Among the many challenges the COVID pandemic provided, traditional Safety programs were not an exception. The Safety committee at Atlas recognized these barriers and also the need to develop a new and different approach to promoting safety awareness among their employees.

Introducing the “Zone Defense Safety System.”

The plant was divided into four “zones’ complete with a team roster of employees and a team captain. There are five key safety functions that each team must comply to, protect and defend. Included in these key safety functions are PPE compliance, safe walkways, accessible fire extinguishers and electrical panels, proper storage of hazardous liquids as well as maintenance of  ladders, work platforms and storage racks.

Each month the “zones” will be audited for performance and will score points for their area. The winner of the audit will be recognized on the Zone Defense safety board in the plant pictured above with Safety committee members, Duke Moulthrop, HSE Coordinator and Pheobe Robillard, Molding Inspector.

For an extra incentive, teams can also score points for submitting a safety slogan for the month, proactive identification of potential safety violations, making a safety suggestion, and taking steps to remedy a potentially unsafe situation.

“My favorite part of the Zone Defense safety system is seeing the energy that is created as teams come up with a new safety slogan each quarter,” says Pheobe Robillard.  

“The use of the incentive points for safety suggestions has provided a lot of positive feedback”, says Duke Moulthrop.

For fun, the teams named themselves after the materials used in the plant – the Iron Giants, the Brass Beasts, the Bronze Bulls and of course, the Stainless Steelers.

The program kicked off during the first quarter of 2021 with the slogan ”Safety is no Accident’ and with a safety tee shirt given to each employees.

Let the safety game begin….