Penn is mightily pleased with safety record
The contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) announced it had been accident free for 2.4m working hours at the site in Tredegar this week, attributing the record to its creation of a culture of safety.
Martin Price, Penn's health and safety manager, told Outsourcing-pharma.com “The main thrust of our success has been based on tackling the behavioural issues that lead to unsafe acts.
"Most of the measures we have instituted are based on the policy of embedding a safety first culture within the company at grass roots level.”
Initiatives included a “yellow card” system modelled on football – soccer for US readers – through which Penn employees report near misses, which Price said had raised awareness about potential hazards and flagged up training needs.
They also required investment according to Price "Many of the issues raised through the yellow cards have resulted in significant costs, for example the design and manufacture of plinths for the dissolution apparatus to minimise ergonomic issues.”
Gemba walks
Other strategies have been less manufacturing tech focused, such as the CMO's decision to replace kettles used by staff in the facility canteen and offices with safer alternatives.
Penn also introduced “Gemba walks” which are a quality management strategy that is part of the lean manufacturing approach pioneered in the Japanese car industry.
Price said that during these walks Penn senior management visit each department at the Tredegar site to receive safety reports, explaining that this visible management technique elevates “general awareness of the importance of EHS issues.”
The facility, which has been the subject of a number of expansions over the past few years, manufactures high potency active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and distributes them to drug industry customers.
Penn is owned by Packaging Coordinators Inc, which acquired it in 2014.
