Our teams at the California locations of Elite Comfort Solutions (ECS) promote and celebrate safety with an Elite Safety Employee of the Month program.

Employees can nominate their peers who they recognize as safety leaders and who are making a difference at their branches. The managers from the facilities vote for a nominee, and the employee with the highest vote is named the Elite Safety Employee of the Month.

Angel Lagunas, Machine Operator at ECS Commerce, in Commerce, CA, is named Safety Employee of the Month.

“This program is helping employees across the ECS California network to understand the significance of a positive safety culture,” says Hugo Alvarez, Senior EHS Manager. “Recognizing the safety actions of the workforce promotes an autonomous safety culture and sets the example of what safety leaders look like.”

Each Safety Employee of the Month is recognized at a celebration luncheon at their branch, where the employee is given a certificate, a token of appreciation, and the entire branch is presented with a trophy that includes the names of past and present Safety Employees of the Month.

For the first time, the ECS California network plans to have a year-end celebration where they will invite the 2023 winners and name a Safety Employee of the Year.

Congratulations to ECS California and their commitment to prioritizing the safety and care of each other. You are living out our value of putting people first!

The Pullmaflex Automotive team in Ammanford, UK, takes a behavioral approach to safety. They understand that risk is a part of everyday life, and while they cannot eliminate risk, they can work to mitigate the impact of those risks.

“Most safety-related incidents occur when an individual is looking for the most direct, time efficient, or effective way to perform a task,” says Clare Rees, HR Business Partner at Pullmaflex. “By observing those routine tasks and understanding the natural path of an activity, we can find solutions that reduce risk by appealing to natural instincts.”

The team drives change in behavior by understanding the actions that cause the safety risks and simplifying those actions to make them more aligned with natural impulses.

“By understanding the true root cause of an action, we can manage the risk of reoccurrence by driving change in the behavior.”

The team drives this change by following guidelines like these:

• Collaborate, communicate, listen, and understand
• Celebrate safe behaviors
• Identify risk and support change with positive reinforcement 
• Always ask why and avoid blame
• Support managers to reassess their environments with fresh eyes

Thank you to the Ammanford team for upholding our value of putting people first!

The Home Furniture team in Kendallville, Indiana, operates with safety as the focus of everything they do, leading with the motto, “safe by choice, not by chance.”

Jess Morris, Human Resources Manager, shared about the team’s safety culture and what they are doing to put people first.

How do you promote safety at the facility?

Every partner has a hand in our safety culture. Our partners look out for one another, and if they see something, they say something. It is an integral part of our daily routine to make sure all safeguards are in place, partners are using personal protective equipment (PPE), and our work areas are clean of debris and slip/trip/fall hazards.

We also have a suggestion program where we ask our partners what we can do to ensure they are protected. Our mindfulness of safety through this program has produced many safety measures that can prevent injuries and property damage. For example, one partner suggested we add a locking mechanism to our conveyors to prevent a rack from sliding back down into an operator’s area and potentially causing a safety incident.

Have you celebrated any safety milestones recently?

We celebrated an entire quarter, January through March, incident free! This achievement is simply due to our safety-minded and diligent partners. They put each other first by prioritizing safety – it’s not just a poster on the wall or a Monday morning meeting. Our safety team consists of many people from all aspects of our business – from office and shipping to production and maintenance – who work together to ensure we are undoubtedly safe in all operations.

Congratulations to the Kendallville team for their commitment to safety and living out our Leggett Values!

Our Adjustable Bed team in Spring Hill, Florida, is prioritizing safety and living out our value of putting people first.

When recognizing that the pneumatic stapler, a tool critical to the manufacturing process, posed a safety risk, the management team met with maintenance. Together they brainstormed, tested, and implemented a safety guard made out of scrap metal from a bed base.

Since using the safety guard, there have been zero accidents with the pneumatic stapler!

“Spring Hill is committed to a safety-first mentality,” says Jeff Nickell, General Manager. “Our motto is safety, quality, and production – in that order. We want to ensure every employee goes home safe each day.”

The team is continuing to innovate safety. They are working to improve the current safety guard design while testing safety prototypes for other tools.

Thanks to the Spring Hill team for prioritizing the safety of our employees and doing great work together!