Building Independence Using A Train-The-Trainer Implementation
Jack Butler, Human Resources Director:
Quebecor World is the largest commercial print media company in the world with 43 thousand employees in 160 plants in 16 countries. At the Hazleton, Pennsylvania plant, built in 1987, approximately 300 employees work in a continuous operation to print and bind telephone directories. In a normal year, they produce over 300 different titles, which is almost 40 million individual books and 128 million pounds of paper.
When the plant first opened, we had little in the way of formal safety programming, for example, no published safety guidelines and no case management for injured associates. Being a craft that is centuries old, sometimes it seems that safety attitudes are equally old. “Printing is a dangerous business.” “There's nothing you can do – accidents will happen.” “After all, they are accidents – people aren't trying to get hurt.” However, in the early 1900's, we did implement safety policies and procedures, began case management, and instituted alternate-duty work for those with physical restrictions. We tried to raise awareness with safety posters, safety videos, monthly safety meetings, safety games, and Safety Week festivities. We formed a Safety Committee of managers, supervisors, and associates. Division Human Resources Director, Jay Phillips, trained managers, supervisors, and Safety Committee members to investigate incidents and to do monthly inspections of the plant physical conditions.
