Corporate

Keeping pedestrians safe at Coca-Cola When National Environment and Safety Manager David Roberts joined Coca-Cola in 2013, he found that a significant number of near misses were occurring between pedestrians and mechanized equipment and the controls in place were focused too heavily on behaviour. Roberts reached out to WSPS for assistance. Together, they walked through Coca-Cola's largest Canadian manufacturing, warehousing and distribution centre—a 24-hour facility spanning 1 million square feet—to see where improvements could be made. The WSPS team also interviewed employees and management, and reviewed processes, documentation and training programs in support of developing recommendations for improvement. Coca-Cola formed multi-level functional work teams which included management, employees, and union representatives to implement the changes. Using the hazard information that had been collected and WSPS' recommendations, they were tasked with identifying new controls that would maintain or enhance operational efficiency. The collaboration between WSPS and Coca-Cola resulted in the development of a comprehensive traffic route prevention program affecting nearly 3,000 employees. The teams also identified opportunities to enhance efficiency, productivity and relationship building across the organization: Forklifts now have straight runs with no pedestrian concerns so they can move at a faster speed. Pickers can focus on their work without fear of vehicles moving around them. Storage capacity was increased as a result of re-engineering the space to meet safety requirements. Training is now more focused and specifically designed for these work environments. Expectations of visitors and contractors have been clearly defined. Meetings, now led by representatives of management and the union, are far more efficient and focused. Relationships have evolved to become more collaborative and constructive. Trust and understanding of decisions have deepened due to open communication and transparency. With WSPS' assistance, Coca-Cola has repeated this process at five additional manufacturing locations that also have distribution and warehouse facilities, and lessons and best practices are being shared with smaller distribution and warehouse operations across Canada. " I have used the services of WSPS throughout my career. I have seen that having an ongoing relationship with a proven safety excellence provider contributes to lowering overall incident rates. As a result of this collaboration, pedestrian and mechanized handling equipment near misses and incidents have been significantly reduced and completely eliminated in some cases." — David Roberts, National Environment and Safety Manager, Coca-Cola r ses." Cola Coca-Cola facility, Brampton, Ontario

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