Hannaford Scorecard Helps Keep DCs Safe

MICHAEL GARRY

SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Hannaford Bros. here uses a scorecard system to track the performance of its distribution centers across a variety of metrics, including finances, productivity, employee safety, accuracy, maintenance and sanitation.

The scorecard “stimulates conversations and action planning around what is important,” said Gerry Greenleaf, vice president, distribution, Hannaford Bros., earlier this month at the Supply Chain Conference, sponsored by the FMI-GMA Trading Partner Alliance.

In the employee safety category, the company looks at workers’ compensation costs (as a percentage of sales), safety audits and two measures used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — OHSA DART rate and OSHA DAFWII rate.

The OSHA DAFWII rate looks at the number of cases that involve days away from work due to injury and illness per 100 full-time employees. The OSHA DART rate is a measure of the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time employees that resulted in days away from work, restricted work activity and/or job transfer.

In one sample scorecard shown by Greenleaf, all of the safety measures were better than the targeted levels except for the OSHA DART rate. “I don’t know if [the OSHA Dart score] is a function of more injuries or the fact that we educate folks to report injuries,” said Greenleaf. Unreported injuries, he noted, can end up becoming more costly. A more proactive approach to injuries is “an example of a conversation with our operations team” that resulted from the scorecard analysis, he said.

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