ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 29

revisiting safety procedures to check
for any gaps, those potential problem
areas that might have been overlooked
in the past.
"Make sure your sprinkler systems
have the necessary inspections, so
you know they'll work," Iannucci
advised. "We've put in place inspections for emergency lighting, sprinkler
systems, fire doors and other safety
equipment to ensure they're ready if
ever needed."
DelPrato said, "You wouldn't think
of it, but there are some instances when
employers might lock exit doors, maybe
to prevent outside theft. But that also
can prevent employees from escaping in
an emergency. Employees should always
have a method of egress."
"When I think about safety
measures that might get overlooked,
I think about our own tag and lock-out
procedures," said Oehler. "I'd like to
tighten those up. Many times if people
see a piece of equipment that's faulty
- a forklift, a garage door, a pump
in-house or in the field - it doesn't
always get reported. If something's
faulty, it needs to be tagged and
locked out."
"If you have equipment that's been
around a long time - especially if

you have a lot of it, tanks and hard
piping - make sure you check them all
regularly," Melton said.
"The other thing that some companies may not emphasize is that the key
to making safety effective is getting
employees actively involved and committed to safety," he pointed out. "That
has to do with what type of culture you
have, what type of message you send
to your employees from management.
You have to try to create a culture
where workers are thinking about safety
throughout the day."

erty," he said. "Third, where water
naturally drains from our property after
it has been treated, we have a gated weir
we can close so that water doesn't flow
into the local creek. When we got hit
by the tornado, we had a lot of spillage,
but not a single drop got off the site."
RelaDyne, which now has 72 locations
across the country, has expanded its
previous hurricane plan into a broader
disaster plan. "Some of our locations are
in tornado zones, have higher fire risk,

or may be more likely to be affected by a
terrorist disaster," he noted.
The company's full disaster plan is a
75-page document that includes how
to respond in the event of a disaster,
contact lists, authorities list and steps
for business continuation.
"The first thing, of course, is always
associate safety," Oehler said, "followed
by a response to help businesses and
communities in our areas. We're regis-

Oehler agrees. "I can't stress enough
the importance of being proactive
about safety. Safety is paramount, and
that message needs to be in front of
every associate at least once a month,"
he said. "Every meeting, whether it's a
phone conference or a physical meeting, the first thing you talk about is
safety. It's important that our associates
are able to return safely to their homes
and families. And it's important for the
operation of a business."
Bittner is a Michigan-based freelance writer and
a frequent contributor to Compoundings.

tered with FEMA and are a registered
FEMA supplier."
That plan got put to the test most
recently in 2017, after Hurricane Harvey.
RelaDyne also had a plant touched by a
tornado. While it did little damage there,
the tornado took a toll on the company's
employees and community. "When situations like that arise, we also have a plan
to put our employees up, get them back
to work, help with insurance and even
loan them money if they need it."
ILMA Compoundings August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings August 2018
