On May 31, 2018, the Victorville Cement Plant achieved one year with no reportable incidents or illnesses and no lost-time injuries for employees and contractors in both plants. To the Victorville team, it was simply another successful day on their journey to Zero4Life. Remarkably, the team accomplished this while maintaining their two kilns in the top 3 in the U.S. in efficiency, ranking No. 1 in quality and remaining on-budget, demonstrating a strong safety culture is not contradictory to productivity and efficiency.

“To be clear, this is a team effort, not the work of one or two or three people. The entire Victorville team of employees and contractors believes Zero4Life is possible, and they have demonstrated it,” Said Victorville Plant Manager Carlos Uruchurtu. “Engagement drives people to go the extra mile and is the foundation of all of it. If people aren’t engaged, nothing works. Winning the hearts and minds of your team is the No. 1 part of leadership. Your team has to trust you. Trust comes with attention to detail, follow up and involvement. It’s not complicated. The single, biggest contributing factor to our safety Improvements is the engagement of our team.”

Victorville’s path to Zero began in January 2017 after back-to-back reportable incidents on the heels of numerous lost-time injuries and reportable incidents over several years. The team drew a line in the sand, stating it was not acceptable that people continued to get hurt. The transformation of their safety culture occurred in three main steps:

First, they recognized and admitted to themselves they deserved to be a safety hot spot and had no one to blame but themselves.

Second, the Health & Safety Management System Audit demonstrated engagement was a primary factor contributing to their poor safety record. Plant leadership ensured all leaders demonstrated safety was more important than anything else and engaged their team in doing the same.

Finally, the team focused on executing proactive safety work, including increasing VFLs and Safety Improvement Cards and planning and executing safety improvement projects. Daily risk assessments and hazard mitigation programs, such as JHAs, Standard Work, Take 5’s and All Safe Exercises, contribute greatly to keeping people safe.

With all their successes, the Victorville team will tell you the only record that matters is completing today safe.

“Safety has no memory,” said Uruchurtu. “Every day is a new day with new challenges. The team has to be ready, vigilant and remain engaged in recognizing and eliminating hazards to be successful.”