Covia Raises Awareness During Safety Day 2023
On September 6th, Covia held our annual Safety Day at all our locations, which is designed to raise awareness among our Team Members about critical safety and health issues. This year's theme is "Emergency Preparedness." This is an area we must continue to focus on to ensure that Covia Team Members are exceptionally well prepared to respond to an emergency, whether it's work-related or not. In addition to hands-on activities, Andy O'Brien, Covia's Vice President of Safety & Health, hosted a virtual session that focused on our key Safety and Health metrics and goals. He reviewed Covia’s safety performance on Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR). In addition, Andy shared information on how we continue to implement programs that promote S&H awareness and education. These include regional S&H workshops and boot camps, as well as predictive decision-making tools.
The following are just a few examples of how Covia's plants raised awareness during Safety Day 2023.
Roff, Oklahoma Plant
Roff, Oklahoma is located in Pontotoc County along State Highway 1. The area is mostly flat plains and sits right in the middle of Tornado Alley! As such, the topic of emergency preparedness is particularly relevant to the facility. Therefore, the team focused on staging areas, tornado shelter locations, verification of who is on site once at the staging area, and communication. This is especially important because the Roff plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama Plant
Covia's Tuscaloosa plant is conveniently located close to a rail line. However, it also poses a challenge because the railroad crosses the plant’s entrance and exit. As a result, Team Members focused on evacuation in the event that a train were to block their way out. They practiced several different scenarios. These scenarios required Team Members to find different ways to exit the facility. Team Members also walked the entire site, looking for potential hazards and ensuring they were addressed. To ensure the highest level of safety, the team made notes or comments when maintenance or upgrades were needed.
Lugoff, South Carolina
Team Members at Covia's Lugoff facility hosted a safety simulation. The scenario was a Team Member being electrocuted by contact with a live wire. The Team Members were tasked with assessing the situation and determining the immediate next steps to get the injured person to safety. In addition, the team conducted a tornado drill to ensure that Team Members would be able to get to the group assembly area in a safe and timely manner.
Fostering a safe work environment is paramount to everything we do. From our plants to our office locations, safety is critical for the well-being of not just our Team Members, but our customers, communities, and the environment. For more information about Covia’s Safety and Health commitments, visit our 2022 ESG Report.
