Johnson City celebrates its Environment, Health & Safety successes
Creating and maintaining a culture of safety is incredibly important. This article highlights some of the tools and initiatives that the team in Johnson City, TN uses to achieve an outstanding safety record.
Dentsply Sirona’s Johnson City site in Tennessee has achieved noteworthy safety records, including no recordable incidents for two years and, even more impressively, zero lost time for the past eight years.
Marcie Littleton, Technical Resource and EH&S Manager
“Engagement, from the top down, is truly what has made our Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) Program a success,” explained Marcie Littleton, the site’s Technical Resource and EH&S Manager. “You will hear me say quite often that it takes the entire team to be successful. Everyone understands that the health and safety of our employees is our top priority and it’s a shared responsibility.”
The site’s safety committee includes manufacturing and distribution associates who play a critical role in the overall sustainability of the program because they are often best positioned to identify safety and health concerns or program shortcomings. By encouraging everyone to report a concern and follow up promptly on those reports, issues are addressed quickly to prevent someone from getting hurt or becoming ill.
“We are passionate about providing an open, positive environment that encourages communication about EH&S,” said Littleton. “We do this with a variety of activities, such as monthly communication meetings, lunches with the Site Leader, and a site-wide focus on recognition including our ‘caught-in-the-act’ awards, shout-outs on our TV monitors and verbal acknowledgements.”
Here are a few examples of how Johnson City engages employees in EH&S:
Safety Bingo – Every day, a number is called until a winner comes forward. This game encourages our employees to take care of each other and speak up to their fellow associates and front-line supervisors if they observe unsafe behavior or the potential for an accident. During the game if a recordable or lost time occurs, Safety Bingo is stopped and can only be restarted after the associate has returned to work.
Clean Team Contest – Winners are determined by daily cleaning audits turned in and “EH&S monthly” walk-through evaluations.
Ideas Program (related to EH&S, quality, production and process improvements) – every idea presented, whether implemented or not, receives appreciation and feedback. Some ideas can qualify for additional rewards.
Littleton, who celebrated 40 years with the Company last June, credits the opportunity to make a difference as the inspiration for her long-standing tenure and the site’s EH&S program’s success.
Marcie is one of those employees that exhibits her love for this Company every day. She has shown tireless dedication and persistence in anything that is asked of her, especially if it means making the Company better.
Employing more than 200 associates, the Johnson City site is where both the manufacturing and distribution of Endodontic products happen. The primary products manufactured are Nickel Titanium (NiTi) Rotary and Hand File Instruments and Gutta Core / Thermafil Obturation – approximately 20 million devices annually. The distribution warehouse supports the full $200 million North American Endodontic market, shipping an average of 1,250 packages per day.