Rynone Manufacturing Corporation |
" 'Safety First' are not just words at Rynone. We 'walk the talk' and the
rewards have been many." said Operations Manager Rob Renahan. Rynone Manufacturing Corporation -
Sayre Facility, a manufacturer of cultured marble vanity tops with 150 employees located in Sayre,
Pennsylvania earned re-certification of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's)
coveted SHARP award. SHARP status is the highest safety designation bestowed on small businesses by
OSHA and is achieved by demonstrating exceptional commitment and dedication to effective safety and
occupational health management systems. Rynone Manufacturing Corporation - Sayre Facility is one of
approximately 1,100 businesses in America to earn the coveted SHARP award.
Several years ago, Rynone Manufacturing Corporation - Sayre Facility implemented a number of
engineering and operational improvements that made a number of processes easier and safer for their
employees. At one time, a heavy hood had to be lifted, placed and manually clamped to the vanity top
mold. The new process now mechanically places the mold eliminating the hazards of heavy hood
handling and hand clamping. Jim Rieker, Rynone's Safety and Human Resource Manager, said the new
press installation resulted in "less lifting, less repetitive action, quiet environment and reduced
air dust."
Another significant change to make this workplace safer for their employees involved the transport
of finished vanity tops to the warehouse. Handcarts were once used to manually move multiple
finished countertops from finishing to the warehouse. This was an awkward and potentially dangerous
endeavor requiring employees to lift, push and walk. With the new electric cart system, employees
now drive to deliver the vanity tops to their designated storage locations safely and efficiently.
Rynone Manufacturing Corporation - Sayre Facility not only improved their operations, they improved
their safety statistics. While the industry NAICS Incident Rate was 9.3 for the 3 years, 2004 to
2006, Rynone Manufacturing Corporation - Sayre Facility's Total Recordable Case Rate was
significantly below every year--an impressive achievement of 5.44, 6.52 and 5.26 for these 3 years.
And while the Days Away, Restricted, and/or Transfer Rate for the industry was 5.1 for 2004, 2005
and 2006, Rynone Manufacturing Corporation - Sayre Facility maintained ratings significantly below:
2.4, 1.44 and 1.5, respectively.
The Sayre Facility made the commitment to safety and continues to reap the rewards. Jim Rieker said
"Since we started the implementation of the SHARP program our incident rate decreased over 82
percent. Saving money from worker's comp dollars is important, but there are many other savings more
important to the plant in reference to production. Just the amount of work involved in a
work-related incident can be a good afternoon's worth, until all reports are filled out and proper
investigation to the root cause of the incident to the implementation of the safety mechanism so we
are able to prevent a re-occurrence."
President Richard Rynone acknowledged the teamwork--employee involvement and management
commitment--that it takes to earn the SHARP award. He said, "The employees of Rynone Manufacturing
Corporation - Sayre Facility are continually striving towards safety excellence in the workplace on
a daily basis. Achieving and being recognized for certification under the SHARP program, for the
second consecutive time, reaffirms their commitment to safety. It is through this collaborative
effort that we will continue to maintain and improve our safety culture at Rynone."
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