IGMA Members Recognize Both Safety and Service

A new president will be elected tomorrow. Margaret Webb, executive director, at right

Chris Barry of Pilkington, Roger Skluzacek of Viracon Inc. and Ray Wakefield of Trulite Industries were acknowledged for their many years of service to IGMA as the three retiring members attended their final IGMA conference. The morning also saw the recognition of David Cooper of Guardian Industries as he ends his term serving as president of IGMA. A new president will be elected tomorrow when the board of directors meets.

The morning continued with a discussion on glass safety led by Mike Burk of Quanex Corp. and chair of IGMA’s Glass Safety Awareness Council.

According to the presentation, safety incentive programs may be reducing the number of work incidents reported, based on an observation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Burk noted that the Canadian Occupational Health and Safety Law group says employees should not feel as though they are discouraged from reporting these incidents and should look to eliminate programs that may discourage reporting injuries. He added that handling shortcuts and negligence were the catalyst for many site injuries.

“I think we can all agree that the majority of incidents we see are the result of shortcuts,” said Burk. “Forty-seven percent of on-the-job injuries are a result of alcohol.”

Burk finished his presentation by giving attendees a formula for determining employee alcohol levels based the weight, number of drinks and time lapsed from the start of drinking. Monitoring substance abuse at plants may increase the overall safety of employees and proactively reduce the number of reported incidents, he said.