Blog Archives
You Can Start Building Good Habits Today
(Pictured L-R Christopher Barto, Mitchell McKee, Sarah Stockdale and Marty Kurtz)
McWane Concludes Another Successful P2C Competition
Every year McWane conducts a Pollution Prevention Challenge (P2C) where employees from around the world submit projects that decrease the company’s environmental footprint. This year 32 entries were received corporate wide. Finalists presented their projects on October 12, 2017 before a panel of judges and McWane Ductile Ohio was awarded first place. Their project eliminated almost 90 tons of greenhouse gases per year, 30 tons of landfill waste, and over 850 hours of labor per year not to mention increased worker safety and morale.
Amerex came in second place with a project on compressed air monitoring and McWane Ductile Utah came in third with a building station paint mat project. The winners of the Why Didn’t’ I Think of That award this year for their innovative, simple and low cost solutions that produced relatively small but important environmental benefits were Manchester Tank Elkhart for a lubricant reduction project and McWane Ductile Utah for a project that reduced wood dunnage.
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
Pictured MDO team from L-R: Terry Crozier, Cortes Poland, Jim Wright, Nick Garrett, Anthony West, Jim Finton, Jan Ickes
2017 Team Health & Wellness Fair at AB&I
AB&I held its annual Health and Wellness Fair for team members on Thursday, October 12, 2017. These events are designed to encourage team members to take preventive measures to avert the onset or worsening of an illness or disease and to adopt healthier lifestyles.
Team Members were provided free biometric screenings through eHealthScreenings flu shots by U.S. Health Works, and financial planning by Merrill Lynch. Participants were also offered a massage, a discount gym membership at 24 Hour Fitness and could win prizes for participating in a challenge of making a smoothie while riding a bike.
A huge thanks to Filice and Western Suppliers for their help in organizing this year’s event and to the vendors that attended the fair.
McWane Ductile New Jersey Holds Annual Team Health Fair
McWane Ductile New Jersey held their annual Team Health Fair on Thursday, October 12th. They partnered with St. Luke’s to provide free screenings to team members on-site. The event is a daylong event from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and is available to all hourly and salaried team members.
Tests and services provided by St. Luke’s included:
- Sleep apnea and pulmonary function testing
- Diabetes counseling and education
- Blood pressures/smoking cessation
- BMI and body fat analysis
- Bone density screening
- Stress management
- Fitness information
- Vascular screenings for PAD (peripheral artery disease affecting the legs and ankles)
Hansel Conway was the lucky winner of a gift basket that St Luke’s Fitness Center gave away in the raffle.
Radia Rocks River Rally
Jeet Radia, McWane’s senior vice president for environment, safety, and human resources, was a featured speaker and panel member at River Rally 2016 in Mobile, Alabama. Hosted annually by River Network, River Rally is a national conference that focuses on education, inspiration and celebration within the river and watershed community. Unique in its focus on connecting peers, providing practical education, inspiring courage, and celebrating achievements, River Rally drew 450 people from across the United States to Mobile May 20-23.
Jeet discussed McWane’s commitment to the highest standards of environmental, health and safety protection, and how McWane has become an industry leader in operating our facilities in a safe, sustainable and environmentally sound manner. He also reiterated McWane’s commitment to forming collaborative relationships with environmental groups to explore mutually beneficial initiatives to protect our natural resources.
Jeet serves on the board of directors of the Cahaba River Society, a member of the River Network.
Since 1988, River Network has been at the forefront of expanding national interest in protecting the America’s waters, encouraging diversity in the environmental movement, and helping engaged citizens take a stand for their waters.
To learn more about the River Network visit www.rivernetwork.org
And the winners of the 2015 McWane EHS Awards are…
McWane Senior VP of Environmental, Safety, and Human Resources Jeet Radia and Tyler Couplings Plant Manager Bill Hoffman
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 McWane EHS Awards:
- Most Improved TRIR-Fabrication: Anaco / Corona, CA
- Most Improved TRIR-Foundry: McWane Ductile-New Jersey / Phillipsburg, NJ
- Outstanding Health & Safety Performance: Tyler Couplings / Marshfield, MO
- Outstanding Environmental Performance-Fabrication: Manchester Tank / Crossville, TN
- Outstanding Environmental Performance-Foundry: Clow Valve / Oskaloosa, IA and AB&I Foundry / Oakland, CA
- Outstanding Environmental Progress-Foundry: Tyler Xianxian / Cangzhou, China
- EHS Excellence (Screaming Eagle): Tyler Couplings / Marshfield, MO
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
Feel Like a Million Winners
Pictured top right: Todd Moore from Amerex. Picture bottom right (not in order of photo): Gwen Jackson, Michael Bowen, Sheri Douglas, and Jerry Kirtley from Tyler Pipe. Pictured bottom left: Sara Tongsuvone (Feel Like a Million Site Coordinator) and Steve Johnson (General Manager).
Though the McWane Feel Like a Million program has come to an end, its mission to promote healthy lifestyles is carried on through our team members. All participants of the program have expressed how much they enjoyed participating and how they have also taken away helpful tips. Some of our team members took home more than that.
There were three categories of winners for the program: the Top Millionaires Club, the Overall Millionaire, and the Facility with the Highest Participation Percentage.
The Top Millionaires Club was “We Can Do It” of Tyler Pipe, TX! “We Can Do It” had a total of $1,710,525. They each received a $25 Visa Gift Card. Pictured top left (not in order of photo): Gwen Jackson, Michael Bowen, Sheri Douglas, and Jerry Kirtley.
The Overall Millionaire was Todd Moore, pictured top right, of Amerex! Todd had a total of $1,922,900. He received a Fitbit Wellness Monitor Wristband along with $100 (gifted from Amerex).
The Facility with the Highest Participation Percentage was Tyler Union! They had 144 eligible participants, 115 participants to sign up for the program, and 105 (73%) who actively participated! Tyler Union received a plaque of recognition for their accomplishment. Pictured bottom right: Sara Tongsuvone (Feel Like a Million Site Coordinator) and Steve Johnson (General Manager).
Thank you to everyone for their participation in the program! We couldn’t have done it without you!
McWane Team Attends American Foundry Society EHS Conference
The American Foundry Society (AFS) held its 27th annual Environmental, Health and Safety Conference on August 11–13, 2015 in Park City, Utah. The conference was heavily attended by both safety and environmental representatives from multiple McWane facilities as well other foundries from across the United States.
McWane played a big role in the conference by providing several speakers (Mike Parker, Ward Pate, and Jeet Radia) and the conference co-chair (Holly Guerrero) from among the McWane safety and environmental ranks. Also, as part of the conference, our nearby foundry, McWane Ductile–Utah, opened its doors to over forty attendees for a plant tour.
Did you know that stretching can prevent repetitive motion injuries?
A few years ago, Anaco researched how they could prevent injuries in jobs with the highest levels of repetitive motion. After much discussion about the best way to address the problem, they instituted a stretching program where team members stretch for 2 minutes at the top of the hour throughout their shift. We are happy to report that these stretching exercises have helped reduce and almost eliminate repetitive type injuries from these departments!
Anaco recently decided that it was time to “refresh” the stretching program. If you’ve ever tried to stick to an exercise program, you know that doing the same exercise every day can get boring, make you quickly lose interest, and even no longer challenge you as your body begins to adapt to the repetitiveness. To avoid this, Anaco brought in a physical therapist from a local clinic to observe how team members perform their tasks and recommend stretches that would best prevent injuries.
After the initial observations, the entire team came together in the training center in groups for a hands-on demonstration and practice of some new and improved stretches. Great job, Team Anaco! Way to be proactive!
Give Stress a Rest
April is Stress Awareness Month. It is important to be aware of our health. Here are tips to remember during the demanding times:
Stay active! Don’t let the hotter temperatures keep you indoors and away from the heat. Think of options such as swimming or biking to stay active and cool. You could also do things like parking farther away while shopping and taking the stairs instead of the elevator, when possible.
Beware of constant snacking! Prepare healthy snacks in advance. Look for seasonal fruits and vegetables, multigrain snacks and low sugar alternatives. It is important NOT to skip out on summertime treats (like popsicles and ice cream…yum!), just enjoy them in small portions and balance with healthy alternatives.
Drink water! During the spring and summer, the air is more humid, the temperature is higher, and dehydration is real. Drinking plenty of water is especially important.
Get your ZZZs! Sleep not only helps the body repair itself, but also energizes you for your next adventure.
Get organized! High amounts of stress are linked to many health complications. To-do lists or calendars help keep stress under control; just beware not to OVER schedule yourself!
“Take time to unwind…It’s healthy to relax, renew, and rejuvenate” | For more information on managing stress, please visit the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Federal Occupational Health stress campaign website.
McWane, Inc. 