We are in an age of 鈥淰irtual Vehicles鈥� and higher levels of accountability and greater expectations. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
By Larry Stone
Can someone tell me just how fast technology is moving?听 Some days it鈥檚 hard to keep up, but I am sure that the company with the greatest vision and flexibility will be the leader. With technology moving so fast, the challenge may be learning how to use the massive amounts of information they provide while getting the desired results from the investment. In the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, many of us in the solid waste industry began tracking various productivity measures with computers. We recycled those hand written reports and made graphs and charts to track the various safety, productivity and profitability reports, which are now generated at the push of a button. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I recall various GPS tracking systems and electronic backing sensors. Some of those systems would apply the brakes automatically. The driver quickly learned how to override the system. Early camera systems were marketed with a 鈥淏ig Brother鈥� approach, which caused labor problems and distrust.
Before we get too deep into technology, lets focus on the number one factor in almost every crash or accident: people. Human error ends up being the primary cause of almost every incident.听 Somebody did something that caused or contributed to the incident.听 I believe many people reading this have had some level of experience driving a commercial motor vehicle.听 Others have worked closely with experienced drivers for guidance to provide training or training guidelines for drivers. Just for a minute, let鈥檚 look through the eyes of the professional driver.听 He/she clocks in normally early in the morning. Many will have already checked on the days鈥� weather report and almost everyone will have some type of personal plans for the end of the work day.听 Therefore, thoughts of getting done on time and safely are on the minds of most of our drivers.
Today is a little different. Yes, today is our weekly safety meeting or toolbox talk. I assume we have all been there at some level. In many cases, the manager herds drivers and helpers in to a room that is too small and rarely enough chairs for everyone to be seated. The first thing the manager says is 鈥淚 know you guys want to get out of here so I鈥檒l be brief.鈥� Frankly, I鈥檓 not sure what message that says to the driver about the importance of safety. Nevertheless, the drivers are told, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to get this done right!鈥� Now we get into the meat and potatoes. Today鈥檚 topic is three points. At this point everyone in the room is excited and waiting with great anticipation.听 Later I want to provide a somewhat different approach.
Direct Impact
Let鈥檚 look at history a bit more. Over the years we have seen plenty of 鈥淧ost Incident/Accident鈥� improvements. New highway construction has continued to evolve after history has shown us where changes are necessary. Each year we see collective data and reports of incidents that have been analyzed and become the primary cause to drive change. We are confident with these recommendations because we know history has told us something and we need to react responsibly.
During the month of March 2016, we saw 10 fatal crashes in the solid waste industry. In the last 6 months of 2015 we saw 50 fatal incidents. My research tells me that 18 of those were solid waste employees while 32 were third party. Have you ever stopped to think about the number of people directly affected in these situations?听 I have always used a factor of six, for every worker fatality, there are six immediate family members directly affected; double that number for co-workers. So, at a minimum for the month of March 2016 and the last six months of 2015, more than 1,080 people have been directly impacted by fatal incidents in the solid waste industry.听 Do I have your attention?听 Are you as 鈥渙utraged鈥� as I am?
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Develop Your Team
Ok, let鈥檚 team up and work on getting the solid waste industry off of the top 10 list of the riskiest occupation in the U.S. In the workplace we have a battle taking place鈥擝aby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y and the Millennials are sometimes like opposite poles on a magnet. Managers often struggle to communicate with these groups. Things have changed and often the manager who grew up in the waste industry and worked his/her way up through the ranks are challenged when leading various groups of our work force. Ok, it鈥檚 not the good old days. If managers fail to effectively communicate with today鈥檚 work force, who wins? Who drives the truck? Who works on post collection?
I don鈥檛 want to focus on the dangerous word of money. The fact is most workers leave or change jobs due to poor leadership. Sure money can and always will be a factor, but money is the third reason for an employee leaving a job. The first reason is poor leadership. The second reason is equipment or work environment. For the purpose of this article let鈥檚 focus on number one鈥攍eadership.听 Remember we talked about safety meetings? If you are a manager ask yourself, how many times have you personally talked to drivers and helpers about PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)? It has to be done and should be done at least two times per year. Now let鈥檚 talk about a different approach. Let鈥檚 say you have a team of 30 drivers. Chances are, one of those drivers has the ability to speak up during a meeting. There may even be one who is a community volunteer of some sort. Take that driver or helper under your wing. Teach that valued employee everything you know about PPE. Allow them to have local ownership in PPE knowing why it should be important to their co-worker. Give them the ability to assist co-workers when their PPE needs replacing or proper servicing. Make sure you find ways to reward them for their efforts. Even Millennials can see the long-term reward, as this process is a first step in their personal advancement. Think about this for the many of the topics you are engaged in throughout the year. You learned the correct following distances for a commercial motor vehicle. You also have maintenance managers that learned all they needed to know about the wonderful regenerations systems on our diesel trucks today. I could go on and on, but the point is to engage your team at all levels; give local ownership where and when you can to develop your team.
The Value of Technology
This is also where technology comes into play. The first time I was told about in-cab cameras, I felt very uneasy because I was told it was like big brother watching over your shoulder. Ok, that was the mid or late 1990s, but we have all learned by now that this approach doesn鈥檛 work. Even good employees reject the notion of 鈥淏ig Brother鈥�. Today, our basic cameras constantly record video from inside the cab and forward facing views. Events are flagged during a G-Force event鈥攁n action that causes a 30 second clip to be saved. These clips are reviewed and scored to identify opportunities to reward the driver or provide coaching by trained managers. Many of our companies have well designed training programs today. Most require the new employee to meet or exceed the training guidelines. Once these are completed, the new driver is released to the field training with an experienced employee and, in some cases because of business demands, that new driver is on route in as few as two to three weeks. Therefore, that new employee is free to develop his/her own bad habits or risky behavior. Most of our drivers want to be the best they can be. Many drive long periods or years without an incident. So, how do we learn about bad habits? Normally it鈥檚 post-accident, after something has happened. Sadly, some of these cases are career-ending events. Just think if we (leaders) knew about the bad habits before an incident occurred. Maybe we could avoid bad incidents and provide effective coaching to correct the problem and avoid the costly loss of a good employee and the erosion of the bottom line.
If LeBron James, Peyton Manning and Terry Bradshaw didn鈥檛 have good coaching encouragement and training, do you really think they would be where they are today?听 Your leadership and coaching can only be effective if you have the tools to provide the support to encourage greatness. You can鈥檛 be in the truck everyday, which is where most of our industries fatal incidents occur.
Have you ever lost a lawsuit or paid a high dollar amount because someone told you the nuisance value of a claim had no merit? We all have. How often have you replaced a mailbox or basketball goal when the customer says, 鈥淵our driver must have done this鈥� or 鈥渨ho else could have done it?鈥� or 鈥淣o one else comes down our street.鈥澨� Trust your driver. This is the employee you would go to bat for; this is one you count on when you need to extra help. So you fix the mailbox or replace the basketball goal for some PR reason, explaining it to your valued employee.听 However, put yourself in their position. They were never really vindicated. In most cases they feel like they didn鈥檛 matter and they were the scapegoat. The video will show the employee conclusively what really happened. How important would it be to have that video for city council or the major customer with multiple locations?
Now let鈥檚 get serious.听 Your driver said the light was red; he was on a green light. Witnesses are confused and there is often conflicting testimony. We have seen the cameras support the hauler nine out of 10 times. I personally have seen cameras reduce risky behavior by 50 percent in three months of effective coaching.
We are in an age of 鈥淰irtual Vehicles鈥� and higher levels of accountability and greater expectations. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.听 Remember the 60 fatalities and over 1,000 people that have been adversely affected in less than one year. Are you concerned, outraged? You can make the difference.听 | WA
Larry Stone is a Safety and Operations Manager in the solid waste industry. He promoted safety for many years to a variety of groups and organizations. He has used a philosophy of 鈥淐ET鈥� or 鈥淐oaching, Encouraging and Training鈥� to drive a 鈥淐ulture of Safety鈥�. Continuous training is necessary at all levels within the work place to ensure consistency and expectations. Most recently, Larry worked at Alliance Wireless Technologies Inc. serving as the Director of Training and Public Relations. During that period, he provided many presentations and public speaking engagements within the solid waste industry. In 2004, Larry鈥檚 development of the national 鈥淪low Down To Get Around鈥� campaign earned him the National Solid Wastes Management Association Member of the Year Award for his dedication to safety within the industry. Larry鈥檚 safety program is currently in place in hundreds of municipalities around the country, from coast to coast. His dedication to safety within the waste and recycling industry also earned him the 2012 Safety in Motion Award. He can be reached at (407) 274-0232 or via e-mail at [email protected].
CAPTIONS:
In-cab monitor.