VSRA Safety Suggestions Awards — Improve Your Workplace, Win a Prize!

Safety is our number one priority. You can hear that phrase at every business that supports the shipbuilding and repair industry in Hampton Roads, and there is little doubt that safety is a primary area of focus for VSRA members. From national (OSHA) to regional (VSRA) to local (site-specific) training courses taken by everyone donning a hard hat, safe work practices are constantly being conveyed to workers along the waterfront by management.

All our workers are well versed in the proper PPE needed to complete a job, confined space entry requirements, differences between danger and caution tags, and hot work procedures. There are signs, placards, work package notes, and verbal instructions reminding our tradesmen of the precautions to take when completing their tasks in an efficient manner.

But what about the risks we’re not seeing on a daily basis? Risks that are apparent to our painters, fire watches, pipe fitters, and welders are not always noticed by management.  Getting that information from the deck plates and into the hands of our leaders can often be a challenge.  There are many avenues your organization can take, but one that can reward the industry, your business, and the craftsman is the VSRA Safety Suggestions Award program.

Many entities in our industry already have internal programs in place to recommend ways to improve safety in the workplace. Whether your organization has a safety suggestions program or not, please take a few moments to review the following information about VSRA Safety Suggestions and consider relaying this information to your entire workforce. The individual who submits the top Safety Suggestion each quarter wins $500, and the person who submits the best safety idea of the year will be awarded $1,000. Each winner will also be honored at a VSRA General Membership meeting.

Click here for a flyer you can hang in your workspace advertising the awards program. 

A Safety Suggestion must be an idea to improve safety conditions in your work area. They are not reiterations of common practices in the industry or already in line with an OSHA requirement or procedure, but rather they are new ideas on how to make our industrial work environments safer for all employees. In many cases, the winning suggestions have been simple solutions to common workplace problems. 

Chaired by Brian Applewhite, Safety Manager of Tecnico, the VSRA Safety Committee meets every month and votes on the VSRA Safety Suggestions on a quarterly basis. Otto Hylton, East Coast EHS Manager with AMSEC, leads the gathering efforts of the Safety Suggestions and presents them to the Safety Committee. He got involved in the program because of the impact he sees it making across various organizations and sees it as an important information-sharing tool to improve our industrial environments. One thing Otto likes to focus on is how simple some of the best suggestions can be. Examples of past award winners that stick out to him are: 

• A redesign of the aircraft elevator stanchions to ensure they do not roll off the elevators during installation.
• A quick install bracket used in doorways that holds temporary service lines in place and prevents them from hanging down in high-traffic areas.
• Improvements to lighting conditions in crosswalks and other pedestrian environments.
• A portable device used to fill the gaps between barges and docks to promote safe embarking of vessels.

Click here to find a link to the award application and submittal instructions.

There are three key areas of the Safety Suggestion:

• Statement of the problem. A short one- to two-sentence summary of the problem that the Safety Suggestion is trying to improve.
• Summary of Safety Idea. A one-paragraph explanation of the Safety Suggestion and the impact the improvement can have on overall safety quality.
• Idea for Improvement (safety wise). A complete summary of your idea and how to implement the suggestion. This can include support items such as pictures, sketches or other display items. The more detailed information to support the suggestion the better.

New in 2016, VSRA has approved that the Safety Managers and Supervisors will be compensated and recognized at the VSRA General Membership luncheon. Quarterly compensation will be $100, and the annual Safety Award nominator would win $400. Additionally, both the nominator and receiver will receive FREE passes to the annual VSRA Safety & Health Seminar. 

As managers we often discuss the good ideas we want to see implemented across our organization. Every organization represented at VSRA Safety Committee meetings agrees that these suggestions are important to the future successes of our industry. We encourage you to take the time to discuss the VSRA Safety Suggestions Award with your superintendents, supervisors, and foremen to get the ideas from who really matters — our deck plates. Besides improving safety on our waterfront, which craftsman of yours would not want the $500 quarterly prize? 

About the Author

Troy Vandenberg was a Navy Engineering Duty Officer and is the Area Manager of the Marine and Technician division of Trillium Staffing in Portsmouth, Va. He is an active member of both the VSRA Communications and Safety & Environmental Committees. Troy can be contacted at tvandenberg@trillium-techs.com.

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