|
November/December 2004 2004 AggMan of
the year When Reaching Zero Means Reaching the Top
by Tina Grady Barbaccia, Senior Editor |
|||||
|
When Ed Elliott noticed that one of the employees of the Tennessee-based Rogers Group, Inc. wouldn’t wear ear protection, he decided to make a deal with him. The employee claimed that the earplugs didn’t make a difference, so Elliott, safety director for the Rogers Group, made sure to get ones that were his size and then told the employee to try them. “I talked the guy into trying the ear protection,” Elliott says. “I told him that if he still didn’t like it after two weeks, I’d give him $1,000.” Two weeks later Elliott stopped by the pit where the employee was working, and the employee was waving his hard hat to motion Elliott to come over to him. “He asked me if I had any more,” Elliott recalls. “He told me, ‘I don’t go home with a headache anymore, and I don’t feel as tired when I’m done working. I’d never operate another piece of equipment without these.’ “Men’s and women’s ears are different — I got about 10 different types of earplugs, and I knew one would work,” he notes, adding that the one-size-fits-all approach for personal protective equipment is one of several safety problems. “I wouldn’t have made the bet if I didn’t think I’d win!” Making this type of difference is what has driven Elliott since he came to the Rogers Group in 1986 (he works out of the Rogers Group’s Bloomington, Indiana office) and just one of many reasons Aggregates Manager decided to name him “AggMan of the Year.” |
|
||||
|
But more than this, probably one of the biggest issues is combating the acceptance of injury in the workplace, Elliott says. By accepting some injuries “as just part of the business,” it reduces the importance of safety. “Their health is something that we take for granted,” Elliott says, “but you can really have an impact.” At the Rogers Group, his impact had been shown with the more than two-thirds reduction in on-the-job injuries throughout the organization. Elliott credits this significant decrease in injuries to the company’s approach to safety and the safety culture that has been developed: A commitment to “achieving a zero injury safety culture by implementing all Rogers Group safety principles without compromise.” Decrease in injury rate Just a little more than four years ago, Elliott says his company had 66 reported injury cases. However, since the latest safety program was implemented in July 2000, the number had dropped to 23, as of press time, a significant decrease. Although Elliott is extremely modest, his dedication to safety in the aggregates industry is evident to almost everyone who comes into contact with him. At the end of 2003, the total injury rate was 1.37 — a figure derived from the formula that for every 200,000 hours worked, there were 1.37 injuries, which translates back to 23 as the total number of injuries.
And this includes himself, Elliott notes. He has worked in safety for more than 15 years — and he says “I thought I had it down pat.” But then Elliott’s company brought in a safety resources group to evaluate its program about four years ago. The result? “I found out how bad we really were,” he admits. “It hurt, but we knew we had to make changes.” That first year, Elliott says, his company spent more than $250,000 on training. Although the company “didn’t really have the money to spend,” he says, senior management — which includes Elliott — cared enough to find the money somewhere and make it work. Refusing to rest on laurels Now the Rogers Group, with the help of Elliott, has achieved a far better safety record than in the past. But Elliott refuses to take much credit for this. He says it’s the commitment and dedication of the employees and other members of senior-level management that really allowed this to happen — which has ultimately resulted in Elliott receiving the “AggMan of the Year” award. “I am just holding on tight,” says Elliott, who has also been recognized as the National Stone, Stand & Gravel Association’s 2001 James M. Christie Safety and Health Professional of the Year award and is currently serving as chair of the organization’s Safety & Health Committee. He says he is extremely flattered to have received the honor, but he says he firmly believes: “I am getting this on behalf of the Rogers Group and all the employees’ hard work. It is them that has really made the difference and made the safety program work. Everything I do or achieve is the direct result of others — that’s why I will help anyone.” But the work is not done yet. In fact, he says, it never will be. “Safety is a journey, not a destination,” he points out to Aggregates Manager during the NSSGA’s Environment, Safety & Health Regulatory Summit, which took place October 4-6 in Alexandria, Virginia. “It is something you’re going to have to do all the time. You can’t ever stay on an even keel. You’re either going to get worse or better, and if you try to rest on your laurels, you won’t succeed. “A lot of people think that safety and production cannot co-exist — that you could have one or the other,” he continues. “But that’s not true. People that aren’t safe are lazy. You cannot be lazy and be safe. Unsafe people are lazy because they don’t know what they need to do. You can never guarantee whether someone will get hurt, but you can control things to keep someone from performing an unsafe act.” ‘The Daughter Test’ Mistakes are bound to happen “because we’re human,” he notes. “But all I ever ask is that they try something and let them know we’ll be there to help.” Elliott says one of the superintendent’s he had has the mantra, “Every day try to get just a little bit better. You may have some setbacks, but then take a step forward.” It’s this mindset that will keep people safe, healthy, and truly move the industry forward. And when in doubt, a good benchmark to use when determining whether something is safe is what Elliott calls “The Daughter Test.” This is a measurement level in which Elliott asks himself, “Would I mind having my daughter working in this operation? If I can say ‘no’, then it’s a safe operation. If you wouldn’t have your child do the job, then it shouldn’t be done — and you shouldn’t do it either. To me, this is a philosophy of life. You should know that people are going home safely.” Moreover, he stresses, “They shouldn’t have to fear going to work.” Jim Sharpe, vice president, Safety and Health Services for NSSGA, who works closely with Elliott, says that Elliott’s strong motivation to make employees feel this way is why he is so heavily engaged in the aggregates industry and has made it his mission to make it safer for everyone. “He has a great depth of knowledge in the field,” Sharpe says in an interview with Aggregates Manager. But what’s more, it’s not just Elliott’s drive and knowledge that has made him such a good industry role model — it’s also the respect he is able to command and the unpretentious manner in which he provides the relevant information. “When he talks, he talks with the self-assurance of someone who knows what he is doing and has a clear idea of where he wants to go.” What’s more, Sharpe says, Elliott manages to do so with a “dash of humor.” Finding only fingerprints Peter Ward, corporate safety director for Hanson Building Materials America and vice chair to Elliott on NSSGA’s Safety & Health Committee, has also worked closely with Elliott and couldn’t agree more with Sharpe. “Ed is modest yet effective, and this is a rare gift these days,” he says. Elliott is also viewed as a consensus leader who often has to channel diverse opinions toward a common goal. “I oftentimes see association reports and corrected drafts without his name on them, but I see his fingerprints all over them. He never takes personal credit for them — he just gets the job done.” Elliott also has a knack for being a strong communicator who is able to pitch presentations at a board level or at the shop/field level, Ward says. “He is a big picture guy,” Ward notes. “He educates senior management but is equally happy educating new laborers.” And, he says, Elliott is able to deliver his message in a way and at a level that isn’t over his audience’s head but isn’t insulting, either. Frank Adkins, president of $afe Pro, Inc., who has also worked with Elliott, says Elliott is “pragmatic and has the ability to advise you without being invasive — but isn’t afraid to say something even if you don’t want to hear it. But Ed has the ability to do it in the way that is uniquely his, and you don’t mind him correcting you.” A real safety bulldog Don Williamson, president and CEO of the Rogers Group, says an incident that occurred in 1991 was the first time that he worked closely with Elliott. It was this incident, Williamson says, that defined Elliott’s “managerial courage and dedication to safety.” Rogers Group was the prime contractor for the reconstruction of the U.S. Army airfield at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. During reconstruction, the 101st Airborne was unable to deploy via the airfield, Williamson says. The U.S. Corps of Engineers allowed the company only 60 days to complete the project, which entailed working daylight to dark, seven days a week, Williamson explains. During the first week, Elliott, who served as the safety director for the project, encountered an electrical subcontractor working in an unsafe way, he says. Elliott shut that part of the project down for the day and would not allow work to recommence until the subcontractor committed to work safely, Williamson says. “The safety professionals of the Corps of Engineers were so impressed with Ed’s commitment to safety and managerial courage that they nicknamed him ‘Bulldog,’ a badge of honor he responds to today. Ed is very proud of this industry...and will go anywhere to talk to anyone if it will help improve employee safety in the aggregates industry. “I believe that every morning when Ed’s feet hit the floor, the first thought in his mind is, ‘What will I do today to improve the safety of the employees, first at Rogers, and second, in our industry?’” Joy Wilson, president and CEO of the NSSGA, says, “Ed’s a real leader.” She says in less than a year as head of the organization’s Safety and Health Committee, he “demonstrated both a quick grasp of the myriad safety and health issues that face our industry, and of how to marshal the association’s resources to deal with them effectively.” She adds that he is “a genuine asset” not only to her organization, “but to the entire aggregates industry.”
|
|||||
|
Rogers Group’s Safety Culture Principles Ed Elliott, safety director of Rogers Group Inc., consistently reinforces the eight principles on which his company operates. His dedication to this is one of the many reasons Elliott has been named as “AggMan of the Year” by Aggregates Manager. The following principles are listed on a laminated, pocket-sized card which every employee is given:
|
|||||
|
'AggMan of the Year' award given at luncheon
Elliott thanked his colleagues for their work and support, and then redirected all the credit to them saying, "They are the ones who have allowed me to receive such a high honor. This award goes to them...it's theirs, too. After I received the safety award from the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, I thought I had reached the top. I couldn't have been happier. Now receiving this, it is the pinnacle of my career." |
|||||
|
Reprinted from Aggregates Manager Magazine |
|||||
Because
of this success, Elliott, who came to work for the Rogers Group in
1985 after a long career in teaching and coaching, is eager to share
what’s worked for his company and will tell anyone who asks how his
company’s safety program works. Not only does he willingly share any
safety tips with other aggregate producer colleagues and sometimes
train them — although many would consider them competitors, but when
it comes to safety, Elliott says that “there are no secrets” — he
hands out a continually updated, pocket-sized safety handbook, as
well as business card-size cards with the Rogers Group safety policy
and its three Cs of good business and safety. The Rogers Group’s Cs
are care, courage, and courtesy, safety principles it was given
permission to adopt from Tom McCarthy, a retired safety manager of
Dupont Safety Resources. “You have to care about the people around
you, you have to have the courage to say something if necessary, and
the courtesy to thank the person for caring enough about you to say
that you were doing something unsafe,” Elliott says, earnestly.
“Courage is one of the most difficult things — imagine going to a
peer and saying, ‘I’m not sure that’s right.’ It’s hard to do. You
can’t let your ego get in the way.”
Aggregates
Manager presented Ed Elliott, safety director of Rogers Group
Inc., with the magazine's 2004 "AggMan of the Year" award on
December 14. 
Mike Porcaro, president and publisher of
Aggregates Manager, and the magazine's Senior Editor, Tina Grady
Barbaccia, gave Elliott the award during an informal luncheon at the
Colorado Steakhouse in Bloomington, Indiana, with a few of his close
colleagues and his wife, Kathy, and daughter, Ashley, to celebrate his
achievement. When presenting the award, Porcaro said, "This award
signifies a job well done. It shows what a team leader who builds a team
can do. It shows pride in what you do. And most of all, it shows how
much you live Rogers' Group's '3 Cs.' Care, courage, and courtesy." 
