{"id":1540,"date":"2024-11-05T18:08:41","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T18:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vcnastg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2024-11-05T18:08:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T18:08:41","slug":"a-legacy-of-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/a-legacy-of-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"A Legacy of Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u200b\u200b\u200bVotorantim Cimentos Global CEO\u00a0Walter Dissinger\u00a0learned the importance of workplace safety long before he put on a hardhat. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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He recalls a work-related accident his father sustained and, later in life, the effects of his long-term exposure to a hazardous substance on the job. Both situations affected his father’s hands\u00a0and both were preventable, so it’s easy to understand why Walter is passionate about the\u00a0safety\u00a0of Votorantim Cimentos employees worldwide.<\/p>\n

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This story and others were shared on June 9 during Votorantim Cimentos’ 3rd annual Global Safety Day. Straddling Canada’s Safety Week in May and June’s National Safety Month in the U.S., the event marked the renewal of the company’s deep commitment to safety across all operations as the construction season moves into full swing.<\/p>\n

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The day started with a global video-conference hosted by Walter, attended by the full executive and safety leadership team at 26 locations from the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.<\/p>\n

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Walter reported on safety results from recent years and introduced\u00a0Safety is My Greatest Legacy<\/em><\/strong>,<\/p>\n

the new theme for the global safety initiative.<\/p>\n

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“We recognize that at the end of the day, the goal is to go home safely to our loved ones. We need to pass this safety culture on to the next generation,” he said.\u200b<\/p>\n

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Lunch-and-learns and toolbox talks were conducted throughout the day to carry the message worldwide.\u00a0 Other senior leaders shared their experiences and personal connections to safety, including Votorantim Cimentos North America (VCNA) President and CEO\u00a0Filiberto Ruiz<\/strong>, who recognized the employees responsible for VCNA’s track record of safe operations.<\/p>\n

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In his remarks, Filiberto shared the example of three generations of one family working at a St Marys Cement facility, serving as a living legacy to workplace safety that has been handed down\u00a0from generation to generation.<\/p>\n

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Encouraging employee feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Recognizing that many of the best ideas for addressing work hazards come from those doing the work itself, VCNA encourages continuous feedback from all employees across its\u00a0aggregates<\/strong>,\u00a0cement<\/strong>\u00a0et\u00a0ready mix<\/strong>\u00a0operations. On-site meetings and regular bulletins focus on sharing near-misses and past accidents so workers can learn about different parts of the business and exchange practical ideas and techniques for accident prevention.\u200b<\/p>\n

Another approach for tapping into the expertise of the work force is a program where\u00a0ready-mix\u00a0employees can act as company “president for a day”, outlining what they would change to further improve safety.<\/p>\n

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Safety “rock stars” in North American Aggregates<\/strong><\/p>\n

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VCNA’s dedication to safety shows in its outstanding safety records and the many industry awards earned by its businesses. Aggregates employees in Canada and the U.S. have worked seven and eight years respectively without a Lost Time Injury (LTI).\u00a0 Recently, the\u00a0Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers\u00a0<\/strong>presented Gold Awards to two Prairie Material\u00a0locations:\u00a0Pontiac<\/strong>\u00a0et\u00a0Ashkum<\/strong>, while\u00a0Manteno<\/strong>\u00a0et\u00a0Paxton\u00a0<\/strong>each earned Rock Solid Excellence in Safety Awards – top honors in the awards program. The Aggregates Group was also the winner of VCNA’s annual CEO Safety Award.<\/p>\n

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\u200bCement operations focused on no LTIs<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Our cement plants in North America also have outstanding safety records. VCNA cement plants with the best safety records include: the\u00a0St Marys, Ontario\u00a0<\/strong>plant with seven consecutive years with zero\u00a0LTIs; the\u00a0Detroit, Michigan\u00a0<\/strong>plant with six years; and the\u00a0Bowmanville, Ontario\u00a0<\/strong>et<\/p>\n

Suwanee, Florida\u00a0<\/strong>plants each with four consecutive years LTI-free.<\/td>\n

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“The key to employees’ success is constant vigilance and compliance with sensible safety policies and procedures, as well as heightened awareness around vehicles, equipment and all structures,” says\u00a0Malcolm Barr<\/strong>, VCNA Health, Safety and Risk Manager.<\/p>\n

Ready mix truck rodeos focus on precision, safe handling<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Concrete mixer truck rodeos are held annually at our North American locations, where ready mix drivers demonstrate their safe driving skills through an 8-station challenge course. Precision is key, but\u00a0the rodeo also includes a 40-question written test and a multi-point visual safety check which accounts for a part of the drivers’ score.<\/p>\n

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\u200bWinners\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0Prairie\u00a0Material\u00a0truck\u00a0rodeo\u00a0held\u00a0Sunday,\u00a0June\u00a026,\u00a0from\u00a0left;\u00a0Jr.\u00a0Division\u00a0First\u00a0Place\u00a0winner<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Billy\u00a0Carson\u00a0(Yard\u00a08);\u00a0Second\u00a0Place\u00a0winner\u00a0Richard\u00a0Lee\u00a0(Yard\u00a03);\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Senior\u00a0Division First\u00a0Place winner<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
John Marzalik (Yard 8);\u00a0Second Place winner Simon\u00a0Martinez\u00a0(Yard\u00a08).<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
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Top finishers in the CBM rodeo held Sunday, June 12, from left:\u00a0\u200b<\/strong><\/em>First Place winner Ken Bulbrook,\u00a0Cambridge (West); Second Place winner Tony Parkes,\u00a0Cambridge (West); Third\u00a0Place\u00a0winner John Tantalo,\u00a0Maple (GTA); Fourth Place winner Brandon Brown,\u00a0Milton\u00a0(GTA).\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Prestige’s rodeo will be held this coming October. Winners from all events go on to compete in regional and national competitions.<\/p>\n

Safety for contractors working alongside us<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Another key goal for 2016 will be to ensure that contractors share our safety culture. “If you work with us or for us, you can be assured that your safety is our first priority,” says Malcolm.<\/p>\n

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“Since 2009 we’ve had a standardized process for pre-qualifying contractors undertaking\u00a0high-risk activities at our locations,” he says. “To support this program we partner with BROWZ, an outside contractor compliance and management solutions supplier, to validate contractor compliance with our safety requirements.” \u00a0Teams who work with contractors can search the BROWZ database to verify that those they hire have been prequalified before work begins.<\/p>\n

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Safety innovation and leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n

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To further advance its safety culture, VCNA seeks nominations from employees to highlight their\u00a0peers for safety innovation and leadership. Last year, 21 employees received special recognition for their contributions to safer workplaces.<\/p>\n

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From these nominees, the Safety Innovation Award for 2015 went to\u00a0Jim Cairns<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>et\u00a0Frank Stegnar<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>at the\u00a0CBM Portland<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(Ontario) ready mix plant. The team\u00a0<\/span>devised a safety davit with a 5,000-pound anchor point for\u00a0an OSHA-compliant entry-and-fall arrest system. The improved plate\u00a0<\/span>allows employees to safely enter aggregates silos, where material can be stored 65 feet deep and upwards of\u00a0100 feet off the ground. The plate is now in use at all CBM ready mix plants.\u200b<\/p>\n

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Bill Vorberg\u00a0<\/strong>at\u00a0Prairie Material<\/strong>\u00a0(Illinois) received the Safety Leadership Award for his role as a\u00a0trainer\u00a0for newly hired drivers and leader in building a team of qualified drivers that contribute\u00a0to the company’s safety and success. Bill emphasizes that working too fast and becoming complacent are common causes for workplace injuries, and highlights this point in all\u00a0new-hire training. Along with his own driving duties, Bill is the Plant Operator at Prairie Yard 14 in Addison, Illinois.<\/p>\n

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Continuing the legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Across all operations, from the head office in Brazil to the regional aggregates, cement and ready-mix operations of Canada and the U.S., safety is more than a buzzword. It’s a passion and\u00a0a way of life for\u00a0the 3,300 employees of Votorantim Cimentos North America, who consider\u00a0safety their greatest legacy and are passing it on from our generation to the next.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u200b\u200b\u200bVotorantim Cimentos Global CEO\u00a0Walter Dissinger\u00a0learned the importance of workplace safety long before he put on a hardhat. \u00a0 He recalls a work-related accident his father sustained and, later in life, the effects of his long-term exposure to a hazardous substance on the job. Both situations affected his father’s hands\u00a0and both were preventable, so it’s easy […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superiormaterialsllc.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}