KEEPING OUR EMPLOYEES SAFE

Leading Indicators

We remain relentless in our efforts to identify and reduce risks every day. This means continuing to work on foundational habits that strengthen our Safety culture of learning. We call many of these habits our “leading indicators.” These proactive actions contribute to a safer work environment and include completing safety training, participating in housekeeping / safety (5S) walks, engaging with the local safety committee, risk and hazard identification and mistake and error-proofing. In this way, we will continue making progress in our recordable and incident rates.

OUR SAFETY PHILOSPHY

Together, we will cultivate an environment where all Olympians feel empowered to act with initiative and purpose in creating a safer workplace.


Together, we demonstrate our commitment to safety through:

  • Engagement of all Olympians
  • Continuing education, training and development of all Olympians
  • Open and honest communication
  • Embracing continuous improvement
  • Benchmarking and measuring performance against recognized industry standards

ENCOURAGING OUR TEAMS TO GO GEMBA!

PUTTING EXTRA EMPHASIS ON “POKA YOKES”

Four years ago, Olympic Steel introduced the term “poka yoke” and challenged employees to look for, report and offer solutions to potential hazards within their division – then, putting the Safety improvement and risk reduction effort (the poka yoke) into action by implementing the solution. Now, our divisions are regularly completing poka yokes and making this risk reduction effort an important part of their everyday processes.


To encourage employees to keep an eye out for safety hazards and take part in completing poka yokes, Olympic Steel runs an annual Poka Yoke Challenge – recognizing the “Most Impactful” and “Most Innovative” poka yokes submitted.


In 2024, we INCREASED our poka yoke submissions from 162 to 200.

Safety first. Always. And, it starts with me.

Safety is and will always remain our priority at Olympic Steel. In 2024, we engaged our employees, third-party consultants and industry peers in helping us develop our way forward in our safety journey. The output was a five-year road map that organizes our efforts into four key areas:


  • Engagement and Culture
  • Equipment and Technology
  • Education, Training and Development
  • Supporting Structure 

When it comes to safety, active involvement and individual accountability are critical. Our Safety Committees at each division help us increase engagement, emphasizing our proactive commitment to working safely.


To drive engagement, we make our safety programs, information and messaging easily accessible and interactive. We also provide regular opportunities for employees to directly contribute to a safer work environment by encouraging our teams to “GO GEMBA” - or “go see” - taking a closer look at everyday processes to find ways to make them safer. Employees are encouraged and rewarded for reporting near misses by identifying opportunities to make safety improvements and completing related “poka yoke” projects. In fact, each year, we award thousands of dollars through the Fe (Flawless execution) Award and Poka Yoke contests to employees who identify and execute safety improvements and innovation.

SAFETY ACTION PLANS – CONTINUED FOCUS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS

We keep safety at the forefront of all we do through the leadership of our management teams and safety professionals; extensive training, safety protocols, engineering controls; and the focus we put on safety in our company communications and information.


We continue to emphasize the foundational elements of our safety program through annual baseline Safety Action Plans, which are executed at each of our processing facilities. These plans include the following:


  • Monthly Safety Committee or Safety Team meetings
  • Reviewing and updating all Job Safety Analyses (JSAs)
  • Reviewing and updating all Lock-Out/Tag-Out (LOTO) policies and machine-specific procedures
  • Completing all required Safety Training
  • Conducting weekly (at a minimum) Safety / 5S / Housekeeping Walks
  • Completing a Dock Safety or Traffic Safety improvement project
  • Completing Poka Yoke safety improvement activities
  • Documenting Near Miss events


In addition, our employees attend appropriate monthly safety trainings. Our recurring annual training calendar includes: Electrical Safety, Lock Out/Tag Out, Crane Safety, Lifting and Rigging Equipment, Confined Spaces, First Aid and Bloodborne Pathogens, Fire Prevention and Emergency Action Planning, Hearing Conservation, Hand Safety, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Working Around Mobile Equipment, and Workplace Violence.

Not only is safety a top priority for employees, but we also extend our health and safety policies to suppliers, visitors and contractors.


Our Occupational Health and Safety performance includes:

  • tracking occupational injuries and illnesses;
  • maintaining multiple policies designed to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards;
  • establishing and training volunteer First Responders at all locations; and
  • conducting routine departmental safety audits and inspections

LEARN MORE

Find additional information in our most recent Corporate Responsibility Report available here