MPW awarded the 2018 Green Hat for Safety Award to its Industrial Water Division May 21 at the company’s service center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Based upon IW’s record of zero OSHA-recordable incidents in 2018, among other notable achievements, MPW executives selected the division from a host of worthy groups.
“Our safety observation rates have improved every year since 2015,” said IW General Manager Tim Dondero. “In 2018, we grew revenue by 20 percent, established our Georgetown [S.C.] location, planned and started building the Yuma [Ariz.] service center and introduced our clarifiers to the marketplace.”
[Related: See our time-lapse video of Yuma construction.]
Dondero said the company selected the Wilkes-Barre location in which to celebrate the award because the personnel there maintained excellent levels of safety and service, despite expansion into the condensate-regeneration business, record growth and the installation of a well to reduce city water usage.
The Green Hat takes its name from the National Safety Council’s Green Cross for Safety, which is awarded annually to an organization that “demonstrates a steadfast commitment to improving safety and health in the workplace and beyond.”
The MPW Executive Staff compares all cost-center groups across all three divisions of the company annually to determine the winner. MPW presents the award to the team that has demonstrated the strongest commitment to health and safety in the following areas:
• Safety culture
• Observations
• Recordable injuries
• Safety incidents
• DOT citations
• Vehicle incidents
• Property damages
Dondero said IW’s award — the division’s third since 2011 — is a product of MPW’s established safety culture.
“Safety accountability comes from Monte and Jared [Black] and filters to the GMs on down,” he said. “It’s not on one person. We all own it. And we’ve become more comfortable talking about safety. That’s helped us correct unsafe behavior. Many of our folks in the field work alone, so we’ve reinforced the mindset that nothing’s more important than safety and it’s okay to ask for help.”
IW’s Safety Committee (comprised of Dondero, Director of Field Services Mitch Bruns, Director of Plant Services Jeff Thornton, Engineering Supervisor Greg Hamill, Logistics Manager Jason Swinehart and Engineering Manager Neil DeWitt) has also made a positive impact on the division. This team, which has served as a model for other MPW safety committees, reviews and votes on monthly observations and discusses follow-up actions.
“I’m proud that all the work we’ve put in has paid off with the Green Hat,” Dondero said. “It says a lot for the people who drive our safety culture forward. At other organizations, safety can take a back seat to customer demand, but that has not happened here.”
Previous Green Hat winners
2017 Steubenville
2016 Steubenville
2015 Honda Ohio
2014 Industrial Water
2013 Georgetown, Ky., Toyota
2012 Corporate Shops
2011 Industrial Water
2010 Middletown A.K. Steel; Robins Air Force Base
2009 Middletown A.K. Steel
2008 Northern Ohio
2007 Corporate Maintenance