Evonik’s Garyville, La., Reports Seven Years Without Lost Time Accident

Evonik’s superabsorbent polymers site in Garyville, La., has achieved a major safety milestone - seven years without an injury that results in any loss of time from work.

David DelGuercio, head of Evonik’s Consumer Specialties business unit in the Americas, said the noteworthy achievement is the result of diligent efforts by the Garyville team, who have taken ownership of site safety.

“Seven years without a lost time accident (LTA) – 2,556 days – is an outstanding safety achievement and one that everyone at Evonik should be proud of,” DelGuercio said. “The Garyville team set high standards for safety and met each one.”

“Safety is part of Evonik’s culture, making it everyone's responsibility," said site manager Daniel Fricker. “Management practices alone are not sufficient to achieve outstanding safety performance. Everyone at the site must be engaged and involved.”

Fricker cites a number of factors for Garyville’s remarkable record including strong safety leadership training, continuous focus on improvement, ownership of housekeeping, and constant reinforcement.

“Achieving excellence in safety involves empowering everyone - management, supervisors, employees, and contractors - to make safety practices work,” he explained. “Safety is ingrained into every action. All personnel became ‘owners’ of safety.”

Accidents happen because certain unexpected events prevent a task from being completed as intended. “Communication is extremely important and every Garyville employee, from the most senior to the newly hired worker, clearly understands what is expected,” said Fricker.

Garyville’s Take-A-Note (TAN) card program is one of the tools used in Garyville to enable team members to raise issues and ultimately hold management accountable. “Valuable lessons have been learned by utilizing the TAN system, most importantly the significance of timely feedback to the individuals who submit the cards,” Fricker said. “Continuous audits also contribute to Garyville’s seven year safety milestone."

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