In honor of National Safety Month, we wanted to highlight our Risk Manager, Maggie Sanchez for her ongoing efforts in making Motivational Systems, Inc. the safest company to work for. Not only is Maggie in charge of our Workers’ Compensation, she also prepares our monthly safety meeting topics and materials as well as goes above and beyond to make safety as fun as it can be to inspire everyone in our Company to be safe every day.
MSI: Of your 10 years in Risk Management, what has been your biggest accomplishment as it relates to risk and safety?
Maggie Sanchez: I am so proud of MSI’s California ExMod for 2019. I had made a goal to get our ExMod under 1.00 and set the goal for 5 years and we did it in 3! This was made possible by administration of open claims, increased safety inspections and just everyone being safe overall. I created a proactive approach to safety at MSI specifically in regards to claims administration. Our facilities have always been safe, but creating awareness and being out there looking and showing we care has made a huge impact.
MSI: What is your favorite part of safety and risk management?
MS: Seeing mine and the Company’s goals being achieved and making a positive impact on the Company and sharing good news with staff of our overall numbers.
MSI: Do you have any shout-outs you want to give to anyone for safety at MSI?
MS: Yes! I’d like to shout out to our Fresno Division for consistently working safely and having zero incidents in the past few years. Also to our Phoenix Division who has really stepped up their safety game and has had zero incidents in 2018 and 2019.
MSI: I know a lot of other Safety and Risk Managers out there look for ideas to think outside of the box. How have you thought outside of the box when it came to safety at MSI?
MS: I would have to say that my co-worker, Jenna Young-Christensen, has always helped me come up with fresh ideas and fun alternative ways to engage our staff in safety awareness. For example, for Safe + Sound week in 2018, we set up an “Escape Room” where staff had to identify hazards (see below) and this year for National Safety Month we held a safety scavenger hunt where employees identified where safety items were (First Aid, Fire Extinguisher, etc.) as well as show how to perform different actions safely (pick up a large box, how to wear PPE’s, etc.).
MSI: Do you have any tips or tricks for a great safety program?
MS: My tip to any manager would be to lead by example. Be the staff member you want your staff members to be.
MSI: Now, lets get silly! What’s your favorite movie?
MS: This movie isn’t necessarily my favorite, but we were just talking about this movie the other day. For Safety Month, we highlighted impairment in the workplace training and I kept thinking about the scene in The Wolf of Wall Street where Leonardo DiCaprio is impaired and drives his Lamborghini thinking he drove home OK but then when the police come to the door, his car is a total mess. This movie is so good and totally inappropriate but so eye opening in so many different ways.
MSI: Thanks for spoiling the movie! Just kidding! I’m sure you didn’t want to work on Wall Street as a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
MS: An elementary school teacher. I enjoyed my teachers growing up and idolized them.
MSI: If you could have any superpower, what superpower would you have?
MS: I would want to have the ability of healing.
MSI: Well, that’s super nice! What about if you could time travel? When and where would you go?
MS: I’d be curious to see what medieval times was like. I wouldn’t want to live in those times because I couldn’t live without plumbing, but I think it’d be fun and interesting to visit.
MSI: Thank you so much for all that you do for MSI and keeping us all safety aware!
