12. Promoting Safety

Andrea and Griffin discuss how we can work safely and some statistics on our safety performance over the last few years.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Welcome to Loaded the Hahn Ready Mix Podcast with Andrea Meyer and Griffin Hahn and of course producer Lex.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

How's it going today?

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Very good. It's beautiful weather this week.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

It is nice. It's nice that it's warming up a little bit, getting busy again. How was your mother's day?

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Oh gosh. I wish I could say it was fantastic, but it was not great. My oldest kid had strep and was throwing up and so you got to put the mothering skills into practice as what you're saying. I did not get a break from all of the mothering tasks that I have to do. What about you guys?

SPEAKER_00 0:48

It was good. My I'm I'm saying extra ums for Lux's benefit. He loves editing them out. So um um um um um um. Don't do it. My wife's parents and grandmother came up uh for the day on Sunday. So that was nice. Went to some sports games and then it was my wife and I's anniversary yesterday. So that's it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Oh really? Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

You're still married, huh?

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Seven years feels like 27. That's what I told her yesterday. She she did not think that I was fat funny.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

But I feel like the next did you say seven years? Yeah. I feel like the second seven years are better than the first seven years. Are they? I think so. In my experience, don't worry.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Okay. All right, hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Second seven is better.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yeah, it that's only because the kids tend to be older in the second seven. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Yes, they start to be able to function on their own and like can get their own snacks and usually don't need you quite as much.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Sounds glorious.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

It's it's great. Well, I mean, except for when they're sick and hurt, whining, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Yeah. All right. What are we going to talk about today?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Well, we are on the uh third value within the customers and coworkers are our team section, and this is all about safety today. The actual value is promoting safety.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Yes. This one's a little bit, I think, easier to understand. It's kind of very direct.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

It's very direct. It's there's not uh your interpretation or configuration of words.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Yeah. So I think maybe we start talking a little bit about why safety is important.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

And that also may seem obvious, but I think it's worth talking about.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

So first thing, most important by far, is that we really want everyone to go home every day in the manner that they came to work from a health and safety standpoint. That is the most critical thing that we do here. I mean, I think it's a common thing that's said is that there's nothing that we do that is so important that we have to do, you know, be unsafe to do it, right? I never want to see someone get hurt, you know, significant injury or uh have something that, God forbid, you know, affects them for the rest of their life, or you know, and and obviously the the scariest thing is uh a workplace fatality, right? We'd we never want to have to find out what that's like. And in in my career, luckily we haven't had that with any of our team members from uh, you know, something that happened at work. So we just don't we just don't ever want to experience it.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah, I think that's kind of the worst case scenario, obviously. But what happens more frequently are the kind of routine discipline things where we take a shortcut or we go too fast and something minor happens, and even when it's a minor injury, it's a big pain for the person and for the company. So I think there's so many avoidable small injuries, is really what we see more of.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Yeah, absolutely. And there's kind of a safety theory out there that they kind of call it the pyramid of safety. So if you have a lot of minor incidents, then you're more likely to have a major incident. And the more major incidents you are, the more likely you have that ultimate catastrophe. So if you can address the minor incidents, then you're addressing the the likelihood of a major incident or something worse.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yeah, same, same concept with talking about and reviewing near misses. That's something that we do quite a bit. And I think the consciousness you have when you're noticing something that could have gone wrong that didn't, it's keeping that thought in the front of your mind to try to avoid any possible issues.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

And beyond just the worry about everyone's well-being, both on our team and the people around us that we work with, our customers, the community at large, you know, the safety also includes property damage and things like that that can get very costly for the company, right? So we have claims from both workers' comp and auto liability are two big lines, lines pretty much, that we track, and the insurance company tracks how much those claims cost, how often they happen, and what's happening on all those. And our insurance rates are based off our you know experience on what claims are out there. So everything we can do to minimize those saves the company money, and and back to kind of what we talked last week. Anytime we're not spending money on those things, we are spending them on new equipment or new technologies or raises and bonuses and you know, everything we need to make things smoother around here.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Yes, everything that we can spend money on is better than spending it on insurance for sure.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Yes, absolutely. Well, I thought maybe we'd review some of the data we have and what's happened.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

This should be fun because this is all information that I see all the time and just have in my head, but you have the actual numbers in front of you. So this is a interesting dynamic for us.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

As long as I can read my handwriting, we will have we'll get through this. So I have the last three years' data, and these are kind of the combined claims from auto, the auto line, which would be like an accident, and the workers' comp, which would be you know a personal injury, something like that. So in 2022, we had 14 combined claims with a total claim cost of$217,935. So a lot of claims, and uh obviously that's a significant amount of money. In 2023, we took a step back, we had 20 total claims for$758,596. So our claims had tripled that year from the previous year. Now, last year we had five total claims, two auto and three workers comp for a total of$304,168. The good news on that, so first of all, five claims is significantly better than the previous two years. So we're making good progress there. And one of those claims was Gary Marshall's truck catching spontaneously combusting, catching on fire, that we are very confident is not anyone's fault or nothing we could have done to prevent it that. And that that represented like 180 some thousand of that 304. So if you look at if you take that one out, we had four claims for$120,000, which is significantly, significantly better than the previous years. So I think if you know our goal for 2025 should definitely be to um continue that track.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Absolutely. I just want to point out in your numbers there, these are claims that actually get filed through insurance. So there are other, you know, more minimal damage accidents and injuries where we just pay them directly and we don't go through insurance. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

So diving in a little bit deeper into some of these numbers. So on the auto side, 74% of our claim costs over the last uh three years have been under three categories. The first is rollovers, which we as we know are I don't even like when you say that word. No, no, it's it's uh it's really the worst part of this industry, I think, is the fact that we have a top-heavy truck with a moving load, and that makes rollovers a very plausible thing and something we always have to be cognizant of while we're driving trucks and trying to prevent that.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

I remember the first rollover that happened while I was working here, and I really had no idea, and it uh there were no injuries, you know, it wasn't, you know, as far as rollovers go, it wasn't the worst kind of rollover, and everyone, you know, was talking about it and it was it was a big deal, of course, but it was not anyone else's first time. It was my first time, and it was like, wait, this is something that just happens. Like I couldn't believe it. But now that you know I've been around a lot longer and seen a lot of things and had so many conversations with the insurance people, it it really is such a risk in this industry, and it's important that we continue to educate people and to really try everything we can to avoid it at all costs.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

And we'll get back to some ideas on that later in the podcast. But so rollovers, turning on right turns, so intersections, having an accident on a right turn was interesting, uh, was uh was a significant portion of claims, and then that big one single electrical one. But those three items are 74% of our auto claim costs. So really that's where a lot of the dollars are. So, you know, it definitely avoiding rollovers is is gonna be by far the biggest improvement we can have, both from a personal safety standpoint, because rollovers are so scary in that aspect, and for a um total claim cost standpoint.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

On the workers' comp side, we have even more, I guess, I guess, uh, congestion of the same causes tying up. So 50% of our workers' comp claims are from slip trips and falls. And 36% of our workers' comp train uh claims are from strains, uh strains and sprains, a lot of which are caused by slip, trips, and falls. So I think those are very related. And those are those could happen from picking up a chute, uh, you know, and certainly.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

They happen when you are getting in and out of your truck or up and down off the ladder on a job site because there's such uneven terrain and unexpected, whether it's muddy or there's a rut that you're stepping into, it's just an uneven surface and it's totally out of our control most of the time. And yes, like you said, strains and sprains don't sound that bad, but you can't work, right? Like that's it's it's very painful. You can't come to work, it just takes time and physical therapy to heal it. And there's there's not much you can do in the meantime while you're waiting for that healing to happen. The other thing that I have seen, um, maybe not so much recently, but in the past, a lot of people would wear their work boots sort of loose, like have the laces untied or like baggier pants around the ankle, and then you would step on a pant leg or step on a shoelace or something, and that would cause a slip and fall too. So again, like super avoidable uh as long as you're being really conscious of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Yeah. And a lot of the slips, strips, and falls happen also in the winter. Yes. And so the and those are a lot of times at the plant where someone would be walking across the yard and they'll fall because it's icy. So we really, if anybody ever sees ice or a slippery condition at the plant, that is avoidable. We can get some salt down. As much as we don't want to salt concrete, we will in this instance, um, we want to salt that and and and and prevent that kind of accident from happening. So I think a lot of it comes down to just being aware of your surroundings, right? If you're on a job site, if you're on the yard, you know, make sure you're watching where you're walking, stepping carefully. Because yeah, especially on job sites, the the conditions can be anything. It could it could look dry and be a mud hole, vice versa. There's, you know, I've seen people trip over wire mesh mats laying on the side of the job site, and and you a lot of times have elevation, hills, all these things. It it's all tough. So um, yeah, just paying, paying really close attention to that is is the most important part. And I think as well, the kind of underlines that this is where this happens on job sites is 90% of our workers' comp claims uh came from drivers. And some of that's a function of most of our employees are drivers, right? So that it makes sense that they have a lion's share of the workers' comp and they're out and about, right? But yeah, just just that's where we can make the improvement for sure. Okay. So I have some ideas and some things that we can do to improve some of these numbers, and some ideas kind of to talk about. So anytime we're getting in and out of the truck or going up and down the ladder, the three points of contract, contact is absolutely critical. It's so easy to slip, especially in kind of inclement conditions, that three points of contact is really going to prevent. So if you do step on uneven ground or it's icy, you know, you can hopefully hold on and not fall. So that's a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

I'll add on to that, unless this is your next one. My addition to the three points of contact is turnaround to go down. That is so many times people jump out of the truck face first and roll an ankle or their knee gives out, or they're not as young as they thought they were, and it turns into a big deal. So turn around to go down goes along with three points of contact.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

I'm definitely guilty of that. I would hop up and down on stuff and uh I'm I'm not a spring chicken anymore like Lex. So I gotta do that.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

So the the injuries that come from falling back are better than falling forward.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Oh, that's a good point. Okay. One thing that we need to keep an eye on is ladder condition. You know, a lot of times we're so worried about the operational parts of the truck that make concrete or drive the truck, and the ladders are just as important because you're gonna be climbing up and down on that. And if there's uh something wrong where the tread isn't there or or it's bent out of shape, that's a hazard we want to get addressed right away.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Yes. On trucks or uh wash racks, things like that. That's another place where something being faulty could impact a lot of people really quickly.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Yes, absolutely. One thing we talk about all the time and is very important is wearing PPE, right? So it's even a requirement on many of the jobs that we're on or many of the contractors we work with. But wearing PPE, makes sure that you are visible, right, with your vest and and your neon hard hat, that if anything is happening overhead, it protects your head. And as we talked in the note or the announcements the other week, we've had a lot of eye-related issues from people not wearing safety glasses. So make sure you're wearing the appropriate PPE gloves if you need it. You know, if you're working in the shop, welding hood or face mask or whatever that's appropriate for the work you're doing. That's that's really important to keep you safe. It's not there to be obnoxious or have a rule just to enforce for no reason. It's there to keep people safe. Um, and then one thing that I think is tough for people to get their head around sometimes, is everyone here has an obligation to speak up if we see something that's happening that's unsafe. If you see your manager doing something unsafe, you need to tell them, hey, that's not safe, don't do that. You have that obligation and that authority when you see that. And if whoever it is, if they're a peer or or you know, someone that maybe outranks you or whatever, if they're not listening to you, go to someone they have to listen to and don't let it drop, don't say, Well, I tried. You know, they it's possible they could be mad at you that you went and told on them or something like that. But you could save their life. So Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Nothing would feel worse than not saying something, and then something happens, and then you feel responsible for not helping.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

So that's something I would like to see more of is people speaking up instead of you know shaking their head and walking away if they see something unsafe, say, no, don't do that. That's not right.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Uh yeah, I think that's what makes safety make so much sense in this category with customers and coworkers, our our team and supporting each other and taking ownership. Like you're responsible for your own safety, but we're also responsible for supporting each other and pointing out when things are unsafe or reminding them about PPE or whatever you see.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yeah. On top of that, that's a lot of um you know, workers comp related um things we can do. On the auto side, obviously the Samsera cameras, one of the major benefits of that is hopefully that we can use that for training. And I know Sheldon, Zach, and Sean have been doing that, having conversations when we've seen um, you know, incidents that we don't like the way that they went down, whether it was a rolling stop or something else. And again, we're not being punitive with that, but we are going to continue to coach every time because we want to see improvement. And I think we have. Last week, of all it was our busiest week of the year so far, we poured almost 10,000 yards last week, and we had one incident company-wide that showed up on the same Sarah cameras that we wanted to coach about.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Wow, that's that's great.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

So I I'm pretty happy with that. Hopefully, we can keep it up. And I'd love to see zero. I'd love to see everything even better. Yeah. Um, so we're making progress and we're going to continue to use that as a tool to get better on this topic. Obviously, wearing your seatbelt is very important when you're in the truck. We talked about that last week as well. Uh, that's a non-negotiable. And the one thing that we're working on that may be a year out still, but we think it could be a game changer. We haven't finalized this, so this isn't a promise. This is just kind of a sneak peek. We're hoping to be able to rent some time with a ReadyMix specific simulator, and we'll have every single driver go through the simulator, you know, hopefully a couple hours or something like that. And here the simulator's on a trailer would come here to our office. And the benefit of that is we can put real life scenarios in that simulator to train on, right? So we can put you in a situation where you're going too fast, going into a turn, and see exactly where the limits are in a s in a safe way, right? We can we can put ourselves in a you know a soft shoulder situation. We can do all these things that might result in real rollovers or you know, going through a school zone with kids running around. We can we can train on that that scenario. So I'm really excited about what that might bring. And you know, two hours isn't a ton of time, but we'll we'll kind of see where it progresses from there. But that's that's the hope. And I think that um might be a 2026 thing where we'll get that, and um, I'm excited about where that goes.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Sign me up. I don't think I'm ever gonna get behind the wheel of an actual Ready Mix truck, so this might be as close as I get.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Yeah, there you go. Perfect. Perfect. All right, what else do we have to talk about as regards to safety?

SPEAKER_01 19:40

I think that pretty well covers it. The only other thing I wanted to mention is as it's warming up, you know, it got to I think 80 degrees this week. Summer safety is a is a big deal, staying hydrated, being well rested, uh, because that is well, it doesn't usually cause an injury, but it contributes to another issue that comes up, right? Like you're you're tired and you're exhausted and you're dehydrated, so then you stumble and you slip and fall or something like that. So just keeping that in mind as it gets warmer to stay hydrated.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Yeah. And we welcome any suggestions for if anybody sees anything that they think we could do, you know, that it's either a hazard or a process improvement that could make things safer around here. Uh, we welcome those those thoughts and those ideas. We want to hear it.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Okay, so we do have one announcement here. We recently sent a couple drivers to the IRMCA truck rodeo.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Yeah, it's exciting. And they did great. Uh, in fact, Steven Kellenberger got fifth in the whole state, which is really awesome. And he apparently killed it at the course section. So um, nice job, you guys.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Awesome. Yeah, Brian Schultz was the other driver that we sent, and he did a great job as well. He has a video proof of his uh his run. So uh he's pretty proud of that, and we are too. So thanks to you guys for doing that.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

All right, thanks for listening to Loaded, the Han Ready Mix podcast. Please remember to subscribe wherever you're listening, and we will talk to you again soon.