Flame Engineering in LaCrosse sets another safety milestone

A robotic arm operating at Flame Engineering in LaCrosse. Flame has achieved 18 years with no loss-time accidents. File photo

By CRISTINA JANNEY

Hays Post

The Flame Engineering employees at their safety recognition luncheon on Friday.

Flame Engineering in LaCrosse celebrated 18 years with no loss-time accidents during a luncheon on Friday.

Flame, which is locally owned, has been in LaCrosse for almost 60 years and sells its products all over the world. Flame manufactures LP gas equipment. This includes torches for home, agriculture and tar roofing among other products.

Flame Engineering is currently recognized by the Kansas Department of Industrial Safety & Health along with OSHA as a SHARP (Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program) company. This recognition was accomplished in October 2000 and maintained to date. Companies who are SHARP designated must renew their SHARP every two years.

SHARP is a national program. Kansas has the second largest number of SHARPs only behind Texas. Flame is one of 157 companies in the state to hold the prestigious SHARP designation. It has held that designation longer than any other company in the state.

Flame has held OSHA’s SHARP (Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program) designation longer than any other Kansas company.

“Achieving SHARP means that you are the best of the best for safety and health for your employees,” said Allen Vinyard, Kansas Department of Labor consultation program manager. “It means you are following all the rules and regulations, that you have all your written programs in place. It is very prestigious to achieve SHARP recognition. It is also very difficult to achieve SHARP recognition.”

Representatives of the Kansas Department of Industrial Safety and Health, the company’s insurer, Insurance Planning, and Sen. Jerry Moran’s office were all on hand to help the company celebrate its accomplishment.

“They have built a very good safety and health culture here,” Vinyard said, “and that starts at the top. It has to start at the top and work its way down to the employees.”

Both the representatives of the state and Insurance Planning said they routinely use Flame’s safety procedures as a model when working with other companies.

“We will point to Flame as a shinning star that, ‘Yes, look what they’ve done. Look how they maintain it every single year,'” Vinyard said. “We definitely use them as an example. If you want to achieve this, look at what this company has done.”

Stan Jackson, executive vice president at Insurance Planning, said one of the company’s annual trainings is a fork lift rodeo. Although the company was not able to shut down the plant for the annual rodeo this year because they were so busy, usually the rodeo is a fun day of training and competitions, which Jackson officiates, compete with a flag an officials jersey.

Although the company has had 18 years with no claims, it has only two claims in the last 30 years.

Flame Engineering has a Safety Committee. Members of that committee rotate every year so everyone has an opportunity to serve on the committee. It meets monthly and sets yearly goals. Mike Pivonka, owner and founder of the company, said any person in the factory has the authority to shut down a piece of equipment if they believe it is not being operated safely.

Pivonka said safety is not only good for the well-being of the employees, but it sustains productivity and decreases the company’s insurance costs.

He said he has had good buy in from the company’s 30 employees on the company’s safety initiatives.

“We probably have 95 percent buy in from our employees. They all realize they are the ones who are going to get hurt,” Pivonka said. “I’m not in the shop that much. I don’t have the exposure they do. I know everyone of our employees, most of their kids, know their wives and family, and I don’t want to have to call and say, ‘Hey, you have to go to the hospital because so and so got hurt. They all realize that it is their finger and toes and eyes.”

Although he does not spend much time on the plant floor these day, Pivonka said his employees will call him out if they see him without his safety glasses.

In addition to a luncheon, a half day off and T-shirts, the employees can also earn cash safety bonuses.

Pivonka said the company could operate anywhere in the country, but his family likes central Kansas and has found quality employees here.

“I am extremely proud of the employees that we have,” he said. “They just couldn’t be a better group of people.”