The Logistics Matters podcast: Creating a culture of safety and National Forklift Safety Day | Season 1 Episode 7

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Transcript

David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity : 0:01

New truck and trailer sales hit a rocky road. What does it take to create a culture of safety in your operations? And a new collaboration between two heavy hitters aims to track vulnerabilities in the food supply chain. Pull up a chair and join us as the editors of DC Velocity discuss these stories, as well as news and supply chain trends, on this week's Logistics Matters podcast. Hi. I'm Dave Maloney. I'm the editorial director at DC Velocity. Welcome. Logistics Matters is sponsored by Fortna. Fortna partners with the world's leading brands to transform their distribution operations to keep pace with digital disruption and growth objectives. Known worldwide as the distribution experts, Fortna designs and delivers intelligent solutions, powered by their proprietary software, to optimize fast, accurate, and cost-effective order fulfillment. For more information, visit Fortna.com. As usual, our DC Velocity senior editors Ben Ames and Victoria Kickham will be along to provide their insight into the top stories of this week. But to begin today, I will turn the mic over to Victoria to introduce this week's guest. Victoria.

Thanks, Dave. The warehousing and logistics industry will come together in a few weeks to celebrate National Forklift Safety Day, which is an educational event created by the Industrial Truck Association. DC Velocity is the media partner for the event, which will take place online June 9. Joining us today to talk about forklift safety is Toby Gooley, who's coordinating DCV's coverage of National Forklift Safety Day. Toby is a contributing editor to DC Velocity. She was formerly senior editor for the magazine, as well as editor of DCV's sister publication, CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly. In addition to contributing articles to both publications, she's also a lecturer at MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics. Toby has a long history covering the industry, clearly, and we invited her here today to talk about a story she wrote as part of our National Forklift Safety Day Coverage. That story is titled "How to build a forklift safety culture." So welcome, Toby.

Thank you for having me.

Forklift safety seems like an evergreen topic, something warehouse and distribution center managers and employees should always be thinking about. Did you find this to be the case as you conducted your research?

Absolutely. And the consequences for being complacent about safety could be extremely serious. When you think about it, really, people's lives are at stake, not just others', but your own too. So there's no question that forklift safety should be top of mind at all times, not just on National Forklift Safety Day. This is a point that the Industrial Truck Association and its members stress frequently.

What did you set out to achieve with this story when you started your research?

This was actually a little bit personal for me. I've covered forklifts and forklift safety for many, many years. But National Forklift Safety Day's message really resonates with me. I am the daughter, granddaughter, and sister of construction workers. So I grew up understanding the importance of workplace safety. This is something we lived with all the time. So I saw this article as a good way to share ideas for improving workplace safety with DC Velocity's readers.

So to do that, you had to talk to a variety of experts. And what I saw from reading your story is that they emphasize the importance of developing what they've referred to as a safety culture across an organization. So I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about who you talked to for the story and why they emphasize the word "culture" when it comes to forklift safety.

Well, all of the people I spoke to manage health and safety in the forklift manufacturers' own plants and warehouses. So the forklift manufacturers are not just concerned for their customers. They are, they're experts at this, and they're putting into place these same principles in their own facilities. So for these people, it's their responsibility not just to comply with regulations, but also to help everyone in the facilities understand how to be safe. And every one of them said they believe that safety is measurably improved when it becomes integral to employees' beliefs and their attitudes and their values, which, in other words, it's part of the culture. So, in a safety culture, all employees, not just those who operate lift trucks, consider themselves to be responsible for each others' safety and well being. And then they also push each other and help each other to improve. I mean, one person I spoke with put it really well. He said that a safety culture is about worker engagement and ownership. It's not just a matter of participation.

That's all really interesting. So when they're doing that, when they're developing that culture that you've talked about, what did the experts say to you are some of the most important elements? And I was wondering, too, if those elements had changed over time.

Yeah, there were three major elements. So, I talked to, I think, six different safety experts at six different forklift companies, and there were some consistent things. I found that there were three main elements. The first is clear, effective communication. And this, you know, communication about safety, everyone agreed, should be shared through multiple channels. You know, it's horizontal, it's vertical, it's peer to peer. And importantly, it has to be aligned and consistent across the organization, no matter who it's coming from, or who it's aimed at. The second one is training, which of course is the cornerstone, the fundamental piece of forklift safety. And I found that in most cases, when there's a safety culture, these facilities go beyond the minimum requirements that are set by OSHA [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] . And something that was consistent was engaging learners using a variety of methods, in addition to the traditional required lectures and in-person instruction. So they might use hands-on practice under the guidance of an experienced mentor. And also, technology-assisted learning, such as telematics-generated feedback on operators' performance, and new things like virtual-reality-based instruction. And with that, an operator gets to practice safe operating techniques using a simulator, but on an actual stationary lift truck. The third thing--and this really speaks to the culture aspect of it--is a sense of community. And something I heard again and again was that the safest facilities are the ones where employees really take to heart their responsibility for each others' safety. When there's a mistake or an accident or a near miss, a group of employees--[a] working group from different levels, not just managers--comes together, and they want to understand what happened, take corrective measures, and then develop a long-term plan to prevent similar things from happening. But it's, it's almost like a family coming together to solve a problem. So, I had mentioned earlier I've been writing about forklifts and safety for a long time, it's been well over a decade. So, I have seen some change. And I would say that the basic elements haven't changed, but the use of technology, like virtual reality and telematics and online learning, to support training, that's really coming on strong and becoming more widespread. Especially when companies are working with training younger employees.

And actually, that's an interesting and important point. I think I've actually experienced some of the virtual reality simulations at different trade shows and it's very cool. Very interesting.

Yeah. I have, too, and I have knocked over my, my share of racking.

Me too. I wanted to ask you, too--and just a couple more questions before we wrap up--but, are there any potential roadblocks to implementing the safety culture? You just outlined really nicely for us the important elements, but what did the experts say might be some real roadblocks to developing this kind of a culture?

Yeah, um. Yeah, that was a question I did ask them. And one that I heard a lot about was, you know, you have to have a balance between safety, quality, and productivity. If a company or facility puts too much influence on one, then the others are likely to be harmed in some way. They all influence each other and they all should get equal weight and attention, but no matter what, you should not undermine the safety element in any way. And then the second one is that the entire organization--at every level from the boardroom down to the warehouse floor, the order pickers, the drivers, the people in the back office--everyone has to be aligned on safety, and accept its importance, and really place a value on it and feel responsible for it. If you don't, then your efforts to develop a safety culture are going to be undermined. So you may have to work with skeptics, particularly people who have been doing it for a long time, because this involves some, can involve really big changes and expectations and requirements. So you might have to work with skeptics, and the key, people tell me, is to help them see that there are benefits to themselves and to their co-workers whom they value, so it's worth the extra effort.

Thank you. Finally, I wanted to ask you if there was anything that surprised you in your research for this story.

Yes, and it was one of the things that prompted me to propose the story in the first place. I had attended a National Forklift Safety Day program in Washington, D.C., last year, and there was a presentation about this topic, building a safety culture. That was the inspiration for the story. And there was an important element of it I heard about before called behavior-based safety programs. But I hadn't realized just how much they're based on, and how much they leverage, human psychology. So a behavior-based safety program is a voluntary program that empowers employees to speak to each other about risky behavior, and also to apply positive reinforcement when they see safe behavior. So, participants--again, it's voluntary--are coached on how to give feedback so their peers are will be receptive to what they have to say and will, it will encourage their peers to adopt safer behaviors. So for example, instead of simply pointing out that someone made a mistake and reporting it, the peer will--yes, it has to be reported, still--but the peer will use positive language to express concern about their people's safety. And a really important aspect of it is that the participants understand the potential impact of their decisions on their co-workers and they're held accountable for the consequences of their behavior. So that's, I mean, there's a lot more to it than that. It's pretty complicated, and it's something you do develop over a long time. But the general principle is using positive reinforcement, mutual responsibility, and non-threatening correction to encourage safer behavior.

Interesting. Thank you very much. And thank you again for being here, Toby. Just as a reminder to everyone, National Forklift Safety Day is coming up on June 9. For more information and to register for the event, you can go to DCVelocity.com/NFSD20. Again, that's DCVelocity.com/NFSD20. And you can, also, you can get more information on the event and the industry in general by going to the Industrial Truck Association. And that is indtrk.org. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks, Victoria and Toby. Now let's turn to some of the other supply chain news from the week. Ben, you wrote this week that things are not looking so rosy for new truck and trailer sales during the pandemic.

Yeah, not rosy is really an understatement. It won't come as much of a surprise for people. We've all seen the stay-at-home orders and the business shutdowns that are caused to try to slow the spread of COVID-19. But a couple of studies that came out this week show the real impact of that on the trucking sector. One of them, from the group FTR, found that--they have a Trucking Conditions Index, which had a reading of negative eight for March. And they said that worse things are to come, that they expect even worse readings in April. And they don't expect any positive readings on that measure until the middle of 2021. Which is just an indication of, sort of, how low that sector has gone, there. It's looking like some pretty grim conditions there, in terms of buying new trucks, in terms of buying new trailers. However, I also talked to the folks at Ryder, which is the fleet-management transportation provider, and they did see one wrinkle that had a little room for optimism. While there are almost no sales of new vehicles going on out there, they have seen some steady business in their used vehicle sales. They mentioned that the more price-conscious buyers are looking for deals in these unsure times, and some folks who might have been furloughed or laid off from their truck-driving jobs for a fleet might be in the business to buy their own used truck trailer and go into business for themselves.

Overall volumes are down though, even though we're seeing that a lot of products are still on the move, right?

Yes. There have been spikes that are sort of at winter-holiday peak level in certain sectors, like we hear about food, and we hear about medical supplies. But aside from those smaller sectors, the rest of the shutdowns, really, was almost a flatlining of the entire industry.

Thanks, Ben. Victoria, you reported on an interesting collaboration between Purdue University and Microsoft. Can you tell us more?

Sure, absolutely. This week, Purdue University announced that it has partnered with Microsoft to develop an online dashboard that quantifies the potential risk to the supply of agricultural products as a result of COVID-19. Particularly the risk is, you know, based on, you know, farm and agricultural worker illnesses. So it's called the Purdue Food and Agricultural Vulnerability Index. And essentially, it uses Microsoft's software and analytics to estimate the share of agricultural production that's at risk nationwide, based on a range of factors: COVID-19 case data, you know, the farm labor, the workers, and agricultural production data.

Victoria, why did they decide to do this collaboration now?

Well, you know, because of the pandemic and all the concerns that Ben mentioned earlier, too, you know, a little bit, about the food supply chain and shortages and what may be ahead. So, they decided to, you know, put this together to detect when and if a problem may emerge.

Thank you. We also want to remind you, too, of our continuing COVID-19 coverage and our list of resources that are available on DCVelocity.com. Go there to check them out. Thank you, Ben and Victoria, for sharing highlights of the news this week.

Thank you, Dave. It's always fun.

Yeah, you're welcome. Thanks.

If you would like more information on the stories we discussed today on Logistics Matters, be sure to check out DCVelocity.com for details. We also encourage you to subscribe to Logistics Matters on Apple, Google, or other popular podcast platforms and at your app store. Just search for "Logistics Matters" to find us. Our new episodes are uploaded each Friday. And remember that Logistics Matters is sponsored by Fortna. Fortna partners with the world's top brands to transform distribution operations into competitive advantage. Expertise includes distribution strategy, DC operations, micro fulfillment, automation, and intelligent software. Distribution solutions designed today for tomorrow's challenges. Learn more about the distribution experts at Fortna.com. We'll be back again next Friday with another edition of Logistics Matters, when we will find out how one material handling equipment supplier has changed its manufacturing processes to address social distancing requirements. Be sure to join us. Until then, please stay safe and have a great week.

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