Six Win CalCIMA Safety Awards
SACRAMENTO, CA — The California Construction & Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) announced the winners of its 2008 Safety Awards program.
The CalCIMA Safety Award recognizes outstanding contributions to safety by plant managers, or equivalent position, at industrial mineral, aggregate, cement, and ready mixed concrete operations.
“The award seeks to acknowledge the person at the plant who is ultimately responsible for safety — the plant manager,” said Mike Herges, chair of CalCIMA’s Safety & Health Subcommittee and with Graniterock Company.
The award is broadly construed to recognize outstanding safety leadership, accomplishment, and creativity by plant managers. Nominations for the award are submitted by senior company personnel.
“These managers are all highly deserving of the recognition. We are proud to have them as members and congratulate them all,” said Gary Hambly, CEO/president of CalCIMA.
Awards were given in five categories: industrial mineral; aggregate — large plant (21 or more employees); aggregate — small plant (20 or fewer employees); cement; and ready mixed concrete. There was a tie in the industrial mineral category.
Applications were judged by a panel from CalCIMA’s Safety and Health Subcommittee, which is composed of safety managers.
The winners:
Aggregate — small plant
• Chuck Berry, Plant Operations Manager — Raisch Products, San Jose, CA
Aggregate — large plant
• Alan Armstrong, Quarry Manager — CEMEX, Corona, CA
Ready Mixed Concrete
• Ted Cordts, Operations Manager — California Portland Cement Co.,
Colton, CA
Cement Plant
• Mike Robertson, Plant Manager — California Portland Cement Co., Colton, CA
Industrial Minerals — tie
• Jerry Stacy, Plant Manager — Gladding, McBean Co., Lincoln, CA
• Doug Mayger, General Manager — Carbonates West/Specialty Minerals, Inc., Lucerne Valley, CA
CalCIMA is a trade association for aggregate, industrial mineral, cement, and ready mixed concrete companies in California. There are over 100 member companies encompassing over 500 production facilities.
Synopsis of award winners’ accomplishments
Chuck Berry — recognized for bringing new concepts and safety culture to the company since becoming operations manager in 1992. Initiatives include ‘cross inspections’ by plant supervisors, developing a task planning form to organize work practices, and a “work-with-no-injuries” plan. He manages four plants and 16 employees.
Alan Armstrong — recognized for bringing many changes to the Corona plant in only five years. Completely changed the safety culture to one where workers care about each other and the plant. Also, he brought many innovative engineering solutions to the plant, including truck safety zones, elevated fuel nozzles, truck window washing platforms, a quarry observation deck, and dump hopper warning lights.
Ted Cordts — recognized for innovative applications of safety practices to ready mix plants. Specifically, he adapted the Mine Safety & Health Administration’s SLAM-stop, look, analyze, and manage program; playing SLAM videos of near misses in employee break rooms; and instituted a morning stretching program for drivers, which he leads.
Mike Robertson — recognized for 30 years in plant safety leadership; developing the SLAM-stop, look, analyze, and manage-program to such a high level that it is being adopted by other divisions and plants within the company; and for an innovative safety committee composed entirely of spouses to audit and review company practices, which makes safety a 24/7 commitment.
Jerry Stacy — recognized for leadership and innovative use of rewards and incentives to improve safety, including a supervisor bonus program based 50 percent on safety and housecleaning, rewarding individual employee’s safety practices with restaurant coupons, and instituting Safety Bingo. In addition, he has lead every safety meeting for 12 years while improving safety performance each year, at an operation that employs 240 people in three shifts, seven days per week.
Doug Mayger — recognized for significant leadership and safety improvements in only four years, including involving family members in safety through the SMILES-safety matters in everyday life — program; initiating a mentoring program for new employees; developing a system that combines incentives and disciplinary action based on practices and actions; instituting an auditing system; and reviving the company’s STOP-safety training observation program.