 |
The bridge crew was one of the first buildings to participate in the new Safety Observer Program. |
Maintenance
Supervisor Chris Sholl didn’t want the tragedy of Lloyd Crawford’s death to go
in vain.
Crawford, a
maintenance supervisor in MoDOT’s Kansas City district died on June 28, 2021,
while setting up flooding signs on Route 273.
“The loss of life
weighs heavy on me,” Sholl said. “There is not a day that goes by that I
don’t think about Lloyd. What could I have done?”
In the months after
Crawford's death, Scholl came up with the idea for what has become MoDOT Kansas
City’s Safety Observer Program.
“On my first day as
Assistant District Engineer, I attended a Maintenance Superintendent meeting at
the District Office,” Assistant District Engineer Matt Killion said. “The group
had a heavy discussion about ways to change and improve MoDOT’s safety culture.
A suggestion came up about having passionate safety experts observe various
operations and provide feedback for the crew and supervisor. After several
discussions and collaboration, the Maintenance Superintendent team led by Chris
Sholl brought the Safety Observer Program to life.”
The program
established a group of 12 members, divided into two teams. Each team will
observe four maintenance facilities per quarter. Each building will receive 4
observations per year.
“The first go-round
of observations are planned so there are no surprises for the first round. Then
after that, they will be unplanned,” Sholl said. “This is not a gotcha thing
to get anyone in trouble.”
Bridge Maintenance
Supervisor Bill Lutgen’s building has already received its first observation.
“It was great to
have outside eyes on us and someone who is not on our team every day,” Lutgen
said.
Lutgen described
the observation as conversational.
“My team was asking
the observers questions,” Lutgen said. “It was really good to have a good, open
conversation about safety.”
Scholl said he
wants the Safety Observer Program to increase the dialog about safety
throughout the Kansas City district.
“We do a lot of
training and get people to where they need to be as far as knowing what to do,”
Sholl said. “The one thing we need to work on is to make sure things are being
done the way they have been trained to do.”
Killion said the
program has been well received so far.
“The observer team
has made adjustments to smooth out any early discomfort. Now the crews fully
understand what is happening and carry on with their work as they normally
would. The supervisors have shown appreciation for the feedback and follow-up
discussion,” he said.
Eventually, the
hope is to replicate the program statewide.
“I owe a lot of
credits to the superintendents and safety and risk management,” Sholl said.
“They provided feedback to streamline it to what it is today.”
