Avery Dennison purchased its Schwelm plant from a family-owned German company in 2001. Very few of their employees had a sense of safety awareness. The incident rate was high and there was no culture of safety within the organization.
Avery Dennison set out to change this mindset. Specifically, they wanted to:
- Establish a sustainable safety culture
- Significantly reduce the incident rate on the job
- Get everyone to take responsibility for safety
- Provide safety skill training
In 2005, Avery Dennison began training employees in Schwelm. Changes were soon apparent when employees discovered their decisive role in ensuring a successful safety program. A new safety culture was created.