Safety milestone reached by Ormond Beach Hauling
“Drive each street you service as if it were the one you live on.”

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. Ormond Beach Hauling is approaching a big accomplishment on July 4. To date, the site has a VARR (Vehicle Accident Recordable Rate) of 144,000  hours, and in July that number will change to 150,000 hours.

“This is an achievement we are all proud of,” said Scott Kishton, Ormond Beach Hauling senior district manager. “This is a testament to the way we think and act when it comes to safety at the district. For us safety is more than numbers, it is a way of life. Our culture in Ormond Beach is that we owe it to our families, coworkers and general public to be safe every day.”

The site has 52 employees, 31 routes, 6,000 driver hours per month and services 2,000 customers. Kishton said the district’s safety culture is not a top down approach; the  drivers hold each other accountable for safe driving behavior and point out unsafe acts, in addition to ways to correct them.

“Safety in Ormond Beach is simple,” said Mike Rich, Ormond Beach Hauling route manager. “Drive each street you service as if it were the one you live on, follow every car with a distance you would as if it was your family in that car. There is no half safe, you have to be in 100 percent; and I believe our drivers embrace this concept day in and day out.”

The site focuses on the keys of Mission to Zero (M2Z) including completing observations in a timely manner and using DriveCam clips to coach and acknowledge safe behaviors. “Once a catastrophe happens there is no reverse button, added Rich. “The most important part of our safety culture is that the drivers believe in it, they want to be safe.”

PHOTO: The Ormond Beach, Fla. crew