Davey Tree Flipbooks

12 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | September/October 2019 SAFETY NEW SAFETY AWARD RECOGNIZES R/C OFFICES WITH ZERO OSHA RECORDABLE INCIDENT RATE Safe crews now earn the greatest recognition in U.S. Residential/Commercial services, as the service line introduced a new safety award in 2018 to honor operations with a Total OSHA Recordable Incident Rate of 0.0 for the year. R/C services established the 0.0 Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) Award to spotlight safe offices with no OSHA recordable incidents. Service line management started handing out the awards earlier this year. Jed Day, vice president and general manager, Western operations, U.S. R/C services, said the new award has quickly become the most coveted recognition in residential services. "We want our teammates to recognize their company puts their safety and well-being first and foremost," Day said. "Because without that, there is no client experience. We can have all the clients in the world, but if we don't have people out there to deliver an excellent client experience, that sale doesn't happen. And they will cease to be a client." For 2018, R/C services bestowed the new 0.0 TRIR Award upon 31 offices for achieving an incident-free safety record for the year. Each office receives a plaque with space for up to 10 years' worth of award recognition. Companywide, Davey's corporate safety department tracks the TRIR for each service line. Those rates are distributed monthly to managers. R/C managers display their operation's TRIR – along with those of other R/C offices – in crew rooms across the service line. The offices can see where they rank currently compared with other residential operations to see where they stand with their rate. Day said the information has proven motivational for offices working to earn a 0.0 TRIR Award for 2019. "We want crew members to see that," Day said. "We want them to see us looking at that. When I start looking around on the wall in a crew room, you know what I'm looking for. The leadership of R/C, and the Davey Company, puts safety above all else." Sean Barlette, district manager, Northwest Detroit office, said working to achieve the award made him change the way he views safety as a manager. "I'm visiting crews a lot more on a routine basis," Barlette said. "I'm more in tune to the crews' feedback when they come in, and I pay attention more to their regular conversations. And when I'm out and about routinely visiting there are a lot of times when I will help rake, rig, do whatever needs done on the job to help, but I'm also using that as a chance to observe as well." But it's not just Barlette as district manager observing and helping crews practice safe work habits. His boss, Dave Bargerstock, market manager, Great Lakes West R/C operating group, has started encouraging sales arborists to conduct one crew observation a month. "The sales arborists should know what to look for when they're on those jobs," Barlette said. "Are the cones out? Is the aerial rescue bag out? They can report back to the district manager if there are issues that need addressed." Travis Evans, district manager, Santa Cruz office, said his operation started to focus on recruiting driven and team- centric employees, added a quarterly formal training day, attended more industry events as a team, conducted more thorough job briefings and generally started communicating at a higher level to get their TRIR down to 0.0 for 2018. "A 0.0 TRIR means to me that I've done my job as a leader," Evans said. "I sleep well at night knowing that my staff is going home at the end of each day the way they started the day – healthy and happy. Safety is a huge component to running a sustainable office." Recognizing safe crews with the R/C services' top award represents a shift from the past, Day said, because traditionally it's been the operations with the best operating profit that have earned the most recognition. "At the end of the day, our families care that we have an occupation that will support our family," Day said. "But they don't care about that more than they care about you coming home safely. I rarely worry about a territory having a 0.0 TRIR and not making any money. That rarely happens because that type of operation is going to be a well-run, well-oiled machine."

• Cover