Nick Steinbach | Safety Coordinator | Two Rivers Coop

“I try to be hands-on and available to everyone who has questions. I want to empower employees to be creative and find ways to allow them to do their jobs safely.

“As part of this, we have monthly safety committee meetings from our grain, agronomy, LP gas, feed, and business departments. We have four locations with 45 employees, and we like to have a mix of committee members from each area. We discuss timely topics, department-specific needs, and review near misses.

“We’re a smaller company, so I also will visit the majority of our locations daily to make myself visible and facilitate communication. If employees have a problem to share, it’s a two-way discussion. The employee has brought a problem or situation to my attention, and instead of me just fixing it, they help provide a solution. When it’s implemented, that’s empowering for them and their peers. The fix came from them and was adopted for everyone’s benefit.

“Our employees are encouraged to take ownership of our safety culture and be part of its success. We achieve that through active, hands-on communication.”

Reprinted from Grain Journal July/August 2020 Issue