Safeway Employees Test Their Safe Ways
More than 75 Safeway truck drivers and warehouse and manufacturing plant employees will test their safety skills in the company's Eastern Division Safety Champions competition on Sunday, May 2.
The Eastern Division has a held a truck driving rodeo every year since 1960 to determine the seven drivers who would represent the company at the Maryland State Driving Championships. Safeway truck drivers have won three national safe driving championships and 46 individual state titles, in addition to winning eight Maryland state team championships. All drivers must have posted an accident-free record in 1998 in order to participate in the competition. The Eastern Division's trucking department is ranked first among Safeway's 10 operating divisions, as determined by the number of accident-free miles per million driven.
The event was renamed the Safety Champions Skills Competition to focus attention on maintaining a safe and healthy work environment. This year, the competition was expanded to include employees from Safeway's three warehouses and its bread and ice cream operations, who will test their skills on forklifts and pallet jacks. All participants will be judged on their abilities to successfully navigate a designated course with obstacles of varying degrees of difficulty within a prescribed time period.
Truck drivers will be asked to maneuver their vehicles through a course that features six unique problem situations that simulate loading docks or parking hindrances. Warehouse employees will have to solve similar problems in a course laid out in a storage building. The top three finishers in the trucking contest will receive a trophy, with the top seven drivers representing the division in the state championships. The top driver and forklift and pallet jack operators will receive special signs for their vehicles noting their accomplishments.
"Safety is really the essence of the event," said Jack Jacobs, director of the division's distribution center operations. "We devote many resources stressing the importance of safety to all of our staff and we see this competition as an opportunity to create enthusiasm and pride among our employees to conduct our business in the most health-conscious way possible. I believe part of the event's overall success will be seen in future years by increased numbers of employees who will be eligible based on accident-free work periods."
The day's festivities, held at the company's Upper Marlboro, MD, distribution center, include a safety fair with exhibits by the American Red Cross, local and state fire and police departments. Eddie Roberts, who has logged more than 2 million accident-free miles during his 28-year career as a truck driver for Safeway, will give a presentation that identifies the blind spots passenger car drivers should avoid when in close proximity to a truck.
Look for the names of the winners on SafetyOnline next week.