Director's Notebook
Safety was the No. 1 topic during the ASCA Executive Director Kevin Gilbride’s recent visit to THE BOSS factory. For the record, Kevin makes a number of these trips to industry partners and associations throughout the year, and we look forward to reporting back on these trips in the future.
Kevin says the Boss executive team, as a group, lives and breathes safety. They start each day with a safety meeting with each shift. The review safety points in these meetings and everyday remind their team of the safety focus for their benefit. They start each meeting with a “safety share.” One member in the meeting shares something on safety. This can be anything. The morning he was there, it was very foggy. Jodie Gilroy, the company’s marketing specialist, shared a safety tip on driving in the fog. Kevin says this impacted him because he realized that their safety approach has spilled over from their work environment into their personal lives. This is commitment. This also show success in delivering the message of safety and getting group buy-in.
As the day went on it became abundantly clear to Kevin that the Boss team, as a whole, has bought into their safety initiatives. “As I often do, I wanted to understand why,” Kevin says. “As we toured the plant the answer revealed itself. Boss employees OWN their safety initiatives. It is the employees who provide the input to improve safety throughout the plant. They are implementing their own ideas to create a safer working environment. The Boss executive team has created a structured environment in which the employees are required to participate and provide input into how to improve their own work environment and create a safer work place.”
As the day continued, Josh Debroux, Boss’ environmental health and safety director, made a comment that Kevin says impressed him. Addressing safety, Debroux said: “I don’t understand companies that talk about safety first. Safety should not be first, it should be always. We preach safety always.”
“As I drove back to the airport that day, it occurred to me that Boss has built an organization that lives and breathes safety in a controlled environment. Pedestrians are not walking through their plant,” Kevin says. “Cars are not driving through their area of work. They are indoors where snow is not flying. Mother Nature is not throwing her best at them. They are not performing “emergency services” in the worst of conditions. Yet they have their entire team focuses on safety every day, every meeting, and they continually improve the safety in their environment.
Can you imagine what a professional snow and ice management operation could accomplish if it adopted the “safety always” philosophy? How much more savvy would your labor force be if safety was of paramount importance?
Intuitive ASCA Business
Jeffco CEO and ASCA member Jeannie Schenderline, ASCA-C, was vying to be featured in Intuit’s Super Bowl commercial.
Based in Anchorage, Alaska, Jeannie has spent the past 21 years building her business. The arduous process to become selected for the honor of being featured in the Intuit Super Bowl commercial is based upon several factors. Answers to written questions, a 90-second video about her company and open voting by the general public. Voting is open through Oct. 13, 2013. According to Jeannie, “To be selected for the second round is an honor in itself, but to be ultimately selected to participate in the commercial itself would be tremendous exposure for the entire snow industry.”
Intuit was holding a contest called “Small Business, Big Game” where the winner gets a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl. Final results were not available at deadline.
Certification Update
The accredited snow Contractors Association (ASCA) is proud to report that 11 professional snow and ice managers earned their ASCA-C status, and six have completed the recertification requirements for continued ASCA-C status.
“As the industry begins to gear up for the coming season, more snow and ice management operations are requiring their winter services personnel to become ASCA-C,” says ASCA Executive Director Kevin Gilbride. “And since the 201 courses have come online, we’re beginning to see contractors earn their recertifications, many doing so before their initial certification ends.”
The new 201-level courses, developed in conjunction with the ASCA Education Committee and required for recertification of ASCA-C status, continues the focus on risk management, Industry Standards, and ISO9001/SN9001 certification.
Gilbride says there is no need to wait until you’re close to your recertification date to start taking the 201-level courses. ASCA-C snow fighters can begin taking the 201 course work at any time.
Upon completion of all 10 courses, the recertification date will be extended by one year from the original recertification date.
Snowcare for troops
For a fourth year The BOSS Snowplow is pleased to underwrite Project EverGreen’s SnowCare for Troops (SCFT) program, a community-based campaign providing active-duty military families currently deployed with snow removal services during the winter months.
While deployment levels vary from day to day, the U.S. military continues to have a major presence around the world. The U.S. Department of Defense reports more than 1.4 million active-duty personnel currently serve in the core branches of the armed services with another 850,000 reservists ready to serve. Uncertainty in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world means that the roughly 175,000 troops serving overseas will continue to need our support and help on the home front.
The SCFT campaign currently has about 3,750 families and 1,400 volunteers signed up to participate in the program. Project EverGreen matches registered military families with local volunteers to provide free snow removal services. Volunteers who want to join the cause can sign up online by visiting SnowCare for Troops.
In addition to volunteer participation, donations of money or gas cards as well as loans of snow removal equipment to volunteers and community groups are also welcome.
To learn more about Project EverGreen’s SnowCare for Troops or become a volunteer visit the organization’s online registration page at bit.ly/18Vx6oJ.
Amazing racers
NOTICE A FAMILIAR face on this season’s Amazing Race? ASCA member Jason Case, president of Case Snow Management, and his girlfriend Amy Diaz are competing for $1M on the CBS series “Amazing Race”? We guess being an ASCA member can prepare you for just about anything anything!
Super Contract
Here's some super Super Bowl news. Canete Snow Management, Wayne N.J., was awarded a lucrative and exclusive five-year contract to manage snow removal at MetLife Stadium located in Secaucus, N.J., home to the New York Giants and New York Jets.
The contract requires 843 workers to remove all the snow from the inside of the stadium. According to Canete, the snow has to be removed whether there is a game or not. To help ensure that everybody is available to get to work, Canete has hired luxury buses to transport workers to and from the stadium and anybody who works the impending storms will also be provided with meals.
Canete, the owner of Canete Snow Management, vice president of the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association and an ASCA board member, is recruiting contractors to help fill this tall order, which is. Besides the sheer number of workers needed to manage the stadium, the FBI must screen each applicant for past criminal history.
Canete, however, is taking it all in stride as he flips through the Farmer’s Almanac and sees that snow is predicted to fall on Super Sunday!
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