The most distinguishing characteristic of Safway® Group is its transformative nature. The energy that is created by this kind of positive transformation is overwhelming and magnetic. It draws you in like a great song you just can’t get out of your mind. But like any good music, you want to share it with your friends — those you like and respect most, and those you can count on in life.
The type of people who are best suited for this kind of transformative environment — those who I work with every day — must have thick skin, a good sense of humor, a strong sense of service and an insatiable need to rediscover themselves and the world in which they live and work. Safway Group has worked hard over the past several years to bring together these kind of people, creating a high-performance team and a service-oriented culture.
Safway Group companies provide services (commonly called soft trades) that link hard trade contractors with the customers we serve. Most jobs cannot be completed without considering the Safway line of services, which include access and scaffold solutions, insulation, fireproofing, surface preparation and protective coatings. In a nutshell, we maintain and preserve the essential assets our customers rely on every day to do their work. We do this by changing the paradigm of yesterday’s methods to respond to present day needs.
Our customers operate in highly competitive markets; asset utilization and preservation are key priorities. Lowering customers’ costs is Safway’s obsession. We do this within a framework of safety, quality and efficiency. Hard trade services like mechanical and electrical receive most of the attention because their costs associated with maintenance and capital work exceed all other services combined. But soft trades can also have a significant impact on the bottom line. At Safway, our challenge can be boiled down to two initiatives. Safway must improve the efficiency of the hard trade contractors and Safway must deliver soft trade (SIP — scaffold, insulation and painting) services in a cost-effective way.
Lean methods lead to efficiency
Lean construction theory and methods have been promoted and implemented by the Lean Construction Institute (www.leanconstruction.org) for many years. Safway’s initiative to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all services providers and on-site contractors has required us to adopt Lean practices. Essential to this process is the coordination of service providers that are flexible and knowledgeable about changing jobsite conditions. Safway’s focus is on customer value and project efficiency. To achieve this, we create flexible access solutions that will optimize each individual activity in order to reduce wasteful delays. We provide options in the planning stage with our engineering staff and the planners at the customer and contractor levels. Insulation removal is often one of the first project objectives. Additional insulation and coatings services are normally provided toward the end. Constant communication and timing are part of the process that ensures delivery of a best-in-class project. Excellent workplace planning — having the right tools and people at the right time in the right place — is key. Constant monitoring of KPIs (key performance indicators) is also crucial. Safway is the link between contractors and providing value to the customer.
In addition, our extensive network of locations — more than anyone else in the business with over 90 branches and offices across North America — is another crucial key to delivering on our promise of increased efficiencies and the lowest total installed cost. Between our multiple locations and regional distribution centers, we can source and move materials and equipment faster and more efficiently. It also means we live and work in the communities where we do business. We have a commitment to these communities that goes well beyond just the most recent or current project.
Safety
An emerging safety issue in our industry — one that requires immediate attention — is the rate of serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs). BST Solutions (www.bstsolutions.com) has provided studies that indicate the rate of SIFs is flat or increasing. The studies reveal lower recordable incident rates do not correspond to SIFs. The main reason is the causes of SIFs are often different than less serious injuries. This results when the potential severity of less serious incidents is not addressed. We agree with this assessment. A new safety paradigm is required. Causes and preventative measures related to SIFs must be identified.
Safway’s transformative initiative positions safety front and center. It is our No. 1 value, and we have developed programs and processes to prevent SIFs. In 2013, we affirmed our commitment to 100-percent tie off for any worker who is building scaffold above ground level. At ExxonMobil’s Joliet Refinery, CL Coatings, a Safway Group company, has used a system based on behavior-based safety processes and peer review. At the Valero Benicia Refinery, the Safway Services Benicia Branch has earned Cal/OSHA’s VPP Star status numerous times. In Utah, at a US Magnesium jobsite, Redi Insulation, another Safway Group company, was faced with a challenging and highly corrosive environment, which demanded a redundant fall protection system be instituted to meet safety requirements. The examples above indicate we’re moving in the right direction.
This quote from a customer is another indication. “Safway did an outstanding job for us during the 2012 pre-TAR (turnaround), TAR and post-TAR activities,” said Craig Flippo, an operations manager for BP Alaska. “[Safway’s] guys worked safely and efficiently in a live plant with many risks and have built some very intricate and difficult scaffolding arrangements.”
Although our focus is on continual improvement in safety, we’ll never rest until our SIFs and recordable incidents companywide are at zero. We know what effective safety practices look like.
Planning for optimum performance, quality
A key component to the delivery of performance, safety and quality on every jobsite is planning. The most important time to make decisions about the quality of a capital project or maintenance program is in the planning stage — not during construction. Oftentimes, soft trade contractors do not participate in the planning stage. Safway’s initiative to provide essential information and design ideas during the planning stages of a project has resulted in impressive results, leading to tighter time frames, improved safety, reduced schedules and substantial budget savings. In addition, our experience prepares us for unforeseen circumstances that may require changes in line with the Lean construction processes. We are also dedicated to leveraging our QA/QC program throughout every level of the Safway Group to ensure an optimum level of performance and quality.
John Milo Ketchum, a flow station onshore site manager, offered his perspective. “Safway worked with us for two months ahead of the scheduled shutdown and for another month afterwards. They were extremely responsive at every point in the process. Safway joined our team and became an integral part of our success. Their understanding of the process from pre- through post-turnaround was a critical asset. Safway knew what needed to happen and helped us to plan and organize each step. Safway provided safe, efficient and thoughtful service and helped us to save time and money. They suggested solutions we haven’t even thought of or seen before.”
Streamlining Safway’s organizational structure
In 2014, all Safway Group operations are coordinating their activities through a single organization structure. In response to customer needs and requests, this new organizational structure is making it possible to deliver a higher level of service and value. Within regional teams we will continue to maintain the technical skills required within each specialty, with the option to provide combined services when and where required. We recognize the most value is delivered when we can customize a team to meet customer requirements. We have a lot of very experienced people — more than 7,000 employees. Our engineers, project managers and jobsite supervisors are available to customers in a seamless way to improve communication and service at every stage in a project.
Ongoing transformation and improvement
Ultimately, a transformative nature means we are never satisfied. We are constantly looking for ways to improve, to raise the bar ever higher. It also means we are all servants to the team that is closest to the customer, helping them to deliver highly efficient, cost-effective performance and quality on every project.
We are also constantly reminded all hard and soft trade contractors provide people. Improved labor efficiency and effectiveness will feed the obsession we have to reduce costs for our customers. Our people will be measured by the value created for the customer, and our customers will come to expect programs and services that are specifically designed for them and the needs of essential projects.
This article was written by Michael J. Chakos, a member of the Safway Group Services Leadership Team. Other members who contributed include Marty McGee, Tracy Otterness, Tim Siemek and Joey Williams.
For more information, visit www.safwaygroup.com or call (800) 558-4772.
World-class value and execution in Canada
Greetings from Safway Services’ most northerly division. For those of you who are not fortunate enough to have spent much time in Canada, a few reminders:
Canada is the second biggest country in the world with the longest coastline of any nation. We have six time zones and are made up of 10 provinces and three territories. We never ever say “out and about,” but if you go to The Rock you may be asked, “Where’ya to?” You don’t ever want anything you’re involved in to be described as a “dog’s breakfast.” Poutine and Timbits are wholly acceptable sustenance at any time of the day. We beat the Russians (on their home ice) before it was cool and, lastly, we were awarded first place in the North American War Games of 1812.
As in Safway Group as a whole, Safway Services’ Canadian Division has emerged from a reorganization designed to make us a more nimble and effective operation. Like any kind of change, however, it hasn’t all come easy. There are very few shrinking violets in our industry so we’ve had some very passionate conversations along the way. But we’re beginning to reap the rewards of our renewed focus on our customers first and foremost in the delivery of high-performance multiservice solutions, and we will continue to look forward to constructive conflict in its finest form.
We experienced solid growth in 2013. We widened our maintenance footprint with the successful addition and mobilization of projects like Viterra, Manitoba Hydro and Kearl Lake. We performed major turnarounds as far afield as Come by Chance, Point Aconi, Nanticoke, Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan and Fort McMurray. We were called in to pick up the slack in places like Rocanville and Estevan. We kicked off and successfully implemented the hoist, swing and mast-climber business in Toronto. We staked our claim in Saskatchewan and Manitoba as best in province. We met challenges head on in Halifax and Saint John and came back stronger for it. Hats off to Sarnia, the little branch that could (and did)! We doubled the size and scope of our insulation services performing at world-class levels in Edmonton. We toiled underground, over ground, over water on rigs and platforms, at airports, on ships, hospitals, malls, in new industries and old, potash, power and refining. The only place we didn’t work was in space, and I suspect that’s only because they wouldn’t pay the freight!
We have improved our record when it comes to safe execution and have demonstrated an ability to increase performance and bottom line while improving HS&E performance. From my perspective, good safety and increased productivity go hand in hand. We track key performance indicators on all of our projects and use this concrete data to continuously improve results in safety (our No. 1 value), execution, performance and bottom line costs. It may seem counterintuitive, but we have found our most productive sites are the safest. If we plan for productivity, we perform safely.
In 2013, I was thrilled to receive not one but two letters from recent customers who were impressed with the high performance, quality and safety of our services.
Dave Cook with Statoil Canada commended us on our quality work on a well pad. “We went for a tour of the [jobsite] yesterday, and our particular focus point was scaffolding. We were very impressed by the quality of the work and the obvious attention to detail in the construction of the scaffold, as well as ensuring they were all checked on a regular basis. Quality work such as this certainly goes a long way in providing a safe environment for our construction people to complete their work.”
Kerry Rabesca, maintenance planner with Diavik Diamond Mines (2012) Inc., was also extremely pleased with our performance during a recent planned maintenance shutdown. “We are sending this note to express our gratitude for the efforts provided by the crew you supplied for the extended shutdown in May. As usually occurs during our shutdowns, your team has a lot of work to perform in a short period of time, and they were able to perform beyond expectations without incident. Please pass on to the crew, and I look forward to working with your team in the future.”
I once heard a man I respected describe a crew as being “good enough to scaffold inside an egg and, for double time, they’d do it with the juice in ‘er.” I firmly believe Safway is that crew, and we can safely scaffold, insulate and coat the inside of that egg at the lowest cost to our customers. In short, we are dedicated to nothing less than the delivery of world-class value with world-class execution in 2014.
