Failed Keter Audit

[Big Babooba]

The vests are pretty stupid considering the little reflective strip that is on our uniforms.

Once during a PCm I was asked to give a safety tip. I said since the clocks have changed and it gets dark earlier, you should be aware that you are dressed in brown and aren't very visible at night. My center manager piped in that we shouldn't worry and pointed to the reflective strip on mu jacket sleeve. I replied that I would rather depend on myself for my safety than to assume that somebody will see me. He frowned, turned and walked away.

 

[brownmonster]

Gee, nothing important to worry about this time of year I guess.

 

[Channahon]

You really believe that? Come on
UPS will spend 1 million to save a penny, but when it comes to safety...thats another story, look what happened in Rockford with the shifter.....now there's vests in the yard, a no brainer, someone DIED!!!
Yes they DIED in Rockford, IL

Being on a district staff and attending staff meetings weekly, I can assure you the first topic of business was safety. Every division manager had to report on every injury and accident. What caused the accident or injury, was it avoidable or not, and what follow up training was done in a timely manner.

The company does care about safety, to protect our employees and the general public, so no one has to suffer the loss of a loved one.

At least that's how it was up until 2 years ago, when I happily retired from UPS.

 

[Tony31yrs]

I've been retired 2 years now and one of the things I miss least is the constant practice Ketterer audit tests. In Buffalo, we used to have to do them a couple of times a month and half the time we were given the answers. They always seemed to do them on a Friday when everyone wanted to get done early or some day when the preload was running late. It was a total waste of time because, when it got down to it, it was all production over safety. Of course it was the usual story-if it wastes money, but looks good on paper- it's alright. UPS is after all a paper company. Now that I'm retired, I can actually enjoy Christmas again.

 

[HazMatMan]

Being on a district staff and attending staff meetings weekly, I can assure you the first topic of business was safety. Every division manager had to report on every injury and accident. What caused the accident or injury, was it avoidable or not, and what follow up training was done in a timely manner.

The company does care about safety, to protect our employees and the general public, so no one has to suffer the loss of a loved one.

At least that's how it was up until 2 years ago, when I happily retired from UPS.

Sorry, no disrespect to you but I don't think UPS cares about safety UNTIL something happens and you fill out an accident report. Then they look to discipline you and try to figure out how it could be avoided in the future. If you came to my building you would not believe all the unsafe acts that go on. Maybe it was different where you were, but this is how it is in my building, also, drivers are continuously bringing back damages in white US mail totes(remember after 9/11 they were forbidden in all UPS facilities due to possible anthrax contamination) and leaving them outside the managers office until the following morning THEN I will get the call for it...Oh yeah, the reason I bring up 9/11 and the white US mail totes and anthrax is because nobody gave a hoot about them being in the building, I would tell drivers they don't belong in the building why are you using them and they would say "oh maybe i'll touch anthrax and go home early" (Yeah, in a body bag) Sorry had to vent and get that off my chest....

 

[Big Babooba]

Sorry, no disrespect to you but I don't think UPS cares about safety UNTIL something happens and you fill out an accident report. Then they look to discipline you and try to figure out how it could be avoided in the future. If you came to my building you would not believe all the unsafe acts that go on. Maybe it was different where you were, but this is how it is in my building, also, drivers are continuously bringing back damages in white US mail totes(remember after 9/11 they were forbidden in all UPS facilities due to possible anthrax contamination) and leaving them outside the managers office until the following morning THEN I will get the call for it...Oh yeah, the reason I bring up 9/11 and the white US mail totes and anthrax is because nobody gave a hoot about them being in the building, I would tell drivers they don't belong in the building why are you using them and they would say "oh maybe i'll touch anthrax and go home early" (Yeah, in a body bag) Sorry had to vent and get that off my chest....

We never heard that about the USPS totes in our building.

 

[HazMatMan]

We never heard that about the USPS totes in our building.

That must have been a safety memo UPS FORGOT to send out.

 

[HazMatMan]

We never heard that about the USPS totes in our building.

That must have been a safety memo UPS forgot to send out...

 

[browniehound]

The total responsibility for safety is your Human Resources Department Manager who reports to the District Manger. If you're not getting the support you need, please feel free to do the following:

Ask to meet your Safety Specialist, Safety Supervisor, Safety and Compliance Manager. They are all assigned as full time management to assist the centers regarding safety and working with the centers to be ready for Ketter audits.

They also have the responsibility to attend safety meetings, conduct safety rides and other safety related issues for your center.

I don't think this is one area where UPS is cutting costs.

Sorry Chan,
but my opinion is that this a huge waste of company resources.
While the company is paying an IE sup 70 grand a year to get .1 stops more per hour out of me through time studies, they are also paying 3 people ( Safety Specialist, Safety Supervisor, Safety and Compliance Manager) 70,000-100,000 dollars per year for a job that can be combined to form one job, saving 140 to 200 grand per year.

I mean, what the hell is the difference? Safety Specialist, Safety Supervisor, Safety and Compliance Manager??? Give me a freakin break??? Sounds like the same job to me!

 

[705red]

Being on a district staff and attending staff meetings weekly, I can assure you the first topic of business was safety. Every division manager had to report on every injury and accident. What caused the accident or injury, was it avoidable or not, and what follow up training was done in a timely manner.

The company does care about safety, to protect our employees and the general public, so no one has to suffer the loss of a loved one.

At least that's how it was up until 2 years ago, when I happily retired from UPS.

I believe that safety was the first thing brought up at every meeting. But there is big difference between talking about a safe work enviroment and providing a safe work enviroment. Ups talks a great talk but slips when they try to walk it. Ups take action a reactionary stance on safety instead of a proactive stance. There is no problem until the problem happens even when you see it coming! Also i believe during your talks on accidents and injuries it was probably a group brainstroming to figure out the best way to blame the employee for it.

 

[Channahon]

705

To the contrary, the root cause was discussed and in some cases, that might have been the employee, in other cases could have been management and their lack of training properly.

And as reports are a way of life at UPS, the numbers tell the story of Safety training, regardless if the numbers go up or down, the focus is to always improve.

You see, I had the opportunity to see the district numbers everyday, whereas, our hourly safety comittees usually saw center or division numbers. And there were some operations that were improving and others that needed constant attention. That's where the joint safety committee comes into play. And only by working together can improvments be made.

There is something in the Master Agreement about joint Teamster/UPS safety committess if I'm not mistaken.

It's everybody's responsibility at UPS to be held accountable to safety training and environment.

 

[Channahon]

Brownie,

I mean, what the hell is the difference? Safety Specialist, Safety Supervisor, Safety and Compliance Manager??? Give me a freakin break??? Sounds like the same job to me!

Here's the break, different levels, different responsibilities and reporting structure.

You see, it's not only safety training, but also compliance training, also known as Comprehensive Health and Safety training. Which entails Keter readiness, haz mat responders, serious accident investigations, OSHA compliance.

I can only offer my view from the management side of UPS.There were times when I sat in meetings and thought I could have made a cross country trip by plane, by the time the Safety disucssion was over and the next topic on the agenda was discussed.

The slogan "Safety First" was truly the first topic of a staff meeting agenda to keep safety at the forefront of every other element discussed.

 

[Floridacargocat]

If I may something with more than 30 years industrial experience (with lost of years outside of UPS and on an international level)
A product is designed. It costs a certain amount of money. This results in a specific and specified quality level. If one (or more) of these parameters is (are) taken away, than costs are reduced, but so is quality.
Safety is a product.
It still takes humans to implement and abide by safety regulations, unless you want to go by the maxim "it takes blood on the runway to implement new regulations".
Safety is is lived and implemented by each and everbody. Non-compliance becomes very expensive (The most recent news about a $65M insurance claim for a destroyed Airbus A330 due to misdeclared HazMat substances which leaked and destroyed the airframe is just one example. More examples are available, including ones that concern UPS personnel as sad as it is).
Safety should override everything. Does it? Or do we need some blood?

 

[LKLND3380]

My center recently had a Keter audit. Apparently, the hub and both centers failed miserably.

What are the ramifications of failing a Keter audit? Does it mean I will get some new supervisors and center manager come January?
That could be a nice perk!

UPS considers ANYTHING below 95 FAILED.... So failing miserably your center and hob probably got score of 92 and 93 out of 100...

 

[LKLND3380]

We are in the middle of a Keter Audit right now. It was amazing how the Preload went down on time Friday morning. Why they are doing this during Peak amazes me. They should never announce ahead of time when they will audit, just show up and surprise everyone!!!

When they know Ketar is in the area they will increase the start times by 15 minutes...

When they know what buildings are getting hit they will hold back on some feeders to reduce the volume for preload that day...

I agree... They should just show up and see the packages stacked out... Packages falling off the end of the belt blocking the egress...

 

[LKLND3380]

I was in the office when a center OMS got the phone call. Seems my center found out about it only 4 hours in advance. It was actually quite amusing to watch the reactions of all the supervisors. I believe the popular phrases used were "oh SugarHoneyIceTea" and "we're screwed" . Classic...

Your district safety managers know when Keter is going to be in the area and they try to listen in on the personal calls of Keter observers to pick up where they are going next... "I can't do lunch next week, we are supposed to be in Florida..." Then the whole state of Florida is put on alert as they listen in for additional clues for specific cities. One time someone in Alabama notified Georgia and Florida that Ketar was going tio hit both but unsure what order... That gives everyone on those areas 24 to 48 hours notice and then as you mentioned, Keter give advance notice of 3 to 4 hours...

 

[bad company]

UPS considers ANYTHING below 95 FAILED.... So failing miserably your center and hob probably got score of 92 and 93 out of 100...

I'm not 100% sure on this, but if I recall correctly, I believe we got a total score of 87.

When I was in school, a 87 (B) was o.k. with me...but I guess when it comes to safety, a high A should be the goal.

 

[happyboy]

I was looking forward to talking with the keter people this year, I was going to ask them what they thought of all the drivers working in there car off the clock in the mornings, and of the drivers working thru there lunch hour to make the numbers look good.. I mean how safe is that.

But i never got the chance.

 

[LKLND3380]

Safety is lived and implemented by each and everbody. Non-compliance becomes very expensive (The most recent news about a $65M insurance claim for a destroyed Airbus A330 due to misdeclared HazMat substances which leaked and destroyed the airframe is just one example. More examples are available, including ones that concern UPS personnel as sad as it is).

You don't suppose those little UPS 100 Anniversary trinkets made from an airplane came from...

 

[LKLND3380]

I was looking forward to talking with the keter people this year, I was going to ask them what they thought of all the drivers working in there car off the clock in the mornings, and of the drivers working thru there lunch hour to make the numbers look good.. I mean how safe is that.

But i never got the chance.

They don't care about you working off the clock or getting a lunch... This is a safety inspection, not a Union inspection...

During an internal safety audit, the safety co-chair in our building pointed out the over 70s going down a slide and on to the belt (crushing smaller packages). That is a big sfaety no no..