At the January General Membership Meeting, the winner of the 2014 Annual Safety Suggestion Award was named. Dan Small, of Marine Hydraulics International, took home the award for the second year in a row.
It was also announced that the prize amounts for 2015 will be raised to $500 for each Quarterly Winner, and $1000 for the Annual Winner to be announced next January!
Realizing the issue that many shipyards and contractors face with being required to run a variety of temporary services such as electrical power, air, water, ventilation, etc. throughout the ship, Mr. Small recognized that these service lines and hoses are often tied to the overhead of passageways and run through numerous doorways. This can make it difficult to pass through the doorway and obstruct clear egress which would be critical in the event of an emergency. To help control how low these services can be run through doorways, a requirement may be invoked to limit services to hang no lower than eight inches from the top of the doorway. Dan realized that the he should find a way to easily run these services through the doorway making sure they meet the eight inch rule without having to constantly measure and monitor current and newly installed services.
Thus, his idea was to make a Temporary Services Safety Bar that attaches to the top of the door and stretches across the width of the opening. The support bar hangs eight inches from the top of the doorway and allows the service lines to run across the support bar with the assurance that they will be maintained to the top section of the doorway. The TSSB is constructed in a way that will not damage the knife edge that forms the seal against the gasket of the door, and will still support the weight of the services.
We applaud Dan's dedication to Safety, and his innovative thinking helps ensure our workforce remains SAFE. If you, or your employees, have a suggestion to improve safety in the ship repair industry, we encourage you to submit your idea for a chance to win a cash prize. See below for further details:
SAFETY SUGGESTION AWARD PROGRAM
(QUARTERLY AND YEAR ENDING CASH AWARDS)
PURPOSE:
VSRA’s Safety Suggestion Award Program allows employees of VSRA member companies to be recognized for safety ideas. These safety ideas will improve or will have improved safety conditions and awareness in the workplace or added some other value to the company’s safety and health program. These safety ideas become useful safety suggestions that other VSRA member companies can use to improve safety in their work environment.
CRITERIA:
- Safety Suggestion must be an idea to improve safety conditions in your work area.
- Safety Suggestion cannot:
- Be a common practice in the industry.
- Be an established OSHA requirement or procedure.
- Violate an OSHA rule or regulation.
- A winning safety suggestion MAY be resubmitted.
- Safety Suggestions may be resubmitted only once and within the next 12 months.
- No limit on the number of Safety Suggestions that may be submitted by VSRA member companies, in a given quarter(s).
JUDGING:
Safety Suggestions submitted for the quarter will be reviewed and approved by VSRA’s Safety Suggestion Sub-Committee, to determine if they meet the above criteria. The Sub-Committee will bring the approved safety suggestions before VSRA’s Safety Committee for selection of a winner, which is done by voting. VSRA’s Safety Suggestion Sub-Committee will notify the winner on the day of the vote and validate winner’s notification letter.
AWARDING WINNERS:
• Quarterly winners will be honored at the appropriate VSRA General Membership Meetings in April, July, October, and December and will receive a $500 award prize.
• An annual winner will be selected from the four quarterly winners—“best of the quarterly winners”. The annual winner will be honored at VSRA’s General Membership Meeting in December and will receive a $1000 award prize.
• Winner(s) may be asked to briefly discuss their safety suggestion at the quarterly and annual VSRA General Membership Meetings.
DEADLINE FOR ENTRY:
All safety suggestions must be turned in by April 5th, July 5th, October 5th, and December 5th of each year. Entry must include: 1) a contact person, 2) a phone number, and 3) employer’s company name.
MAINTENANCE:
Winning Safety Suggestions will be submitted to VSRA Office to be maintained in a permanent file and available for use by VSRA member companies; and they will be posted on VSRA’s website: www.VirginiaShipRepair.org.
HOW DO I SUBMIT A SAFETY SUGGESTION?
Your Safety Suggestion can be mailed-in, faxed-in, or electronically sent via e-mail. Support items such as pictures, sketches, or display items are encouraged with your safety suggestion and consideration must be given to how to get these items to the individual below. You may call if additional information is needed.
Mail, Fax, or E-mail your Safety Suggestions to :
Brian S. Applewhite, Safety Committee Chairman
Tecnico Corporation
831 Industrial Ave.
Chesapeake, VA 23324
Office: (757) 545-4013
Fax: (757) 543-5402
E-mail:BApplewhite@TecnicoCorp.com
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