By Anne Wiskerchen

Photo by Martin Vloet, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Love of nature - Dave Schiller and Adair Renning help maintain the 4,000-square-foot wildlife habitat on the property of Kaiser Optical Systems, Inc., in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Adair Renning believes she has the best of both worlds. She has managed to combine her love of nature with her responsibilities as an administrative assistant at Kaiser Optical Systems, Inc., and she also is positively affecting our environment.

For the past two years, Renning has spent countless hours at a wetland area on the property of this Rockwell Collins wholly-owned subsidiary in Ann Arbor, Mich., helping the declining blue bird population nest and care for their young.

According to Renning, the continued destruction of the blue birds' natural habitat was significantly reducing their population. But, thanks to this increasingly popular wetland, the numbers are beginning to grow.

"Blue birds can thrive in our [wetland] area because there are plenty of trees for perching," said Renning, who joined our company in March 2003. "There's also plenty of open space for them to find worms and bugs for nourishment."

While the wetland area has become an important part of Renning's daily life, it is a project that didn't emerge entirely on its own. About eight years ago, Dave Schiller began researching an area of the site known for constant flooding.

The facilities manager at Kaiser Optical Systems, Schiller discovered the drainage area had been maintained incorrectly. So, instead of re-engineering the area, he decided to let nature run its course.

"I simply let the drainage field turn into something that could benefit our company, our employees, and most importantly, our planet," said Schiller, who has been in his current position since July of 1997. "Today, it's a 4,000-square-foot, National Wildlife Federation certified wildlife habitat."

Multiple environmental benefits

During the past eight years, Renning and many of her colleagues have taken responsibility for maintaining and caring for the diverse plant, animal and insect populations that now call the wetland home.

"The first year, we successfully fledged one nest of five babies," said Renning. "Our employees loved watching the birds so much that we decided to incorporate more nests."

Today, our entire Ann Arbor employee population helps monitor the blue birds' progress and provides Renning with nest activity updates and photos.

According to Tom Gentner, director of Environment, Safety, and Health (ES&H) at Rockwell Collins, projects similar to the wetland endeavor in Michigan result in multiple environmental benefits.

"Each of us is obligated to be stewards of our planet," said Gentner. "Our environment is important to everyone, but this also benefits our company. By getting involved, our employees are helping to reduce costs and increase efficiencies."

Going beyond compliance

Ensuring the safety of our employees and the protection of our environment is always at the forefront of Gentner's mind. That's why his primary role includes making sure our company adheres to all rules, laws and policies that regulate ES&H activities.

But, Gentner believes it's also extremely important for employees to understand that environment, safety and health is much more than compliance.

"Standardizing processes helps create a safe and efficient work environment," he said, "but it also provides our employees a chance to go above and beyond."

At the Rockwell Collins Service Center in Wichita, Kan., our employees are doing exactly that. Well-versed in ES&H standards and best practices, these individuals are leading an effort to help our company become certified by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).

According to Tom Blankenship, senior facilities technician in Wichita, implementing our ES&H Integrated Management System was a major step toward achieving this significant recognition from OSHA.

Photo by Martin Vloet, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Taking the lead - Tom Blankenship is one of several employees at the Rockwell Collins Service Center in Wichita, Kan., who helped implement the facility's Environment, Safety and Health Management System.

"We had a lot of the processes and certifications in place in Wichita prior to introducing this system," said Blankenship. "That gave us a head start on the road to VPP certification."

Today, four of our facilities – Wichita, Seattle, Coralville and Manchester – currently use the Integrated Management System. Eight more locations are actively deploying the system, which helps increase productivity and efficiency through standardization and waste reduction. Global deployment will continue through 2011.

Based on our Lean philosophy, this system allows our company to keep an eye on the results we want to achieve. And, while the system is important, its foundation and the future of ES&H at our company is our people, said Blankenship.

Raising awareness

Joan Smith is one of several Rockwell Collins employees trying to lead by example when it comes to ES&H activities. A service center administrator in Wichita, Smith has taken it upon herself to help promote opportunities for her colleagues to improve their health.

Through bulletin boards and fliers distributed throughout the facility, Smith is promoting the topic of healthy living on a quarterly basis. She also works with our Wellness Program administrators to raise awareness about local events and fitness challenges.

In addition, Smith spends time away from work helping to organize events that assist hospitals and food banks in the Wichita area.

"I feel fortunate that our company allows me the opportunity to share my excitement for helping people who can't help themselves," said Smith. "I am very lucky."

Sandra Isabel Quioz Barrozo shares those sentiments. The ES&H manager at our facility in Mexicali, Mexico, Barrozo has spent the past two years working with the Mexican government to coordinate the distribution of trees to employees who plant them near their homes, in parks or around their neighborhoods.

"Since we live in the desert, we get a great deal of dust from the wind," said Barrozo, who joined our company a decade ago. "Restoration activities such as the tree plantings – which started as a one-time event – help us avoid these conditions."

According to Gentner, the work being conducted both inside and outside of many of our facilities play a critical role in raising the awareness of ES&H across our company.

"One of the things I love about Rockwell Collins is that our people are so engaged and are passionate about being the best at everything we do," he said. "It's our people that make my job so much easier, and make coming to work so enjoyable."