Carmeuse Barbecue celebrates one year with no recordable injuries

by Angie Asam– Staff Writer

For the first time since 1977 when the Mine Safety and Heath Administration (MSHA) started, the Calcite Plant has gone one full year with no recordable injuries. In an effort to step up safety, especially in the take over by Carmeuse Lime and Stone, the company has been promoting safety by having monthly and weekly themes, reorganizing and promoting that their employees become more conscious of what they were doing.

?New leadership has helped as they are behind the efforts of the employees 100 percent. They are not afraid to spend money to make things safer around here by fixing or replacing bad equipment,? said Al Stone, Human Resource Manager at the Calcite Plant. To show their appreciation for what the employees have done to improve safety executives at Carmeuse, Calcite operations had employee barbecues for every shift of workers on Monday. All employees working that shift were able to enjoy steak, potatoes, salad, beans, rolls and dessert. Two stainless steel grills, constructed by Steven Meyer who works at the Calcite Plant were used to cook the steaks while Cheryl Kowalski of Karsten?s Luncheonette catered the rest of the food for the workers.

?We started to talk about safety a little over a year ago when I came on board and the employees just took the b

ull by the horns and ran with it. They are accountable for the space they are working in, their co-workers, etc. After a while safety became natural, accidents are still going to happen but when you are more conscious of safety you minimize those accidents,? said Stone. The employees are reminded of safety by signage in many areas of the plant, telling them what to do before they start a job. Carmeuse?s motto on safety is simple, ?Nothing we do is worth getting injured.? Employees have a voice when it comes to safety at Calcite, they can make suggestions on how to make things safer and how to make them run better.

?The biggest key to the success we have had with safety is increased communication, top to bottom, and electronic communications have greatly increased. We have a theme every day about safety and it has worked. The employees show a real passion for safety and now we have become a benchmark site for the entire corporation, other plants are looking at us and asking how did you do it?,? said Stone.