‘How do you build a safety culture?’ Top 250 fleet AIM holds week-long safety event with 1,100 employees

Some phrases are repeated so often they become dogma in the business world. For instance, you might already know what a fleet owner will say if asked, “How do you build a safety culture?”

The answer: “It starts at the top.”

A safety culture may indeed take a top-down directive for change to happen, but any effort will be short-lived without engaging middle managers and front-line workers and getting them to speak the same language.

A top down, bottom up approach to safety

Last week, AIM Transportation Solutions completed a Safety Week that involved all 1,100 of its employees. The Girard, Ohio-based company plans to continue the tradition next year and beyond.

AIM operates a full-service equipment leasing business, AIM NationaLease, with more than 12,000 power units leased to fleet customers. It also has AIM Integrated Logistics that operates dedicated fleets for shipper customers.

The Safety Week began with a directive from the top. Scott Fleming, co-president, got the idea from the Marines where he served in Iraq as a platoon sergeant. He once participated in a week-long training event during a stand-down period where he shared daily safety messages, one-on-one, with members of the platoon.