A striking sprucing-up at Crown Crystal Glass

Press, 11 April 1977, Page 7

A striking sprucing-up at Crown Crystal Glass

The gnme which often goes hand in hand with industry is difficult to find now at the Crown Crystal Glass plant in Hornby. Instead. carefully painted flowers can be seen climbing up a huge central heater and freshly painted wails overlook orderly rows of packaged glass. Toilets have been stripped and rebuilt, rubbish bins painted a conspicuous bright yellow, and the rusty corrugated iron is now hidden under coats of blue paint. The Crown Cystal Glass factory has not always looked like this. Only last year, it was listed third to bottom out of 54 companies in a housekeeping competition organised by the parent company, Alex Harvey Industries, Ltd. This year, it came first in the same competition. The plant is a safer place, too. Dangerous chemicals are stored in a specially reinforced room where the doors are painted with bright red warning signs. Fire extinguishers are highlighted in the same colour, and doorways are painted in biack-and-yellow stripes to warn forklift drivers to keep their distance. Open ditches have been covered in. and broken glass is now put in drums protected by shields.

The safety record of the company " reflects the changes. In 1974, there

were 23 accidents causing loss of time. Last year, there were 15. This year there have been only two lost-time accidents. “Our departmental committees have become more active and are producing more ideas to promote safe working conditions in their respective areas,” said the firm’s safety officer (Mr J. Donaghue). The changes have not been cheap. “We have spent about as much on paint as it has taken to paint the Sydney Harbour bridge over the last 15 years,” said one man — although he admitted that it was all worth while. The manager of Crown Crystal Glass (Mr I. Lyons) said that he accepted the commitment to try to win the Alex Harvey Industries housekeeping competition, realising that the refurbishing of the . plant was long overdue. “What we have achieved in this year should have and will be. our standards for the future.” he said.

“The plant was old and the people had really looked on. glass manufacture as a dirty, dangerous job, and accepted this as pretty much a way of life.” said the glass product group general manager (Mr D. G. Buckleton). He believed the housekeeping competition had helped to create general interest at al! levels and had set rea-

sonable goals to improve working conditions. The changes ■ and the firm’s eventual success are a result mainly of the enthusiasm of Mr G. Pana, who accepted the company’s specific object to win the competition.

• He made sure that the workers in each department received paint and other materials to repair their working areas and also used a marking system where different departments received points for order and cleanliness; maintenance of tools and supplies; lack of power wastage and leakage: and light, ventilation, and repairs. One supervisor said that he was proud that his department had scored 99 out of 100 points. The programme started at a slow pace but when some dpeartments showed what could be done, it became a personal challenge for other warehouses and departments to riase their standards, said Mr Pana.

“As soon as one department. made particularly good progress, the company manager wrote a note of congratulation. The word was soon passed round. We made our progress known, and we kept going,” he said. The competition had other important results. The workers are much happier in their new surroundings, especially those who have worked at

Crown Crystal Glass for many years. “There is more room, it has cut down the dust, it is much cleaner, and the light has improved 100 per cent,’’ said one of the workers. Another said that workers were more careful not to litter the place. “If someone dropped paper, be would certainly be told. And he would pick it up, too.” Mr N. Balloch, who has worked for Crown Crystal Glass for 11 years, said that workers were taking pride in their environment. “They are suggesting changes all the time. It is a two-way thing. The management set the wheels in motion and the workers carried on.” “We have the satisfaction of doing all the work ourselves,” said another worker.

Many people at the plant believe that the changes were long overdue and that it would have been cheaper to have implemented them earlier. “It was 24 years before they brought it up to something we could work in,” said one veteran. Mr Lyons is unable to say whether the plant’s facelift has improved industrial relations between management and workers. “It has certainly alerted people to conditions and what can be done,” he said. Mr Lyons also emphasised that the changes and benefits would be long-term.

There has been a suggestion that Christchurch industries should organisp a competition, run on similar lines, to improve working conditions in industrial plants in the city.

“I wish workers from some factories could come here to see what can be done.” said a Crown Crystal Glass worker. A film has been made to record the firm's improvements. It would be available to Alex Harvey Industries subsidiaries, companies that wish to adopt similar , changes, and other interested organisations, such as the Accident Compensation Commssion, said Mr Lyons.

The film echoes the feelings of both management and workers when it conclude®- “This is not the. end but a very, very good beginning.”