The month of June in the United States is officially recognized by the NSC (National Safety Council) as National Safety Month, and 2023 marks the twenty-seventh year the NSC has celebrated this initiative. This gives companies a unique opportunity to showcase their safety practices and their commitment to keeping the workplace safe. To celebrate and gain a deeper understanding of the role that safety plays in the workplace, specifically at UPM, we talked with our resident safety expert and manager, Matt Neal.
Matt Neal has worked in safety for nine years, almost the entirety of his career. Tragically, at his first job out of university, a fatality occurred on the shop floor. “When that happened, it really showed me how much safety can affect a company and the people working there.” Matt was inspired by the incident to ensure the safety of his workplace in all his future roles. According to him, “Safety is more of a mentality, a mindset, than something tangible. We use this mindset when we make decisions about our equipment, our work processes, our people, etc. The metals industry is a dangerous one, so safety must be a top priority.”
While he has only been at UPM for about a year, Matt has promoted safety and its importance to all team members on the floor and in the office. At UPM, Matt says there are many official guidelines that the team abides by daily. “There are OSHA standards that we follow, which would be kind of the standard we abide by. To speak on UPM’s standards, we essentially have two ways employees can confirm safety is ensured: Self-Audit and Near-Miss Reporting. To explain self-audit, employees judge the physical spaces they work in and the activities they complete. They then report back to me about anything that might not meet safety standards.” UPM’s self-audit system allows team members to be part of the safety process and allows them to advocate for themselves, as well as their team.
Near-miss reporting is a great tool that Matt has enforced during his time at UPM. “Near misses are good because they give you an opportunity to fix an issue before someone gets hurt,” Neal said. “Continuous improvement is crucial, being self-critical is key to becoming better and safer.”
Speaking on the ways that UPM is aiming to continuously improve the safety of the workplace, Matt said that in addition to the general increase in reporting, the company has made a significant investment in machine-guarding.
Unfortunately, when employees get more concerned with how fast they can complete a task, Matt says safety often gets sacrificed. “Speed is almost always the culprit when people put safety on the backburner”, Neal said. “Safety is our top priority, so my number one rule for employees at UPM is: if it feels unsafe, it probably is. Take a step back and think about the best way to complete your task”.
The NSC is dedicated to educating companies about safety in the workplace. According to the NSC, “Employers must provide a safe work environment, as well as the financial support, management oversight, PPE, tools and training workers need to do their jobs safely. Both management and workers need to do their part to make safety a core value.” As part of National Safety Month 2023, the NSC has devised the “SafeAtWork” Pledge for anyone who would like to commit to ensuring the safety of their workplace this year. Take the pledge here and show your commitment to safety in the workplace! United Performance Metals is proud to have Matt Neal as Safety Manager. We constantly work to improve our safety processes and work hard to ensure that our employees feel at ease when they arrive at UPM.
Posted June 28, 2023
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