Application for Accreditation of Safety Program Based …behavior.org/resources/940.pdf · Application for Accreditation of Safety Program ... Transportation controls and communication

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ApplicationforAccreditationofSafetyProgramBasedonthePrinciplesofBehavior

A. IdentifyinginformationNameoforganization: WesternEnergyCompany

POBox99138RosebudLaneColstrip,MT59323

Locationofcorporateoffice: WestmorelandCoalCompany

9540S.MaroonCircle,Suite200Englewood,CO80112

Nameofcompanyrepresentativeinchargeoftheapplication: NoraBuchholz,SafetyManager 406-748-5116orcell406-740-0606 POBox99 Colstrip,MT59323 [email protected]

B. BackgroundWesternEnergyCompany–RosebudMineisa25,000-acresurfacecoalminecomplexlocated in the northern PowderRiver Basin near Colstrip,Montana and theNorthernCheyenne Indian Reservation. The RosebudMine has three active mining areas. Theworkforce consists of 82 salaried employees and 289 hourly employees. The hourlyemployeesarerepresentedbyOperatingEngineersLocal400.Thehourlyworkforceconsistsof: Conveyor 17 EquipmentOperators 163 Electricians 13 Maintenance/Mechanics 68 Warehouse 11 Welders 17Themakeupofthesalariedemployeesis:

Administration 1 Safety 3 Accounting 9 SiteIT 3


HumanResources 5 Warehouse/Purchasing 5

Payroll 2 Environmental& Engineering 18 MaintenanceSupervision 21 ProductionSupervision 15WorkScheduleThemineoperatesona24hourperday,365daysperyearschedule. Themajorityoftheunionemployeesworka12hourrotatingshiftasfollows:4NightShifts:12hour6:00PMto6:00AM4daysoff3-12hourdayshifts6:00AMto6:00PMfollowedimmediatelyby3-12hournightshifts6:00PMto6:00AM4daysoff4DayShifts:12hour6:00AMto6:00PM6daysoffTheremainderoftheemployeesworkeitherastandard8hourdayorarotating10hourshift.Goods/ServicesProvidedThemineproducesapproximately12,000,000tonsofsub-bituminouscoalannually.Thecoalisdeliveredtofourpowerplantsviaa5mileconveyorsystem.Additionally,onesmall power plant utilizes waste coal. This waste coal does not meet the qualityrequirementsoftheotherfourpowerplants.Recentnonsafetyinitiativesandcompanychanges:Westmoreland Coal, the parent company, has recently purchased six coal mines inCanadaandtwocoalcompaniesinOhio.


WesternEnergyrecentlypurchasedaCaterpillar6050shovelandafleetoffourCAT789enddumptrucks.Thishasresultedinasignificantincreaseintheworkforce.A Safety Perception Survey sponsored by the Westmoreland Corporate Office andconducted by a third party contractor was completed to measure perceived safetyperformance.SincethesuccessofBehaviorBasedSafety(BBS)attheWesternEnergymine,theotherWestmorelandminesbegandevelopingBBSprogramsoftheirown.RecentnonBBSsafetyinitiatives:StopWorkAuthorityHearingConservationProgramSafetyAudits–corporateandBBSMaintainingaMineRescueTeamToolboxMeetings(heldtwicepermonthforeachcrew)

Chockingallwheeledvehiclesinactiveminingareas HiVisibilityClothing GlovePolicy(toreducehandinjuries) SafetyGlasses(increaseinthemonetaryallowance) TapRoot root cause analysis for maintenance, MSHA violations, and reportableaccidents

C. Descriptionoftheworkers

Themajority of theworkforce consists of blue collar workers. These are equipmentoperators, warehousemen, conveyor operators, and laborers. Some of the skilledlabor, in such positions as mechanics, welders and electricians, have attended tradeschool. Anequalnumberhavelearnedonthejob. Manyofthesupervisorypositionsare held by promoted union personnel. There are also supervisors, superintendents,andmanagers,withengineeringdegrees.Themajorityofemployeeshaveahighschooleducationorhigher,althoughtherearesomeemployeesthatdonot.Theaverageageoftheworkforceis47,withagesrangingfrom20to75. Mostofthework force is long term employees with an average of approximately 15 yearsexperience.TrainingThetrainingrequirements forworkatacoalminearedeterminedbytheMineSafetyand Health Administration (MSHA). Twenty four hours of new miner training arerequired if the employee has no mining experience. For the new hires that have


experience, the training consists of 8 hours of site specific training. The mandatorysubjectsinclude:

� Statutory rights ofminers and their representatives under the Act. Authorityandresponsibilityofsupervisors

� Self-rescueandrespiratorydevices� Transportationcontrolsandcommunicationsystems� Introductiontoworkenvironment� Escapeandemergencyevacuationplans;firewarningandfirefighting� Ground control; working in areas of highwalls, water hazards, pits and spoil

banks;illuminationandnightwork� Health� HazardRecognition� Electricalhazards� FirstAid� Explosives� Healthandsafetyaspectsofthetaskstowhichthenewminerwillbeassigned� Fall protection, use and maintenance of and inspection of fall protection

equipment� ProvidetrainingonallPetitionsforModificationineffectatthemine� Treecuttingsafety

In addition to thenewminer training, every employeeon site is required to attendan8hourAnnualRefresherTrainingProgram.ThisismandatorytrainingrequiredbyMSHA,andmustincludethesubjects:

� Mandatoryhealthandsafetystandards� Transportationcontrolsandcommunicationsystems� Escapeandemergencyevacuationplans;firewarningandfirefighting� Groundcontrol� FirstAid� Electricalhazards� Preventionofaccidents� Health� Explosives� Selfrescueandrespiratorydevices� Fallprotection� Treecuttingsafety

Whenanemployeeisassignedanewtaskorhasnotperformedataskforaperiodofonecalendaryear,theindividualreceivestasktraining.Tasktrainingincludesthehealth


and safety aspects and safe operating procedure for work tasks, equipment, ormachinery.Supervisedpracticeisprovideduntiltheindividualiscomfortablewiththetask.HealthWhen an employee begins work at the mine, a pre-employment physical and drugscreeningarerequired. Inaddition,arandomdrugtestingprogramis inplacefortheentire workforce. After hiring, each employee receives a baseline hearing test, apulmonary function test, and a chest x-ray. The company provides a “stop smoking”planaswellasaprogramtostopchewingtobacco.ThecorporateofficealsosponsorsaHealthandWellness initiative. This isdesigned tohelpemployeeswithweight issues,exercise options, and healthy eating habits. Westmoreland offers an EmployeeAssistance Program covering counseling services for a wide range of issue includingdepression,stress,parenting,andfinancialorlegalcounseling.Theoverallhealthoftheemployeeswouldbeconsideredaverage. Mostoftheunionemployeesdonotchoosetoparticipateinthehealthinitiatives.SafetyRecordsThe safety records are treated as the entiremine. The only separation by crew andworkareawouldbeforstatisticalpurposes.AweeklysafetyreportissentoutfortheentireWestmorelandcompany.Amonthlyreportiswrittenwithstatisticsonthehoursworkedandthetypeofinjuriesrecordedthatmonth.Ourincidentsarerecordedundersevencatagories:

� MSHAreportable.Thisisanylosttime,stitchesotherthatcosmeticreasons,2ndor3rddegreeburns,inhalationofanythingorrestrictedduty

� FirstAidinjury.Treatedbyphysicianbutnotreportable� PropertyDamage� Fire� No Treatment. We encourage our employees to report everything nomatter

howsmall.� OccupationalIllness.(suchasCarpalTunnel)� NearMiss

All incidents are discussed in the bi-weekly safety toolbox meetings. The discussionincludes the incident and what could have been done to prevent the incident. Nonamesoridentifyinginformationissharedinthesemeetings.

D. SafetyConcerns


Theminingindustry,asawhole,isconsideredtobeveryhazardous.Theshearsizeofthe equipment, combined with the long work shift, can result in a hazardous workenvironment. Inyearspast,WesternEnergywouldhavebetween10and15losttimeandreportableinjuriesayear.TheReportableIncidentRateincludesLostTimeinjuries.The following chart shows how the Reportable Incident Rate per 100 full timeemployeesfluctuatedyearly.

FollowinginitiationoftheBBSprogramatWesternEnergyin2007,thenumberofLostTimeandReportableinjuriessignificantlyreduced.WesternEnergyhasstayedbeloworequaltothenationalaverageofreportableaccidentssince2011.Themain safety goal atWestern Energy is tomaintain a safety culture that includesevery employee. The measurement for success of safety is the Reportable IncidentRate.

E. ThePBBSData

Incident reports are required for all injuries, occupational illnesses, and propertydamage that occur at the mine. MSHA requires reporting within 10 minutes of the

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incidentforanydeath,injuriesthatarelikelytobefatal,afirethatburnsoutofcontrolfor30minutes,blastingwithprematuredetonation,andanyunplannedignitionofgasordust.

Whenaninjuryissevereenoughfortheemployeetonotworkthenextscheduledshift,itisconsideredaLostTimeIncident.ThisisreportabletoMSHAwithin10workingdaysasa“Non-FatalDaysLost”.In addition to the immediately reportable incidents and the lost time incidents, thereareseveralinjuriesthatalsorequirereportingtoMSHAwithin10workingdays.Theseinjuriesinclude:flushoutaneyeandgiveaprescription,removeanobjectfromaneyeotherthanflushing,chiropractor,2ndor3rddegreeburn,cutsthatarestitchedorclosedwith a butterfly (except for cosmetic reasons), restrictedwork day or restricted duty,andanyonetakentotheclinicforinhalationofanypotentiallyharmfulsubstance.Employees are required to give the supervisor an “Employee Confirmation of WorkRelatedInjury”priortoleavingthemineattheendoftheshiftinwhichaninjuryoccurs.The supervisor is then required to investigate and fill out an “Incident InvestigationForm”.AllinjuriesaresubmittedasaWorkers’CompensationClaim.Ifnotreatmentissoughtorreceived,theclaimisdeniedwithnofurtherfollow-up.When property damage is reported, the supervisor must complete an IncidentInvestigation Form, including photos. If the damage is over $1,500, the employee istakentotheclinicforafitnessfordutydrugandalcoholscreening.All Lost Time and Reportable injuries are subjected to a root cause analysis. If apropertydamageiscausedbyamechanicalfailure,thefailureisalsosubjectedtoarootcauseanalysis.Therootcauseanalysisisusedtodetermineifanychangeinprocedureisneeded.Employeesarealsoencouragedtoreportanynearmissincident.Whyisthisdataimportant?Thisdata is important for several reasons. TheSupervisors completean investigationformtohelppreventfuturerecurrences. The information isusedtodeterminewhichareasofhumanbehaviortoconcentrateeffortsonandtoidentifytrends.Forexample,ifanumberofpropertydamageclaimsinonepitareaarereceived,thedesignofthepitwould be questioned, the road leading into the pit, the height of the spoils, theextraction methods and the operators. Changing one factor can often eliminate orreducethehazard.Anotherexampleiswhennumerousslips,trips,andfallsarereported.Themajorityofourworkareasareunevendirtsurfaces.Thebehaviorprocesshasbroughttolightthenumberofsprainsandfallsthathaveoccurredonunevenground.Partofthebehavior


programistokeeptheeyesonthepathandtomakesurewhereyouareputtingyourfeet.At each safety meeting, the incidents are reviewed and means of prevention arediscussed. It is very common that the cause of the injury is covered in the BBSobservations. When people repeatedly hear about the behavior aspect of eachaccident,itremindsthemtobemoreawareofthemselvesandothersaroundthem.Inthis way, employees who do not participate in the observation process are stillbenefittingfromthesafetyobservations.

F. DescriptionofyourPBBSprogram1. Whatwasdone?

This PBBS program was implemented with the help of a consultant, GrainneMatthews, from Quality Safety Edge. The process began in January 2007 whenGrainnebeganinterviewswiththeemployees.Sheaskedquestionstodetermineifitwouldbefeasibletocreateabehaviorbasedsafetyprogramatthemine.Next,employeeswereaskedtonominateotheremployeesthattheyrespectedandwouldcommit to creatinga safetyprogram. InMayof2007, the finaldesign teamhadbeen chosen. The Design Team included 13 union members and 4 salariedemployees. The members of the Design Team were chosen based on threecharacteristics:1)Theywereconcernedaboutsafety.2)Theywerewillingtospeaktheirmind.3)Theywererespectedbyotherpeople.ThedesignteamworkshopsbeganinMay2007withtheteamattendingathreedayworkshop to learn about behavioral safety. They began drafting the process forWesternEnergyinthisworkshop.InJuneandJuly2007,thedesignteamhadthree2-day planningmeetings. Themeetings were used to analyze the current safetysystemandto lookatthe incidentsofthepasttwoyears. InJuly2007,theDesignTeampresentedtheirprocesstothemanagers,superintendents,andsupervisorsfortheir input and approval. At this meeting, the entire management signed aCommitmentStatementapprovingtheprocessasdesignedandpledgingtosupporttheprocess.In July, August and September of 2007, all employees attended a four hourworkshoptointroducethemtotheprocessandtoteachthemhowtoparticipateinobservations and feedback. The Design Team was divided into four SteeringCommittees to manage the process. Each Steering Committee attended three 4hoursessionstocontinuetorefinetheprocess. AstheprogramdevelopedafifthSteeringCommitteewasaddedtocoverthecrewsthatwereonstraightdays.Each


Steering Committee meets once a month. The newly designed behavior safetyprocesskickedoffonOctober1,2007.Theobservationprocessisfocusedonpositivefeedbackforsafepractices.Concernsare corrected immediately if possible or recorded for the Steering Committee toaddress. The process ismanaged by the Steering Committeeswith support frommanagement.Thekeyfeaturesoftheobservationandfeedbackprocessare:

� Theobserveeisanonymous,iftheobserverdoesnotwanttoberecognized,theobservercanalsobeanonymous.

� Theprocessisentirelyvoluntary� Theobservationsandfeedbackmustremainpositive� Theprocessiskeptshortandsimple� Thereisnodisciplineinvolvedifanunsafeactionisobserved� Theobservermustgiveimmediatefeedbacktotheobserve

NameandLogoCompetitionThenewly formedbehavior based safety process needed an identity. TheDesignTeam sponsored a competition to draft a logo and a name for the program. Themine-wide competitionoffered a $150 gift certificate for eachwinner. ThenamechosenwasBESAFE(BecauseEveryone’sSafeActionsFacilitateExcellence),andthelogoisshownbelow.

2. Howwasitdone?

DesignofobservationcardsThe first task for the Design Team was to analyze three years of incidents fromWestern Energy. The Design Team read each incident description and asked the


question, “Could someoneatWesternEnergyhavedone something topreventorreducetheseverityofthisincident?”Iftheanswerwasyes,theDesignTeamlookedat what specific behavior might have prevented or reduced the severity of thisincident.TheDesignTeamchosethebehaviorsthatwerelistedthemostoftenforuseintheObservationandFeedbackchecklists.Twochecklistsweredrafted.Onefor“Working”andonefor“Driving”.AstheBBSprogram progressed, a third checklist was added for “Office”. The design of thechecklistshad tobeshortandsimplewhile includingenough information toallowthe Steering Committee to analyze all the observation data. The checklists areprintedoncardstockwhichallowsthepeople in the field to take them ina lunchboxorkeepasupplyontheequipment.Thecardstockismoredurablethanpaper.Thefollowingpagesshowexamplesofthethreedifferentobservationcards:





ObservationandFeedbackProcessThe Design Committee determined that because the greatest benefit of theprocess is to the person conducting the observation and providing feedback,everyemployeemayparticipate.Thisincludeshourlyunionemployees,salariednon-unionemployees, and all temporary staff. Every employeewas given theinitial fourhourworkshopon theobservationand feedbackprocess. Anynewemployees are given training on the BBS process during the initial newminertraining.Inaddition,everyoneatWesternEnergymaybeobservedandreceivefeedback – with their permission - as participation is voluntary. The DesignCommittee has asked that everyone complete two observations per month.Most observations are completed in 3 to 5 minutes, while others requiretravelingtootherworkareasandmayrequire30to60minutestocomplete.

TheDesign Teamplaced nine checklist stations at themine. Each station hasboxestostoretheblankobservationcardsandalockeddropboxforcompletedobservation cards. Locking bulletin boards are also located at each checkliststation. The bulletin boards are for communication with the workforce,informingofsuchthingsasplannedcelebrationsandrecognitionofthosedoingobservations.Permissionisaskedpriortorecognitionassomeemployeesprefertoremainanonymous.RecognitionandCelebration


The Steering Committees wish to recognize anyone that participates in theobservation and feedback process and to celebrate the accomplishments foreach crew. The budget for the recognition and celebration is set at $100 perpersoneachyear. Theaveragenumberofpeopleineachcrewis70,thisgiveseach Steering Committee a budget of approximately $7,000 annually. Eachcommittee is responsible for tracking expenditures and are responsible forplanning and executing the celebrations and recognition. Celebrations areusually held in conjunction with the Safety Toolbox Meetings. The SafetyToolbox Meetings were requested by the Design Committee as a way tocommunication with the crews and to have group celebrations. The SafetyToolbox Meetings are held each week. Each crew attends two meetings permonth.Most of the group celebrations involve food, such as a pizza dinner or sweetrolls. High visibility t-shirts have been awarded to the entire crew as a thankyou. Individual recognition varies by crew. Some crews give gift cards, andothershavegivenitemsasarewardforparticipatingintheprocess.Eachyear,aminewide raffle is conducted foranyonewhohasparticipated for tickets toaprofessionalfootballgame.DataManagementThe completed observation cards are collected weekly by the SteeringCommitteemembers.Arepresentativeofthesafetydepartmententersthedatain a spreadsheet. The information is available for all Steering Committeemembers,butonlythesafetydepartmentisallowedtoentertheobservations.The spreadsheet automatically produces graphs depicting the percent ofobservations, the number of observations, the breakdown of “working”,“driving”, and “office” observations, and the concerns that are noted in theobservations.


Percentparticipationfor2014


Exampleofmonthlygraphwithtypeofobservation(N/Aaretheanonymousobservations)SummaryThe Principles of Behavior Based Safety has been a success at Western Energy. The totalnumberofincidentshasdramaticallydecreasedoverthelasttenyears.


The measure by which the mining industry is graded is the number of reportable incidentsannually. WesternEnergyreceivedanationalaward,SentinelsofSafety, in2011.Theawardwasbasedonthehoursworkedandthenumberofreportableincidents.WesternEnergywonfortheLargeSurfaceMinecategory.WesternEnergy’sReportableIncidentRatehasremainedbelowthenationalaveragesince2011,whenwehadzeroreportables.


TheBESAFEprogramatWesternEnergyhasbroughtsafetyawarenesstoallemployees.Thebi-weeklytoolboxmeetingsareusedtocommunicatesafetyissuesandtoallowallemployeesachancetoactivelyparticipateintheBBSprogram.ThisisthefirsttimethatWesternEnergyhasadoptedanemployeedrivensafetyprogramthatputstheownershipoftheprogramwiththeunionemployees.Aswelookforward,theSteeringCommitteeshavedevelopedchecklistsforconditionsandequipment. In thisway, theSteeringCommitteecanhavecontactwithmorepeople,whichwillhelptopromotetheBESAFEprogram.TheBehavioralSafetyVisionStatementandtheBehavioralSafetyMissionStatementsumthereasonWesternEnergydesignedaBBSprogram:

BehavioralSafetyVisionStatement

WeatWesternEnergyCompanyrecognizetheabsolutenecessityofasafeenvironmentforallemployeesandforthecitizensofourcommunity.

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� Weareconsciousoftherisksassociatedwithourprofessionandwearededicatedtothepursuitofasafeenvironmentforeveryone.

� Werecognizeourresponsibilitytousesafepracticestoprotectallemployeesandmembersofthecommunitiesinwhichweoperate.

� Inaconcertedeffortofbothemployeesandmanagement,wewillestablishthefoundationofasafetyconsciousenvironment

o thiswillpromoteselfesteem,teamwork,integrityandaninjury-freeworkplaceforeveryone

BehavioralSafetyMissionStatement

TheSafetyLeadershipTeamwrotethefollowingstatementtoestablishgoalsforthenewapproachtosafetyatWesternEnergyCompany.OurSafetySystemwillbecommittedto:

� OpencommunicationbetweenallWesternEnergyCompanyemployees.� Activelyinvolvingeveryone.� Providingasafeworkingenvironmentthatwill

o Reduceincidentso Resultinregulatorycomplianceo Providethelowestcostfueloptionforourcustomers

ThankyouforyourconsiderationofourapplicationforAccreditationofSafetyProgramsBasedonthePrinciplesofBehavior.NoraBuchholzSafetyManagerWesternEnergyCompany