May 2011 - Amtrak

12 | May 2011 Amtrak Ink
SPOTLIGHT ON SAFETY
Baggage Handlers Make Safety
Checks Second Nature
Stefan Peele, stations manager for the Mid-Atlantic
Division, credits the lack of injuries among his team of
roughly 20 baggage handlers at Philadelphia’s 30th
Street Station to the strong sense of personal responsibilty
his employees share.
Each shift begins with a safety briefing and the completion
of a checklist to verify that the tow tractors and
other equipment used are in good working order. Any
problems found are noted on the form, and the equipment
is then taken to the station’s truck shop for
repair. “In the past, a lot of our injuries came from
faulty equipment,” says Peele.
As an added step, the shop also performs preventive
maintenance work on all equipment every month.
And Peele says his group makes it a priority to “keep
everybody mindful of the station conditions,” such as
the condensation that can make for slick platforms on
rainy days.
The group also
employs the Safe-
2-Safer process of
observing coworkers
as they
do their jobs as a
way to identify
any at-risk behaviors
that could be
improved. “Many
of the practices in
Safe-2-Safer we
were doing,” says
Peele. “We’ve just
been concentrating
on doing a
good job at what
we do.”
continued from page 11
Previously, that work was done by an outside vendor.
The shop also performs service work on the air compressors at its
facility, which has meant an annual savings of $6,300.
What’s more, the shops have started to compete for new outside contracts.
Beech Grove recently won a competitive bid to rebuild three
locomotives for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
The challenge as we move forward is recognizing opportunities,” says
Terry Schindler, Deputy Chief Mechanical Officer, who oversees work
at all three mechanical shops. “We need to engage all of our employees
in identifying roadblocks or barriers to our success.”
Internal Efficiencies
Grey at Beech Grove emphasizes the recent changes are only the
beginning. As a next step, Beech Grove will be working with the same
facilitator (Overland Resource Group) that guided American Airlines’
efforts.
“We’re constantly
looking for internal efficiencies,
for ways we can
work better,” says Grey.
“Each week, new initiatives
are proposed and
discussed at the Beech
Grove Improvement
Committee meetings.
We’re optimistic we’ve
only scratched the surface
of the available potential.”
This kind of effort is
not isolated to the
mechanical-services work
Amtrak performs.
Although the strategies
being pursued at the
shops originated locally
Leveraging Assets
Photo: Mike Millburn
Says Steve Stone, a boilermaker and welder at Beech
Grove for 37 years and local union leader: “We’ve
really gotten together with management on how we
can save money.”
last fall, such thinking is driving the way Amtrak is organizing and positioning
itself to compete, grow and evolve across the board.
Ongoing strategic planning workshops are being held with representatives
from each department to set priorities that will help the
company leverages its assets, like its mechanical facilities, to generate
additional revenue. The ideas and input conceived in each of these
workshops — which are organized around different facets of the business
— will help frame the company’s next Corporate Strategic Plan,
due out by Oct. 1, 2011.
“Part of what we’re aiming to do is single out the challenges that
stand in the way of reaching a higher level of performance and becoming
a more nimble company, and then identify — in a collaborative way
— clear strategies to overcome those challenges,” says President and
CEO Joe Boardman. ■