Hello all, I\u2019m Marty with you here at warehouse and operations as a career and today I\u2019d like to talk about our Start up meetings for a bit. Last week we\u2019d ask for some thoughts about those daily shift get together and I loved a lot of the things that were sent in to us. We also talked about the Clamp and Slip Sheet attachments and I was lucky enough to hear from Lavoil, he\u2019s called into the show today from Illinois. Lavoil is a Lumping or Unloading Supervisor for a Distribution center in the Chicago are, he wears several hats throughout the shift and today he\u2019ll be sharing some of his experiences with us. Maybe we can get him to share his secrets regarding the equipment and a little on his start up meetings! I have a gentleman named Nelson on the phone as well, Nelson is a Supervisor overseeing the Unloading, Selection and Utility Shifts for a large Foodservice DC in Texas. He\u2019ll bring some insite as to why our Safety and Start-up meetings are so important!
\nPersonally, I didn\u2019t really experience much in the way of a Start-up meeting through my first few warehouse positions. When I went to work for a National Corporation, really a huge facility and everyone was gathering over by the receiving office on my first night I didn\u2019t know how to react honestly. I listened of course, and to be honest not much was really said. Our Lead or Supervisor, I don\u2019t remember which but I think it was the lead Selector went over the case count, how many trucks we had or would be loaded and the estimated time we could wrap things up if we got hot at it! That was about it, everyone went to work and myself and 4 other new hires that were starting that night were assigned our trainers and we went our own ways! At the end of my first week I attended a weekly Safety meeting that went about the same way, this particular company was very safety conscience but the organized or weekly meeting was brief and its content was pretty much the same week to week.
\nI\u2019m excited to see pretty much across the board these days that the Shift Start-up\u2019s are much more informative, and the employees are not only encouraged to participate but are so interested in the subjects that their leading the meetings in many instances and providing the topics as well! Today I\u2019m seeing a lot of different exercises and stretching exercises being performed by the entire crew, being led by a lead or maybe even a safety committee member! I believe these changes and focus on both information and safety have been brought on by a career interested and self-educated workforce! It\u2019s so exciting to see enthusiasm of today\u2019s young leaders. Let\u2019s all have that energy and lead ourselves and our peers in that direction, we\u2019ll be noticed, and I guarantee we\u2019ll help someone else with their career as well!
\nWe had asked our group for a few topics from ya\u2019ll\u2019s start-up meetings and we had some great one\u2019s sent in:
\nAn individual from a production facility, I guess it was a processing place mentioned:
\nToday we were reminded to wash all utensils and stainless tables between cuttings with the proper solutions for the inspection.
\nAnother member stated We covered Blade Safety, always use our sheaths
\nDispose of dull or old razor blades properly
\nChange blades only when wearing the Safety Glove
\nAnother member said they reviewed the Equipment Sign out sheet, I think that\u2019s what they call the pre-trip inspection maybe
\nI loved hearing from several stating they were reminded to not use any equipment they weren\u2019t trained on, and that was a big one.
\nOh, and we heard a lot about pallets too, don\u2019t stack them to high and be sure to separate the good from the bad or broken wood. Several mentioned not to stand pallets on their end or upright and to never place product on the floor.
\nWe had several general warehousing 101 reminders like never jump out a dock door, use horns when entering the front docks and never block...