How One Team Became the Enterprise Model for Safety Culture Excellence

The Caterpillar North Little Rock facility was one of the company’s worst safety performers back in 2011. Today the facility is recognized as a safety leader, and a model for leveraging upstream activities to achieve desirable downstream results.

It took a revolutionary approach to safety management to drive the facility’s recordable injuries from 20 in 2011 down to 0 in 2016. Following the Zero-Incident Performance (ZIP™) Process – a playbook for safety excellence – the team of about 500 employees have integrated measurable safety activities into everything they do. They don’t just build Cat® motor graders, they build them safely – every day. 

In five years, a combination of safety initiatives, leadership development and an overall focus on cultural improvement drove the facility’s Recordable Incident Frequency (RIF) from 5.12 down to 0.