SWANA Award Highlight: Safety & Wellness Initiatives at the City of Goodyear

The city of Goodyear provides a range of safety initiatives and projects to support its holistic approach to the well-being of its team members. The winner of the 2023 SWANA Workplace Wellness Program Award, the City of Goodyear has increased worker engagement and achieved a 95 percent job satisfaction rate.

“By effectively implementing our comprehensive health and wellness programs, we have reduced health risks and enhanced the overall quality of life for our workforce,” shared Sumeet Mohan, Goodyear’s Director of Public Works.

Initiatives like the Professional Development Program encourage employee development and improvement among employees. The concept of “The Whole Employee” emphasizes the importance of personal wellness and professional success. The city unpacked each component of the whole employee concept, enabling leaders to identify and provide the proper resources for each team members’ needs to thrive at work.

Components of “The Whole Employee” well-being include

• Emotional
• Community
• Social
• Intellectual
• Financial
• Career
• Spiritual
• Environmental

“The Whole Employee mirrors our best self, personally and professionally. It encompasses the heart, mind, body, and spirit with the goal of achieving ultimate satisfaction and maximum contribution,” said Charles Schnieder, Goodyear’s Operational Readiness Coordinator for Water Services/Public Works.

Since 2016, Goodyear has been involved in the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), becoming the sole city in the State of Arizona to achieve certification, thanks to collaboration with the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH).

Goodyear’s Solid Waste team is continuously striving to better serve their employees’ wellness. Regular surveys and health assessments ensure Solid Waste leaders effectively identify and meet employee needs. Weekly safety meetings adhere to SWANA Safety First principles, facilitating open dialogue and collaboration among operators and leaders alike, resulting in co-authored standard operating procedures to maintain safe and secure work environments.

The adoption of the Third Eye system in Goodyear’s Solid Waste collection vehicles demonstrates the commitment to leverage technology for safety enhancement. This real-time monitoring system alerts the driver to promote safe driving practices, minimizing the risk of accidents.

“Our safety program has significantly improved over the years, thanks to the input from our field staff and the support of our leadership,” said Adam Kurtz, Goodyear’s Solid Waste Superintendent. “Prioritizing safety in our organization enabled us to create a working environment that protects our most valuable assets—our staff. In Public Works, our mission statement is ‘Safety, Reliability, and Improvement.’ We have made great strides in achieving these goals and will continue to do so in the future.”

SWANA congratulates the City of Goodyear for its robust safety programs and encourages all SWANA organizations to continue to practice cutting edge safety practices such as these depicted in Goodyear.

To learn more about the successful safety and wellness programs in the City of Goodyear, visit www.goodyearaz.gov.

The winners of the 2024 SWANA Safety Awards will be honored at WASTECON taking place in Grapevine (Dallas), TX from October 21–24, 2024.