“If there’s a risk, you’ve got to close that risk out.” That’s the credo of Craig Partridge, the person responsible for workplace health and safety at Trelleborg Sealing Solutions. This cased study examines the risk and the process, which included the uvex i-works, to solve it.
Initial situation
Craig Partridge is Health, Safety and Training Co-ordinator for Trelleborg Sealing Solutions (TSS), in Bridgwater, Somerset (UK), where the company’s 140 employees design and manufacture high-performance seals for multiple global applications – like, for example, aerospace, pharmaceuticals or transport.
Being a specialist for production management and Six-Sigma and Lean problem solving, he had identified – as part of an area risk assessment – an issue with ejecting particulates on the shop floor areas that needed urgent attention. The company uses compressed airlines to clean parts down, plus there are grinding and mechanical and engineering applications where an injected part or a piece of material could easily come flying off and into a worker’s eye.
TSS has made safety eyewear mandatory for the workers’ 8-hour shifts on the shop floor. “We wanted to cover as many workers as we possibly could,” Craig explains. “The entire staff has been issued with eye protection in case they have to go onto the shop floor area.”
Making eye protection easy
TSS wanted an eye protection product that was comfortable and that fit the bill in every way. They trialled a range of safety spectacles from uvex and two other well-known brands, after which Craig surveyed the wearers and then scored their feedback. “From this process, it emerged that the guys preferred the uvex glasses,” he says.
Craig was happy to take the advice of uvex specialists who visited him to demonstrate and explain their huge range of eye protection products. He chose uvex i-works.
There are several points you have to cover from a health and safety and wearability point of view,” observes Craig, “including safety, vanity, look and personal comfort. Style and look are important to get people to want to wear them”. He also looked for durability, few or no moving parts, flexibility and robustness. “The uvex i-works fitted the bill on all these counts.”
Workforce reaction
“No one person is the same as anyone else, and personal comfort is very important in choice. Mandatory eyewear is a fundamental step change, especially for non-spectacle wearers, to whom wearing something on their face it is alien and physically uncomfortable. A lot of battles had to be fought. The effort and energy it has taken to get us this far in such a short period of time is no mean feat,” Craig recounts.
“uvex i-works are without doubt the most comfortable glasses I have ever worn,” testifies one of the workers. Other wearers have reported that they find the i-works very comfortable, lightweight and offering excellent clarity. Craig adds that the eyewear has added uniformity and control to the issue of PPE.
Eighty per cent of the workforce had no issue with the eyewear at all. Ten per cent followed what others said. Five per cent had a genuine issue with fit or the specs not being suitable for the job, while the other five per cent were “being awkward”, says Craig. Once again, a representative from uvex came to the rescue, coming on site to talk to the remaining few workers to maximise fit and resolve their issues. “We have only 2% of the workforce issues left to resolve now,” notes Craig.
Benefits
As well as the improved safety of his workforce, Craig has managed to save on average £0.97 per pair of glasses, a significant overall saving of around £1,200 per year assuming an average regular review of once a month.
“It’s not enough to just assume you are safe all the time,” Craig points out. “The information we were given by uvex was beneficial to the point that people picked up the fact that standard prescription eyewear is not safety eyewear. The toolbox talks were very effective, very productive, and worked well. They put the icing on the cake.”
What next?
“We will definitely carry on using uvex products. We have a good rapport and a good working relationship. We are kept up to date with innovation and new products. It works.” The strong relationship may lead to TSS procuring other uvex products such as gloves or shoes – the company is currently looking at the uvex 1 shoe.
Conclusion
“I can now categorically say that as long as people are wearing their uvex i-works, they will not receive an eye injury,” states Craig. “We have eliminated the possibility of eye injury on the shop floor, fact.”