A Decade of Lighthouse

The road to zero injuries is paved with conversations about exposures. Those conversations are an important part of safety because that’s how we build a truly protective culture. Through sharing concerns in the office and in the field, we make it possible to work together to craft solutions and prevent injuries. One way those vital conversations take place is through Lighthouse. 

Believe it or not, our Lighthouse process is marking its 10-year anniversary this month. Back in 2013, the process was created, and Observers started performing observations. A lot has happened during this time. Here are some highlights: 

• Three GUC Team Members have served as the Lighthouse Facilitator, leading the team in building the process. Many thanks to Blake Horton, Brian Greer, and Mickey Dawson for their dedicated service and leadership.  
• Over 20 GUC Team Members have served on the Lighthouse Steering Team.  
• We’ve had over 100 Observers trained to participate in the process.
• 91 uncontrolled exposures have been identified. 
• 17 barriers to working safely have been removed. 
• As an organization, we know that for Lighthouse to truly thrive, resources and support are needed. To that end, last year, Samantha Evans joined the team as the full-time Safety Specialist/Facilitator. 

Along with Safety Contacts, In-Field Coaching, and Job Safety Briefings, Lighthouse Observations are a critical part of how we do Safety every day at GUC. Moving ahead, Lighthouse will further integrate into the overall safety governance structure and use data to create targeted observation and coaching strategies to better understand the exposures and barriers in our workplace. The focus moving forward also includes enhancing the connection between supervisors and Lighthouse and more frequent, actionable communications. 

The future of Lighthouse is bright - as the process’ conversations about safety continue to shine a light on workplace exposures. Here’s to the next decade (at least)!