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POWDER COATING, October 2016 37 Safe production: Part II I n F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 , I wrote an article introduc- ing Aegis Industrial Fin- ishing's start down the path of safe production. During the past few months, we've engineered a locking safety mechanism for our transfer beam system, developed standard operating procedures (SOPs), and zeroed in on the most common injuries that occur on the shop floor. Who knew SOPS, statistical analysis, and engineering could be so rewarding? This follow-up a r t i c l e w i l l h i g h l i g h t t h e s e t h r e e improvements in equipment, process, and business insight. Team-driven engineered safety solution Specific to our business is our overhead transfer beam system. From a safety per- spective, this is a weak point in our pro- duction process. If operated incorrectly it could result in injury or damage to cus- tomers' goods if the mating transfer beam is not properly lined up to the sta- tionary I-beam. For example, see Photo 1. In fact, this was the first piece of equip- ment for which we developed an SOP and trained all of our employees on. Even with an SOP and employee train- ing in place, I was still not satisfied with the potential risk that remained. In a team meeting, I put the challenge to the team to design a solution to make the system safer. One of my employees took it upon himself to weld up a model of an add-on that became the starting point for a solution. With a good concept in mind and a pro- totype in hand, we brought in an engi- neer to evaluate our equipment and design an add-on that would improve the safety of our transfer beam system. Using the model that one of our team members put together, the engineer cre- ated a weld-on solution that would all but eliminate the risk that we had been dealing with. This is depicted in Photo 2. With this win under my employees' belts, I am excited to see what else they will be able to come up with to improve the equipment they use on a daily basis. A good SOP gets things moving While not the first thing that may come to mind when considering safety in the workplace, the role that SOPs play in ensuring safety should not be overlooked. By identify- ing and documenting the steps in your main processes and use of equipment, Coater's Corner Coater's Corner Chris McKinnon Aegis Industrial Finishing Photo 1 Photo 2