Frontlines of Safety: Romeoville, IL IBC Plant Reaches 6 Years Without a Recordable Incident

Our facilities are the core of our safety journey. Every facility faces different safety risks and challenges, and each facility is at a different place on the journey to having zero safety incidents. Through the quarterly facility features, we will highlight some of our facilities and highlight the efforts being made across our company to protect employees.

On February 28, the Romeoville, IL IBC Plant reached six years without a recordable incident. Plant Manager, Le Evans, credits the achievement to an integrated safety culture and collective ownership for safety from every employee. Facility safety at Romeoville is built on foundational principles that begin with an understanding that all accidents are avoidable and an expectation of employees to have situational awareness. “We take a very proactive approach to safety. Instead of waiting for an incident or near miss to perform an investigation, we expect all employees to actively seek out potential safety hazards to address,” commented Evans.

Daily ownership for safety begins each morning in the managers meeting where a member of the management team is responsible for presenting on a safety topic to start the meeting. This responsibility rotates between leaders each morning on a weekly basis. Each person can choose any safety topic, and topics range from traditional production safety reminders to addressing a current event or seasonal safety issue. The topic is then shared with production employees during the start of shift meeting the following day. “Incorporating topics that aren’t directly related to the facility helps us develop a wholistic mindset for safety that extends beyond work which makes prioritizing safety at work a natural frame of mind,” said Evans. Sharing responsibility for safety topics demonstrates that every employee, regardless of their job role, has ownership for safety and helps members of management keep safety front of mind.

“Reaching this milestone represents the daily commitment to safety demonstrated by every member of our team and we remain committed to the mindsets and behaviors that keep employees in our facility safe."
Le Evans,
Plant Manager

The facility also prioritizes safety by participating in all corporate safety initiatives and regular safety inspections and audits. In addition to conducting formal audits compliant with the 12 Building Blocks Audit Program, OSHA Preparedness Audits and EHS Compliance Audits, the facility conducts daily safety audits. During these daily audits, members of the management team focus on a specific area of the facility to thoroughly review and examine for safety compliance and potential hazards. The facility also has an active safety committee that meets monthly and is made of members of management and production employees. Production representation includes one permanent member and a rotation of other employees to include as many employees as possible.

Like any facility, Romeoville encounters safety risks every day and its journey to six years without a recordable incident has not been without near misses or close calls. Evans identified “slips, trips, and falls” as the most common or likely safety risk in the facility. “Our main raw material is resin pellets; we also use various greases and oils in our machinery. Either of these products on the floor can create an immediate slip hazard. Air hoses and cords are also common within the plant and can cause someone to trip. We prioritize good housekeeping and 5S, continuously identifying opportunities for improvement to help reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls,” commented Evans. When a near miss does occur, the facility thoroughly investigates the incident and implements change to prevent an incident from occurring it the future. Furthermore, the entire facility is examined for similar risks and areas where the change should be implemented.

“Reaching this milestone represents the daily commitment to safety demonstrated by every member of our team and we remain committed to the mindsets and behaviors that keep employees in our facility safe,” said Evans.

Congratulations to the Romeoville team for reaching six years without a recordable incident!