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