Case Study: Southwire achieves 30% fewer strains & sprains and nearly 40% fewer back injuries with VelocityEHS RAPID Team Events

Southwire’s Kentucky Plant Sees Reduction in WMSDs with RAPID Team Events®

Southwire, a leading U.S. wire-and-cable manufacturer founded in 1950 with over 7,000 employees across 45 facilities, faced a persistent problem with employee sprains and strains. By 2012 the company realized its informal, slow-moving approach to ergonomics wasn’t working and needed a focused, systematic solution.

In 2013 Southwire partnered with VelocityEHS to run RAPID Team Events at its Hawesville, KY plant, assessing five operations and identifying 30 issues with 24 immediate fixes (examples include tool weight reductions, a new lifting policy, and replacing manual hammering with a pneumatic nailer). The plant sustained improvements through 12-week OPS Rounds and employee-led teams; by 2014 strains and sprains fell 30% and back injuries nearly 40%, with more than 100 ergonomic improvements implemented and ongoing projects in process.

Southwire

Ryan Goad

Site Safety Manager