The well-known saying “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘Team’” is intended to teach us that it takes a collaborative effort rather than an individual one to be successful. Well the same can be said about safety – there’s no “I” in that also. And, while each of us is accountable for our own individual actions, we are also accountable to one another as the collective D&Z team, and we are a team committed to winning when it comes to safety.
Our Chairman and CEO Hal Yoh has emphasized the importance of collaboration across the enterprise to fuel strategic growth, and it’s also a critical element of a safe workplace culture. While each Business Unit, and even each individual D&Z location, has its own unique safety issues and protocols, there are opportunities to support and learn from one another. At our Safety Council meetings, we endeavor to share best practices and enable collaboration.
We also have some great examples of collaboration already in place between ECM and Yoh. As Anthony Bosco, EVP, Day& Zimmermann, says:
“Being a long-term Day & Zimmermann employee, I know how important it is to collaborate and leverage enterprise expertise. Being a long-time admirer of the strong safety track record of ECM, I talked to ECM President Mike McMahon. We decided that collaborating on safety and combining our safety programs into one program made a lot of sense. We agreed that by consolidating the Yoh program within ECM’s, we would be better positioned to support growth and exceed our safety objectives.”
Another excellent example of collaboration in safety was between DZMG’s operations and SOC’s Hawthorne Army Depot operations on the demilitarization of items made at DZMG’s Kansas operations. Together we were able to strengthen our demilitarization procedures at Hawthorne to make operations safer.
Where do you see opportunities for greater collaboration within our safety culture? Talk to your manager or Safety Council representative if you have ideas. Remember, there is no ‘I’ in safety, but it takes ALL ‘I’s’ working collaboratively to achieve our zero injury goal.
Mike Yoh is Executive Vice President of Day & Zimmermann's Munitions and Government business. Mr. Yoh has held a number of increasingly responsible technical and management positions throughout Day & Zimmermann since joining the company in 1985, including assignments in engineering, operations, production, business development, quality improvement and contract negotiation and management. Mr. Yoh serves in many capacities on outside boards. He is a member of the executive board of directors of the Munitions Industrial Base Task Force (MIBTF) and former member of the Industrial Committee of Ammunition Producers (ICAP).