GALWAY, IRELAND (INGERSOLL RAND NEWS SERVICE) -- Employees at Thermo King's Galway, Ireland, facility recently celebrated working three years and more than three million hours without a lost-time injury. A lost-time incident is an illness or injury that causes an employee to miss at least one day of work.

Achieving this significant safety milestone required the engagement and participation of all employees on site. This record also is the result of a culture shift in safety, whereby everyone on site now puts safety at the forefront of all their business activities.

"With a total recordable incident rate of 1.95 and a lost time incident rate of zero, our plant continues its march to provide a safe facility for all employees," said Site Manager Cormac MacDonncha. "All employees deserve the credit and recognition for this amazing achievement."

This performance is built on strong Health and Safety Management systems and processes, and the engagement of the workforce. Examples include:

• OHSA18001 accredited management system since 2006
• Proactive reporting of all safety hazards in a Safety Corrective Action Required (SCAR) database, with a total of over 500 SCARs identified and closed in this period
• Proactive reporting of all incidents and near misses to identify and correct the root causes of injuries, which has resulted in a 33-percent reduction in all incidents and near misses in 3 years
• Initiating a Safety Corrective Action Process (CAP) project management system to target common sources of injuries
  • Key CAP projects:
    • Reduced the number of forklift trucks in the plant by 32 percent, from 19 in 2006 to 13 in 2009, year to date
    • Eliminated manual push/pulling of trailer refrigerated units (30,000 moves per year) into test boxes on the Trailer Assembly line
    • Integrated the final 25 percent of trailer processes (Trailer Skinning/Evacuation/Control Box) on the assembly line
• Engaging the workforce in safety committees, first-aid teams and participation in our behavioral safety program – TK Safe
• Creating safety management teams whereby every meeting begins with safety, and area managers review weekly their own safety performance and all preventative measures supporting a safer working environment