minnesota. All rights reserved.Reproduction encouraged after obtaining permission from EnterpriseMinnesota. Additional Magazines and reprints available for purchase.
Want to read more?
Sign up for Enterprise Minnesota Magazine or our
e-Trends newsletter today!
