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Amerex

The Company

Testimonial

"PureSafety has enabled Amerex to deliver the highest quality EHS training to more people in less time – all while maintaining demanding production schedules. This has resulted in a drastically improved safety culture and significant bottom-line business benefits for our company."

Will Yarbrough
Director of Health & Safety

Amerex Corporation, based in Trussville, Alabama, employs over 525 people in five North American facilities. It has grown to become the world's largest and most innovative manufacturer of hand portable and wheeled fire extinguishers for commercial and industrial applications.

With the introduction of state-of the-art gas detection systems, along with pre-engineered fire suppression systems for vehicles, commercial cooking operations and paint spray booths, Amerex has earned a reputation for excellence in the fire protection industry. The fire protection industry has seen sweeping advances take place over the past 50 years and most test standards have been revised to keep up with modern day fire hazards. While other companies have been in the fire protection industry longer, no other company has surpassed the quality, service and innovation provided by Amerex With quality products, constant innovation and excellent customer support, Amerex is unsurpassed in its pioneering efforts to provide better fire protection throughout the world.

The Challenge

While safety has always been an important part of the company's culture, Amerex was looking to supplement existing training programs and add an online component to meet a number of challenges related to developing, delivering and managing its safety training programs.

Training Materials
Amerex's main method of delivering training information was PowerPoint. Consequently, it was sometimes difficult to keep training materials updated and employees interested and involved in the learning process.

Message Delivery
Training had historically been delivered in a group setting by various managers throughout the organization. The managers delivering the training had varying levels of understanding of the information being presented, and a consistent delivery message could not always be guaranteed.

Tracking Completion and Performance
Managers would take attendance and verify that employees were in the training, but testing was done in a group setting, making it difficult to measure retention by individual students. Furthermore, all training records were kept in paper files, creating numerous inefficiencies.

Maintaining Regulatory Compliance and Production Levels
As a leading manufacturer of fire extinguishers, Amerex is constantly challenged with making sure its employees get the appropriate amount of safety training while maintaining adequate levels of production. Consequently, the company needed a training solution that would allow more flexibility and time savings in order to meet increased production needs as the company grows.

Increase in Spanish Speaking Employees
Like many U.S. companies, Amerex was seeing an increase in the number of Hispanic employees joining its ranks. This posed a problem for English speaking managers delivering its safety training. The company could not quantify if the Spanish speaking employees fully understood the safety information being presented to them.

The Solution

In order to improve the overall training experience, Amerex's Director of Health and Safety, Will Yarbrough, determined that he needed an online training solution that provided three key components:

  • A better system for delivery and management of training, ultimately providing more flexibility for both employees and supervisors
  • Better quality content that could be customized and would be updated on a regular basis
  • Demonstrated knowledge transfer amongst Amerex employees

Mr. Yarbrough found these key attributes in the PureSafety Enterprise solution. Amerex launched PureSafety in November 2006 with a focus on 24 key safety topics in both English and Spanish. To support its PureSafety training efforts, the company has safety trainers available at all times to assist employees with training-related questions.

The Results

PureSafety's training solution has allowed Amerex to meet its training objectives, as well as contributed to significant improvements in the company's safety results. In just eight months, Amerex has seen numerous benefits from its use of PureSafety, coupled with other safety initiatives including machine guarding and lockout/tagout emphasis, employee involvement through safety committees, increased safety inspections and facility audits. And because the company is selfinsured for workers' compensation, all of these results go straight to the bottom line.

  • Total Recordable Incident Rates (TRIR) down 71% since 2006
  • Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART) down 66% since 2006

Amerex has also gained invaluable benefits with PureSafety's training solution, including safer warehouses and work environments due to enhanced safety training and awareness. Training reports available from PureSafety are reviewed weekly and discussed at every staff meeting, making safety and training "top of mind" from the top down. Since implementing PureSafety, Amerex is now more confident that the safety knowledge being gained today is at its highest levels.