The Siloam Springs, Arkansas plant of Gates Rubber Company, a 250,00 square foot facility with 650 employees manufactures fan belts for Cadillac motor cars and many other power transmission belting types including the track belts used on Bombardier snowmobiles.

The plant was experiencing problems with excessive damage and plant equipment maintenance costs associated with rough use of some of the facility's 26 lift trucks. When managers looked into the situation no one ever seemed to know the answers to such essential questions as: Which piece of equipment did the damage? Exactly when did it happen? Who was operating at the time? Were they operating safely? Recklessly?

Supervisors quickly realized the only discovery process presently available to them involved, plant associates squealing on each other. We are from our schooldays lifetime-conditioned to avoid becoming a 'tattletale' and the practice certainly does not promote good associate relations or morale within any department. An impersonal, fairer, more accurate solution was needed. Plant Engineering Manager, Douglas Moore referred the problem to the attention of Bill Medley, Health and Safety Coordinator for the Siloam Springs plant as well as the Gates plants in Denver, Colorado, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Poplar Bluff, Missouri and Iola, Kansas. Medley was already conducting a powered lift truck operator training and certification program as required for compliance with the latest OSHA regulations.

OSHA regulation 1910.178 (I)(1)(i) states: "The employer shall ensure that each powered industrial truck driver is competent to operate a powered industrial truck safely, as demonstrated by the successful completion and evaluation specified in the paragraph (1)." In simple language OSHA requires that every operator be trained and certified for the trucks they operate.

Medley and Moore selected a device, Shockswitch ID, manufactured by Shockwatch of Dallas, Texas, as appearing to offer the best solution for their unique plant problems. It is an electronic device that controls access to equipment and also records important operating data, so-called events. An event may be an operator login or log-off or it could be an impact event. Shockswitch ID limits operation of a specific piece of equipment only to individuals that have authorization and proper certification. Shockswitch ID also promised to be a positive aid in controlling access and recording the operating record of the 90 Siloam Springs plant employees certified to operate lift trucks. The system included a companion software program for management analysis and report summaries based on the downloaded truck and driver operating data. Four trucks were initially equipped and a thorough operator introduction class was conducted.

Medley commented, " The program paid off within the first 16 hours of use when a blatant case of abuse/ equipment sabotage was resolved." He added, " I like the ID because it increases awareness of safe truck operation. More surprisingly, our employees also like it! They appreciate the fairness - it allows management to differentiate as to exactly who is abusing the trucks and causing related damage. The software was very easy to learn and use. "We actually were up and running with the software before we learned there was a complete manual on the program CD. It was that easy!"

Four more are currently being installed and they plan to have all 26 units equipped in the next year.

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