Playing it safe: Maintaining low injury rates

A company-wide safety mindset keeps Staker Parson employees healthy and productive.

Employee engagement has become the backbone of a highly successful safety program at Staker Parson Cos. For more than 60 years, Staker Parson has produced stone, sand and gravel, landscape products, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt, as well as paving and construction services for a variety of contractors, businesses, government agencies, municipalities and homeowners.

With 50 locations and more than 2,000 employees in the western United States, the company has achieved and maintained one of the lowest recordable injury rates in the aggregate mining industry – 1.08 percent in 2014 – beginning with a commitment to safe materials production.

“Our philosophy is that production and safety are integrated,” says Jory Argyle, Staker Parson safety director. “If we have safe production, we’re able to produce quality materials for customers.”

To accomplish its safety goals on a daily basis, Staker Parson places emphasis on involving front-line employees in safety program development and implementation. Through programs such as the company’s Residual Risk Reduction surveys, employees are encouraged to consider tasks related to their job and identify key controls to reduce or eliminate any existing or potential risks.

“That’s one significant way we inspire a sense of ownership of the safety program,” Argyle says. “Rather than seeing it as something imposed on them, employees take responsibility for recognizing, correcting and reporting risk issues.”

Simple practices

See-Stop-Do (when I see something, I will stop and do something) is another major employee safety practice. The process gives employees authority to stop a work activity when they recognize a risk. They can take immediate action to correct the situation and pursue a safe resolution.

“Empowering employees that way also reinforces ownership of the safety program,” Argyle says. “Every employee is trained to understand the scope of and how to use that authority.”

Argyle runs a lean safety staff, relying on about one safety professional per 600 employees to communicate and monitor safety practices. The major portion of a safety professional’s personnel time is focused on interacting with front-line employees to support safety efforts and deepen understanding of daily work activities.

“Understanding people’s behaviors, getting to the heart of why they do what they do, helps us encourage development of behaviors that contribute to safe production,” Argyle says.

Staker Parson supervisors primarily look to the company’s safety professionals as consultants who provide support and education to aid supervisors in promoting safe work practices.

“Our main purpose as safety professionals at Staker Parson is to support and strengthen the safety skills of our foremen, supervisors and managers,” Argyle says. “Another important activity is tracking and following work activity trends and injury/damage trends. By being in close touch with what’s happening throughout the company, we can identify areas where people and property may be exposed to safety risks, which makes it easier to resolve those risks. Through daily risk assessment and weekly safety meetings, we strive to approach safety in a proactive manner.”

TRACK is an additional safety practice used at Staker Parson. The acronym stands for “Think through the task, recognize the hazard, assess the risk, control the hazard and keep safety first.”

“Our goal is always to keep safety practices as simple and seamless as possible for both supervisors and front-line employees,” Argyle says. “We want programs to make sense to employees and fit the job they’re doing. There are different components built into the program, but we want safety awareness to become second nature to every company employee.”

When the company experiences an injury or damage incident, detailed information about the incident is documented and categorized to help identify its root cause. Safety professionals analyze the type of injury/damage, time of day, time of week, location and equipment involved. With time, the evaluation process helps pinpoint risk trends, according to work activity and location.

Training on safety

On a weekly basis, employees participate in safety meetings, taking responsibility for providing presentations on different topics. It’s not unusual for meetings to include employee feedback about how work safety practices have influenced their daily lives.

“We often find that employees see the safety education provided at work as changing their lifestyle,” Argyle says. “Employees share how they use the TRACK program at home and are more aware of the need for safety in their own home. We appreciate seeing that because we know employee health is one of our company’s greatest resources. If they’re fit and well at home, they’ll be more fit for duty when they come to work.”

Because it has so many company drivers, Staker Parson has used the Smith System to assist truck drivers and all employees in improving driving skills. The Smith System offers driver training for small vehicles, light- or medium-duty trucks, tractor-trailers or buses. The Smith System educates trainers so those engaged in the course can identify driving strengths and weaknesses and enjoy a personalized, practical solution to address any driving deficiencies.

“What we find is that when our employees complete the Smith System training, they go on to share what they’ve learned with passengers in their car and with other family members and friends,” Argyle says. “It’s one additional safety tool that helps them build a strong safety lifestyle.”

Award winners

Among the company’s prestigious safety awards is the Utah Safety Council Award, which recognized Staker Parson Cos. and its subsidiary companies, Western Rock Products and Hales Sand & Gravel, for their outstanding safety performance in 2010. Award officials noted that the award recognizes “outstanding achievers for safety performance” and those companies that maintain safety rates consistently below the national average.

Companies applying for the award must demonstrate that they employ a formal, written safety and health plan, emergency plans, safety and health inspections, safety trainings and employee safety committees. In 2010, Staker Parson Cos. logged 4.5 million hours without a lost-time incident. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recognized 26 of their aggregate quarries with certificates of achievement in safety.

Other safety awards include one from Joseph Holmes Safety Association, the Mine Safety & Health Administration Safety Mine Achievement Award and the Great West Safety Award, recognizing outstanding highway safety.

Argyle notes that the company is careful to ensure that its safety records are genuine and not overly influenced by safety incentives.

“In the past, we’ve had incentives for employees who avoided injury,” Argyle says. “However, we wanted to implement a more proactive incentive program. That led to development of a specific list of behaviors employees exhibit each month. By doing so, they qualify for the incentive. The program encourages specific safe behaviors, and science has shown that continuously performing tasks safely reduces job risks and hazards.”

One of the safety program details Argyle doesn’t closely track or analyze is the cost of the programs. He knows the major costs come from training and education materials. However, safety program benefits provide immense savings every year.

“The cost of a significant injury would be far greater than the cost of our program,” Argyle says.

Rewarded for safety

Staker Parson Cos. formed in 2001 when Staker Paving and Construction Co. and Jack B. Parson Cos. became partners. Parson founded his company in 1952 in Smithfield, Utah, becoming one of the largest rock producers and contractors in the region. Stuart, Val and Gordon Staker founded Staker Paving and Construction Co. Inc. in 1969 in Salt Lake City. Their company grew to become Utah’s largest asphalt producer and paver.

Together, the companies are an Intermountain region construction materials and services provider, employing 2,000 people at more than 50 locations in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. They are a nine-time recipient of Utah’s Best of State medal and have received numerous awards for commitment to quality, service and innovation.

Their safety awards include:
Great West Safety Award – 2011
■ Outstanding Highway Safety: Concrete & Dirt Hauler
Joseph Holmes Safety Association
■ Maguire Pit: 604,165 hours worked in 14 years without a lost-time injury
■ Maguire Pit Small Operation: 54,165 hours worked without a lost-time injury
■ Brigham Pit: 59,600 hours worked in one year without a lost-time injury
■ Beck Street North Pit: 53,276 hours worked in one year without a lost-time injury
■ Beck Street North Small Operation: 104,290 hours worked in one year without a fatal injury or permanent disability
Mine Safety & Health Administration
■ 2008 Safety Mine Achievement Award
■ Fast Pack
■ Fast Pack #2
■ Maguire Nebo Pit
■ Point East
■ Point West
Utah Safety Council
■ Award of Merit
Utah Department of Transportation
■ Safety Award, 1-15 CORE, 1 million accident-free work hours

Loretta Sorensen is a freelance writer in Yankton, S.D. She produces material on a variety of topics, serves as a ghostwriter, and has authored her own books.