Blog Archives
Manchester Tank Quincy Closes Entire Facility for Safety Day
On June 20, our Manchester Tank facility located in Quincy, Illinois suspended all production, shipping and receiving operations to focus solely on fostering a safe work environment. The event was a big hit with team members. “Our company cares about us so much, that they’re worried about our safety,” said employee Amy Graham. “They want to make sure we know from top to bottom what needs to be done, how to be safe and where you need to go if you don’t know.”
Click below to watch the local news coverage of the event: http://www.wgem.com/story/38472249/2018/06/20/manchester-tank-holds-annual-safety-day?widgetId=214577&slideshowImageId=12
Tyler Union GFD Department Took March by Storm
Tyler Union’s GFD Department in Anniston, Alabama took the month of March by storm, reaching every goal set for molds per hour and tons per day with ZERO safety or environmental incidents. What is GFD you ask? It’s the shortened name for the George Fisher Disa molding machine which is one of the three molding machines at Tyler Union.
In appreciation for their hard work, GFD team members were treated to a Chick-fil-A luncheon.
Great job!
Pictured top: GFD Finishing team with Dale Garrett Supervisor front L-R- Jamie Flores, Robert David, Alfredo Martinez, Dale, Michael Chandler, Randy Davis and Harold Allen; back L to R- LaDell Whiteside, Kenneth Butler, Tommy Hayes, Dylan Hinesley, Zachary Riddle, Tyler Wudarczyk, Marcello Hernandez, Nicholas Walker and Juan Fernandez. | Pictured bottom left: GFD Molding team with Les Cunningham Supervisor front L-R- Derrick Smith, Marcos Linares, Les and Cody Henry; back L to R- Carl Parker, Antoine Warren, Jose Garcia, Phillip Densmore, Mike Hughley, Nick Cunningham, Abel Flores and Francisco Martinez | Pictured bottom right: GFD Maintenance team with Terry Easterwood Supervisor front L-R- Freddie Turner, Matt Harmon and Terry; middle L to R- Greg Harmon, Prince Swain and Brandon Edwards; back L to R- Ryan Berry, Zeb Brasher, Brad McCullough, Derrick Hammond, Scott Johnson and Todd Leggett.
Amerex Holds VPP Star Celebration
Celebration was the theme of the day at Amerex yesterday. They held a VPP flag raising and luncheon catered by Jim N Nicks BBQ for the entire Amerex team to celebrate achieving OSHA VPP Star status. The process to become a member of VPP takes years and cannot be done without the commitment of every single team member. McWane president Ruffner Page and OSHA Area Director Ramona Morris congratulated the team on their hard work and dedication to maintaining a safe workplace.
In his address Mayor Buddy Choat said “Amerex is the rock of this community as far as employers. If you’ve been here your name is associated with quality and dedication.”
McWane is proud to now have seven facilities that have achieved VPP status. Amerex joins McWane Ductile Utah, McWane Ductile Ohio, McWane Ductile New Jersey, Tyler Coupling, Clow Valve and Manchester Tank Elkhart as McWane VPP sites.
Congratulations team Amerex!
Pictured L-R: Stephani Riley (Amerex Nurse), Harrison Bishop (Amerex president), Ramona Morris (OSHA Area Director), Ruffner Page (McWane president) and Robert Fisher (Amerex Safety Manager)
Anaco Hosts McWane Group Safety Manager’s Conference
Anaco recently hosted the annual McWane Group Safety Managers’ Conference at their manufacturing facility in Corona, California. Ross Boeker is the Group Safety Director (GSD) for this group which includes, AB&I, Anaco, Tyler Coupling, Bibby Ste Croix, Bibby LaPerle and Amerex. This annual meeting is a great opportunity for GSDs to get together with their entire team of safety managers to share ideas and best practices with each other and discuss current issues and challenges.
This year’s agenda included a 1st quarter safety plan review, a best practice sharing WebEx with Kennedy Valve, an HR segment led by Joe Maziarz (Group HR Director) and Kevin McCarthy (VP HR), and a group tour of the Fender Guitar factory in Corona, California. The team was treated to an in-depth tour of the facility which manufactures the famous Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster guitars, as well as the Fender Precision Bass & Fender Jazz Bass. After the tour, the team met with the Fender safety team to share ideas and best practices. Anaco safety manager Larry Fuscher offered and is looking forward to hosting the Fender safety team for a reciprocal visit in the near future.
Pictured L-R: Rex Blevins (Senior GSD), Ross Boeker (GSD), Larry Fuscher (Anaco Safety Manager), Jonathan Desbiens (BBL Safety Manager), TJ Pinkston (ABI Safety Manager), Nathan Gentges (Tyler Coupling Safety Manager), Francis Dorval (Bibby Ste Croix Safety Manager), Robert Fisher (Amerex Safety Manager)
Tyler Union Holds Disa and Melt Department Team Appreciation Luncheon
In recognition and appreciation of their accomplishments in February, Tyler Union held a luncheon for the Disa and Melt Department team members on March 9.
The Disa Department was recognized for no safety recordables and over six GTPH (good tons per hour) with less than 5% downtime during the month of February!
The Melt Department was recognized for meeting all production goals and scoring the highest grade on the Environmental Scorecard for the month.
Pictured bottom left Disa Crew: Rafael Alvarez, William Averitte, Michael Blakely, Jayc Brisker, Roger Camp, Carl Daniel, Dilion Davis. Kenneth Dixon, Dustin Doss, Anthony Dudley, Carrall East, Brandell Elston, Juan Flores, LaRay Fomby, Torey Gamble, Alex Garcia, Wesley Gibbs, Timmy Graham, Joe Harbin, Anthony Harden, Arsenio Hayes, Chris Hovenden, Fred Hughley, John McNair, Calvin Merkerson, Reggie Miller, Chad Norton, Matthew Phillips, Tiki Roberts, Jeremy Shell, Tyler Smith, Dakota Strickland, Greg Thomas, Sammy Thomas, Steven Vinyard, Hank Vree, Chris Wagner and David Wagnon. Not pictured: Tommy Ardis, Shannon Bates, Roger Bell, Mondrecco Bush, Josh Gerhart, Ed Grinfield, Wesley Hartness, Larry Huey and Jeremy Jackson. Pictured top right Melting Crew: Tracy Bates, Chad Biggers, Justin Busby, Everett Clayborn, Adrian Eady, Juvenal Estrada, Matthew Gowens, Phillip Haynes, Justin Holcomb, Brandon Leath, Mark Marable, Tim McCain, Justin McGatha, Elijah McRath, James Morris, Billy Pressley and Mark Terry.
MIPL Celebrates National Safety Week
McWane India Private Limited (MIPL) valve and hydrant, machine tooling and Time Square teams located in Coimbatore, India celebrated National Safety Week on March 5-12, 2018. They kicked off the event with a safety flag raising led by MIPL Senior Vice President K. Shanmugham on March 5.
Several activities were planned for the week including special speeches by managers and shop floor team members on the importance of National Safety Week. During the week they held safety themed demonstrations, a vehicle emissions camp, safety training, and knowledge sharing with other industries. A total of 45 vehicles were tested at the Time Square location to insure they met the required environmental standards and an eye camp was conducted for 180 team members.
Team members competed for prizes for the best safety slogan and safety demonstration and best safety photo and drawing. Team members not only enjoyed themselves, but they learned lots of safety tips during the weeklong event.
Manchester Tank Quincy Celebrates 2017 Safety Record
The Manchester Tank team in Quincy, Illinois ended 2017 with a 2.16 total recordable injury rate and to thank team members for their commitment to working safe every day they recently held a ribeye steak cookout complete with twice baked cheesy potatoes, green beans, roll with tea and lemonade topped off with a Manchester Tank sheet cake. The cookout was catered by the local Hy-Vee Supermarket and team members really enjoyed the lunch.
During the lunch, they reminded team members to follow the job safety analysis (JSA) for every job they perform and the importance of looking for and correcting any hazards in their work area and keeping an eye out for unsafe behaviors. By following these guidelines, they can have an even better 2018.
Another McWane VPP Site!
We are pleased to announce that after almost a year of waiting, McWane Ductile located in Phillipsburg, New Jersey (MDNJ) received their official notification that they have been approved for VPP Merit status. Their extensive and comprehensive on-site evaluation by a team of five OSHA personnel and one external Special Government Employee was held June 5-9, 2017.
They have been asked to perform additional industrial hygiene monitoring for non-routine and off-shift tasks (the only issue identified by the entire OSHA team). Once that is complete, they will be able to apply for the Star designation.
McWane Vice-President of Health & Safety Barb Wisniewski said, “It is very fitting that this announcement tops off an outstanding year for MDNJ’s health and safety success, i.e., winner of the 2017 McWane Top Quartile Club Award and the 2017 McWane EHS Excellence (Screaming Eagle) Award. You should be extremely proud—very well deserved!”
MDNJ joins six other McWane facilities that had been recognized as VPP sites. In fact, all three McWane Ductile locations are now VPP sites (McWane Ductile Ohio-VPP Star, McWane Ductile-Utah-VPP Star and MDNJ-VPP Merit).
Congratulations to everyone at MDNJ!
M&H Valve Joins the 2017 McWane Injury/Illness Quartile Club
Pictured from L-R: Tony Orlowski, Jeff Rasmussen, Cecil Payne, Mike Fulmer, Josh Gunning, Stacy Engle and Susan Roach
Clow Valve Kicks off 2018 with Safety in Mind!
The Clow Valve team started 2018 with safety in mind. Production start-up for the new year was delayed by a day so that team members from both the Machine Shop (MS) and Metal Casting Facility (MCF) could come together at William Penn University to review how their safety impacts others. Guest speakers, Russ and Laurel Youngstrom, shared their very descriptive story about how his refusal to follow safety rules changed their lives forever.
Ruffner Page updated the team on the company and emphasized personal accountability and how important their health and wellbeing is to the organization. A panel moderated by Chris Prendergast emphasized the importance of accountability for safety and how critical it is to work as a team for the safety of self and others.
Several interactive activities were conducted throughout the day that revealed how an injury impacts your ability to do routine things. Activities included, blindfolded cereal bowl filling, immobilized back bending and sitting exercise, and getting dressed while having a shoulder injury. Additionally, there was an exercise that demonstrated the effects to a team when a member is removed due to injury.
They also announced the 2017 safety achievements, specifically a record low for recordable injuries for Clow Valve Oskaloosa.
McWane, Inc. 