After badging into the building on the first day, I had no idea what to expect in terms of safety. Prior to my internship here at Indium Corporation, I rarely had opportunities to learn about safety in a professional setting. My position as an Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Intern focuses deeply on safety in the workplace, and as I onboarded, I was excited (and nervous) about the actual work that would be awaiting. Within my prior experience in construction, safety wasn’t always a priority. I remembered thinking to myself, “if this is anything like that, we will have got a lot of work to do."
Safety, as I experienced in my previous jobs, was not as emphasized as it is here at Indium Corporation. In prior experiences, I found that PPE (personal protective equipment) was treated as a suggestion rather than a requirement. Many of the workplace injuries that had occurred, which I was able to observe, were preventable. Having observed the incidents I did, I cleared the slate and decided to go into this internship with no expectations and an open mind to learn and absorb as much as I could.
My schedule was a little different from the other interns’ regular nine-to-five. I started at 6:00 and wrap up around 3:00. As someone who was always more of a night owl, transitioning from falling asleep at 5 am to then having to wake up at that time was the biggest task of them all.
Shortly after settling into my new desk, I cracked open an 8.4-ounce Redbull and started preparing for my first day. I put on my safety glasses and went on my very first 6:30 am tour around the facility.
As I made my way around on my first day, I could see that safety played a big part in multiple functions of the building. In any part of the facility that mandated a certain set of PPEs, even if it seemed ‘trivial’, everyone followed the procedures. From respirators to safety glasses, everything was up to standard. When passing by all the employees on the floor, I noticed a sense of pride on everyone’s face—they felt good and secure not only through following the safety requirements (and knowing that others are doing the same), but also through doing great work and collaborating with one another.
For my primary project, I worked with my supervisor on safety training forms, making sure that we have all the information needed to prove that all Indium Corporation employees have received sufficient safety training.
It was definitely a challenge to determine how we were going to gather documentation for all employees in the United States. Ultimately, we decided that proactive communication and organization were key. We contacted all supervisors to gather all documentation they had on file for their employees, and then created an excel matrix to document and track what we had and what we were missing. After data had been finalized and entered into the online training documentation system, we then established an in-depth plan to get everyone certified in the tasks required in their daily work schedule.
Besides my individual project, I also had various opportunities to connect with other interns and experience the work life here at Indium Corporation in different aspects. For example, we as interns were given tours of all Indium Corporation facilities in Central New York. It was nice to see how safety played out in the other facilities as well and realized that it was not something solely implemented at the facility I worked at. Each location had their own strong suit: the Utica, NY facility was a very interesting example of a well-managed and optimized small space in an effective manner without sacrificing or compromising any safety measures while Rome, NY facility's quality control measures were very impressive in all production spaces.
Outside of paperwork and regulations, the safety team is also very involved with all other departments, even if they’re not directly related to the team’s scope of work. One event that we held which I enjoyed volunteering in was our annual luncheon. We helped set up a buffet-style lunch, completely free, for all employees across facilities to enjoy during their break. With great assistance from our talented chef, we were also able to deliver lunches later in the day for those who work the late shifts.
Participating in the luncheon showed me how we were not only limited to our job title and that we could establish good bonds with our coworkers through meaningful events or small acts of kindness. It was rewarding to be able to make someone’s day just a bit better.