|
|
|
 |
|
Home / Legislative Action Center / Issues - Education / AWB Awards 15 Companies for Providing the Best Places to Work |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
AWB Awards 15 Companies for Providing the Best Places to Work |
|
|
|
Written On: February 12, 2007 |
|
|
|
Written By: Shawn Sullivan |
|
|
|
OLYMPIA—The Association of Washington Business presented 15 members with its annual Better Workplace Awards at its 2007 Legislative Day held at the Olympia Red Lion on Feb. 7. The awards honor AWB member companies that demonstrate innovation in the areas of workplace safety, job training and advancement, and benefit and compensation programs.
AWB's Better Workplace Awards for 2007 recognize member businesses, both large and small, that go the extra mile in providing a family-friendly work environment, promoting safety and enabling employees to achieve their best. "These awards are given to dispel the myth that most businesses don’t care about their employees," AWB President Don Brunell said. "With so many companies providing extra services for their employees, it is almost too difficult to award only 15 of them."
An independent panel of judges reviews all the nominees and decides who receives the award based on numerous factors. AWB also gives Continuous Commitment awards to companies that have won the award in previous years and have continued to be innovators in providing a better workplace.
The following are the 2007 Better Workplace Award winners (each company is broken down into categories based on number of employees):
Lake Roosevelt Vacations, Kettle Falls (Workplace Safety)
This authorized concessionaire of the National Park Service initiated a thorough revamp of its safety programs. As a result, Lake Roosevelt Vacations’ employees receive initial and annual recurring workplace safety training, including emergency training for fire, medical emergency, commodity spills, and bomb threats; fire extinguisher familiarization training; federal/local hazard communications; spill prevention, control and countermeasures training; and blood borne pathogen training. Continuous improvement is a hallmark of Lake Roosevelt Vacations' programs. The company's commitment to workplace safety is, indeed, imperative.
Environmental Resolutions, Seattle (Workplace Safety)
Every technician at Environmental Resolutions has completed a 40-hour Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training. In addition to the HAZWOPER training, the company has successfully implemented a behaviorally-based safety program. As part of Environmental Resolutions' injury and illness prevention program, the company requires employees to not only be responsible for their own actions, but their fellow employees' actions as well. In addition, all employees who drive for company business are required to complete the Smith Driving Program, which focuses on collision prevention, within the first six months of employment. Finally, Environmental Resolutions recognizes and rewards employees on a quarterly basis for safe performance.
J.R. Hayes & Sons, Maple Valley (Workplace Safety)
Safety is one of the top priorities of J.R. Hayes & Sons, a Maple Valley earthwork and site development company. The company believes in early intervention with injured workers and taking care of their families and personal needs during their recovery periods, providing such benefits as KOS, transportation to and from doctor's appointments when necessary, and modifying jobs so employees can return to work and be comfortable during their recovery periods.
Pacific Power, Vancouver (Workplace Safety)
In 2006, Pacific power made significant improvements to its employee safety programs, raising awareness, taking action and getting at the root cause of incidents, and focusing on accountability. The company has made major strides in reducing preventable vehicle accidents, implementing a health and wellness assessment, and enhancing its peer and executive review processes. The electric industry is inherently high risk and hazardous, making it imperative that work practices and the work environment support the importance of safety at all times. Compared to 2005, Pacific Power has reduced its OSHA recordable incident rate by more than 50 percent. With a focused effort, Pacific Power is heading toward its goal of achieving an accident free workplace.
Haskins Steel Co., Spokane (Job Training and Advancement Programs)
Haskins Steel is partnering with Spokane Community College to give its workers training in applied math, mechanical drawing, and other technical areas. The company offers additional education and training sponsors a tuition reimbursement. Not surprisingly, employee morale is very high at Haskins Steel.
Seattle Steam, Seattle (Job Training and Advancement Programs)
Seattle Steam has introduced an innovative incentive-based training program. The company rewards employees with salary incentives for successful completion of a rigorous, professionally developed, community college-based training program for operating engineers. The company supports the program by providing tuition and books at cost.
Cintas Corp., Kirkland (Job Training and Advancement Programs)
Cintas is an innovator in human capital development. The company firmly believes in developing its employees. Promotion is based on performance. Regardless of the position, all employees have the opportunity to reach any goal they aspire to achieve. Management Trainee and Advanced Management candidates are given the opportunity to develop management and leadership skills while working hand in hand with the employees they support and manage. This approach to on the job training fosters communication, cooperation and respect.
Tate Technology, Spokane (Job Training and Advancement Programs)
Many immigrants work for Tate Technology. They all come with a strong desire to fit into American culture. To encourage this, Tate Technology sponsors well attended English as a Second Language classes after work on company premises. To further the Americanization of these foreign workers, the company encourages families to buy houses and share the American dream of home ownership by offering low interest rate loans to employees. The company also discourages credit card debt and has offered low interest loans to help employees pay off high interest credit cards. Programs like these are what makes Tate Technology a better workplace.
Art Anderson Associates, Bremerton (Job Training and Advancement Programs)
Innovation is by design at Art Anderson Associates. Few other firms, especially those of its size, offer a comprehensive and flexible benefits package. Any employee who works more than 24 hours per week is offered the company's entire slate of benefits, which range from flexible family-oriented policies to purely financial incentives. Among Art Anderson Associates' benefits are a 401K retirement account, health savings accounts, life insurance and flex time.
Burgerville, Vancouver (Job Training and Advancement Programs)
The Holland, Inc. - parent company to Burgerville restaurants - has introduced a new health care package for their families. The package is unique in that hourly employees who have worked an average of 20 hours a week with six months service are eligible at a cost of only $15 a month. The Holland pays 95 percent of the premium for individual employees as well as 90 percent of the cost of their dependents. There are no other restaurant companies that provide this level of health care to their employees.
PRO Sports Club, Bellevue (Job Training and Advancement Programs)
PRO Sports Club takes the health and fitness of its employees very seriously. The company's fitness program begins with assessing the fitness level of each participant. Exercise guidelines are provided based on the responses. Next, employees take a confidential online assessment of their current lifestyle and habits through an exclusive Web site for PRO Sports Club employees. They receive a report with suggestions on how to maintain and improve upon their current health. Just for getting started, all participants who complete the two part process to kick off the program will receive their first incentive reward in the form of 20 points, as well as $25 PRO Sports Club gift card. Drawings are held throughout the year to recognize program involvement, and at the end of the year each participant is able to choose from a variety of fantastic trips and prizes based on the total points they have earned. In addition, the company provides a superb comprehensive benefits program.
Honeywell, Redmond (Continuous Commitment)
Honeywell seeks to protect the safety and health of its employees, who are all involved in furthering this objective. Honeywell's executives and managers are measured and held accountable for the safety and environmental performance of their businesses. The company addresses occupational injuries and illnesses, emissions, wastes and inefficient uses of resources and energy as preventable process defects. Honeywell continuously improves its compliance processes and business practices, using quantifiable goals to measure and take actions to drive sustained safety and environmental performance.
Pacific NW National Laboratory, Richland (Continuous Commitment)
Safe operations are a management expectation for all staff at Pacific NW National Laboratory, which uses a unique integrated systems approach to operations that aligns support activities with strategic, technical and business needs. This approach supports performance improvement to continuously meet staff needs and helps the organization drive down costs. Pacific NW National Laboratory's success in promoting safety has been recognized with VPP STAR status and EPA Performance Track membership among other acknowledgements. Most recently, in November 2006, Pacific NW National Laboratory was recognized as one of America's safest companies by Occupational Hazards magazine.
Cargill Animal Nutrition, Ferndale (Certificate of Merit)
Cargill Animal Nutrition's number one focus is safety every day. The company's safety initiative focuses on behavior modification safety training through "Safe Start" and "Safe Track" programs, which focus on making employees more aware of their actions during the day and constantly focusing on safety in their daily routines. Among the company's safety initiatives is a unique policy that states that no Cargill employee may talk on a cell phone while driving on the job.
Print NW, Tacoma (Certificate of Merit)
Print NW is a small company that works hard to provide a favorable environment for its employees. The company provides medical/dental benefits for its employees and, in the past year, has implemented both a two percent company match on the 401K program and profit sharing for its employees. The 401K has resulted in $65,000 in employee contributions and $15,000 in employer contributions since May 2006. Meanwhile, the profit sharing program paid out $1,243 per full-time employee or a total of $54,000.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
