Helen Clark
Robert Dietrick Co., Inc. strives to provide a safe workplace environment for our workers and subcontractors. Our work is designed with this goal in mind and is the shared responsibility of every worker and subcontractor. Working together, we are able not only to attain excellence in all aspects of our operation but also to maintain a safety record that will be the envy of the industry. RDC will continue to communicate our continuous improvements in these areas by providing you with all the tools needed to be effective whether it be training, meetings, orientation training, etc.
RDC aspires to continuously improve our Health, Safety and Environmental performance. Being able to demonstrate this commitment and effectively monitor progress requires a structured HSE Improvement Plan. Like other business plans, the HSE Improvement Plan can bring many benefits:
- Reduced Injuries
- Reduced financial burden
- Improved Insurance Premiums
- Enhanced customer profile and vendor acceptance
In 2020, we experienced a few isolated instances of non-life-threatening injuries that resulted in restricted workdays for 4 individuals in Operations. While this is a small portion of our nearly 100 team members across the state of Indiana, 50 of whom serve in the role of Service Technician, these incidents motivated our business to change, and change quickly, to proactively mitigate risk moving forward.
We insure to maintain not only a safety-first culture, but a safety ALWAYS culture. As RDC Safety Manager I make every effort to enhance that culture through training methods, safety awareness across all departments, and making myself available to RDC employees and customers. We have invested funds in several key areas that we are focused on to see a shift in our incident reports over the next 3 years, such as:
- Quarterly technician meetings lead by Operation Managers and I the Safety Manager. Our primary focus of these meetings will be on incident root cause analysis and breakdown, followed by training, and Q&A on infield experiences and hazard preventions.
- Weekly “Toolbox Talks” on safety dispatched, reviewed, and signed by every Service Technician on a weekly basis.
- A robust on-boarding program for new hires, including 2 weeks of safety training and 4 weeks on hands-off job-site shadowing with department managers. Along with weekly 1:1 review with new hires and manager on development goals.
- The purchase of additional Personal Protective Equipment to keep a well-stocked inventory of necessary tools and garb relating to safety. Along with training on the proper use of PPE provided.
- An investment in additional safety courses, provided by trained third-party instructors, presented to every Service Technician on a regular schedule.
- Relationship development with certain third-party vendors, such as Safety Management Group, Coalition for Construction Safety, EPIC Insurance, and Industrial Compliance and Safety, to remain on the cutting edge of advancements in safety training and best practices.
- The promotion of some experienced Service Technicians into manager roles meant to provide more oversight and dedicate more attention to each Technician in the field, such as onsite safety audits and toolbox talks.
We continue to invest our time and efforts to find ways to improve. Specifically, through technology to better equip our employees with safety knowledge and confidence in the field. Our Sales and Operations teams are skilled in the knowledge, service, and installation of a product that it itself improves safety, security, productivity, and energy efficiency in your facility and for your people. We are dedicated to our RDC safety ALWAYS culture and will make ourselves available to you for any manner of conversation as to safety at Robert Dietrick Co., Inc. Thank you for your partnership and your safety efforts!