Dear SafetyXChange Members:

Being out of work is an economic and emotional ordeal. But it is not a moral stigma. Nor is it a unique situation. Those who work in safety and in other corporate jobs can expect to find themselves unemployed at least once during their careers. In fact, the unemployed constitute a kind of fraternity. Finding and reaching out to your unemployed brethren (and sistren) can go a long way toward surviving the out-of-work experience.

You Are Not Alone

If you're currently out of work, take comfort from the words of Paul Mathews, president and founder of Connecticut-based Hire Aspirations. "You are not alone," he says. "There are lots of others like you out there." But Mathews isn't just offering solace. The out-of-work also represent a resource. "People who are unemployed are in a position to help others who don't have jobs and to receive help in return," he says.

What Mathews is talking about is building a support system with other unemployed men and women in your area. Include as many people as possible in your support system, he advises. Tell these individuals what you are looking for (your career objective, what you want in a target company), so they can help you; and find out what they're looking for so you can help them back.

The Value of a Support System

Of course, if you're unemployed, your chief source of emotional support will come from friends and family. But that isn't always enough to get us through the hard times. Many people experience disappointment by the level of support or lack thereof that they receive from their loved ones. Even the most supportive of spouses, parents and best friends tend to get tired of our "stories" after a while. Or, even worse, they experience our stress as their own.

We therefore need to look beyond our immediate circle of intimates for emotional support. Unemployed colleagues are a perfect place to turn. Not only are the fellow unemployed experiencing the same thing we are, but they're in a position to provide the kind of professional insights that we can't get from our families and friends.

Conclusion

Going through a spate of unemployment is a universal experience. But some handle the experience better than others. Reaching out to others in your situation greatly enhances your chances of surviving the ordeal with your confidence and emotions intact.

Wishing you career success,
Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet, www.execunet.com

SAXCIES PROFILE

Canadian Blue Bird General Manager Tony Kerwin (left) and EHS Specialist Richard Kauk (right) receive Henshaw Award from Glenn Demby (center)

WINNER OF THE HENSHAW AWARD FOR CORPORATE LEADERSHIP IN SAFETY:

Canadian Blue Bird

Criteria: Former OSHA Secretary John Henshaw is a visionary. To Henshaw, safety success is not measured simply by lost time injury rates and other statistics; it's measured by an intangible quality best described as commitment. Corporations, Henshaw believes, must embrace health and safety as part of the essential business mission and engage others to do the same.

SafetyXChange created a special Saxcie - the Henshaw Award - to recognize a company that best embodies this commitment. It's a special award - the only one that comes with a golden helmet.

Process: More than a dozen companies from the US and Canada were nominated for the Henshaw Award. All of them had distinguished safety programs and records. Selecting five finalists was very hard. In addition to lending his name to the award, Secretary Henshaw served as presiding judge over the panel that selected the winner.

The Winner: Canadian Blue Bird

Profile: Canadian Blue Bird's safety record was the subject of recognition just four years ago. The problem was that it was the kind of recognition nobody wants. The Ontario Ministry of Labour cited Blue Bird as one of the province's worst 1,000 employers with regard to safety.

It wasn't as if the people at Blue Bird were indifferent to safety. They just lacked leadership, vision and management commitment. That all changed in 2003. Richard Kauk and a new management team launched a determined effort to infuse Blue Bird with a new safety culture. It started with the formation of a 107-item “Due Diligence” list of safety corrections that would bring the company into compliance with its OHS obligations within a year.

Although it was the first step, Blue Bird didn't want simply to meet regulatory requirements; it was out to achieve safety excellence. To reach its goal, the company implemented an ambitious package of initiatives including enhanced training and Level 2 certification of Joint Health and Safety Committee members, establishment of an ergonomics team to reduce soft tissue injuries, the formation of four member Safety Teams and enhanced communication. New programs were built on the principles of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 18001. Blue Bird has also established wellness, smoking cessation and flu shot programs as well as audiometric testing.

These and other efforts have paid off. Evidence of the excellence Blue Bird has achieved:

• 27 months without a Lost Time Accident;
• 60% drop in 2006 recordables (and another 75% drop to date in 2007);
• 2004 NEER Rating *3.0 Max Surcharge, 2006 NEER Rating 0.07;
• 85% drop in VOC Discharges from 2003 t0 2007;
• 2006 Minis unanimously voted off the Critical Employer List
• ISO14001 Registration October of 2006 with an unconditional recommendation from the registrar as a result of no non-conformances;
• ISO18001 Registration May 2007; and
• I.A.P.A. (Industrial Accident Prevention Association) Level 3 March 2006.

Not surprisingly, Blue Bird has earned recognition for its programs, including:

• 2005 Industry Week Top 25 North American Manufacturing Plant;
• 2006 AME Manufacturing Excellence Award - Canadian Region; and
• I.A.P.A. President's Award April 2007 for Safety Leadership and
  Mentorship.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the Ontario Ministry of Labour took Blue Bird off its bad list in 2006.

You've come a long way in four years, Blue Bird. SafetyXChange and the former OSHA Secretary's whose name graces the honor you've received wish you our deepest congratulations.

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