"Mission to Zero"
Announcement of 1st Annual Mission to Zero Safety Excellence Awards
"Mission to Zero" was created to formally commit ourselves to reducing our OSHA "Incidence Rate" (number of OSHA recordable incidents per 100 full time employees) from 5.2 in 2010 to ZERO by the end of 2012, a period of only 2 years. In short, our goal was to eliminate serious injuries all together so that everyone could go home to their families in the same condition they came to work that day.
The commitment that we all were asked to make was fairly straightforward. We were asked to take personal responsibility for making smart decisions about working safely, to look out for crewmates and fellow employees at all times, and most importantly, to speak up when something doesn't look or feel right BEFORE moving ahead with a particular work operation or activity.
Many of you took this initiative very seriously and dedicated yourselves to making a difference. We sincerely commend all of you who stepped up and contributed to creating a safe work site and advancement of the Mission to Zero goal. Like any organization it is you, the people in the trenches every day that turn a good company into a great one.
In 2011, there were several construction projects and structures maintenance crews that truly exemplified what the Mission to Zero is all about. Not only did these teams have zero lost time injuries, but they excelled at all other aspects of safety including daily pre-job briefing for the entire crew, weekly tool box talks, regular attendance at the Safety Committee meetings, excellent safety inspection reports and maintained a clean professional job site at all times.
In order to qualify, an employee must have worked a minimum of 25% of the hours that the project worked in 2011 and had no other individual safety related issues, including motor vehicle accidents, citations for not wearing proper PPE, etc. The qualification was not limited to 1 project only, some of you qualified on multiple projects. In total, 53 employees qualified for the award. Congratulations to all of the employees for their excellent performance.
As we enter the 2nd year of our Mission to Zero initiative, we hope that everyone recognizes the importance safety plays in our lives and takes personal responsibility for themselves and their fellow workers.
Thank you for your conitnued hard work and dediction to SPS.