Sisters and Brothers,

The Company and Local 310 are working together on a comprehensive safety project along with the help and guidance of William Holden, Director- Health, Safety, and Hygiene BSA, and Steve Sallman, USW International Safety and Health Dept. Two joint committees have been assembled that will deal with Lock Out-Tag Out (LOTO) and Machine guarding. The Lock-Out committee will look at everything LOTO including all training, procedures, and practices both good and bad. The Machine guarding committee will do a wall to wall inspection of every piece of equipment in this factory looking for guarding issues, and areas for improvement. The groups met on Tuesday Jan. 9th and put together a survey that will be distributed to the membership in the near future. This survey is primarily electronic but paper versions are available for those who prefer that option. This survey only asks what your department is, otherwise it is anonymous. We need your honest input on this survey. This is the most important project I have taken on during my time in office. Nothing is more important than the safety of everyone in this factory. I mentioned to the group that the work they would be doing in the next year with the help of your input could potentially save someone's life 5, 10, or 20 years down the road. It is my ultimate goal that we can change the culture in Des Moines and make safety everyone's number one priority every minute of every day. I am asking for your support in this most important effort. Your help in filling out this survey is greatly appreciated.

Steve Vonk

President USW Local 310L