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AMS Employees Give Gifts to Val Verde Families

Merry Christmas 2020 - AMS FulfillmentIn past years, during the Holiday Season, AMS employees could be seen buying and wrapping gifts for children and young people who participate in the Val Verde Youth Activity League. The gift-giving is something the employees have made into a tradition, and it is a very much enjoyed tradition by all who participate. AMS President, Betty-Lou Wiseman, is in charge of the program, and Erica Martinez, Account Management, organizes a team, and works on the fundraising. Through this, a lot of AMS employees are able to enjoy the experience of giving to children who have might need a bit of extra love.

In the past the Christmas gift wrapping would take place in the AMS HQ lobby, with the lobby eventually full of bicycles, ribbons, boxes and bows. In photographs of those past events everybody is wearing a big smile.

“What can we do this year,” has been a question for the group. Things are different for us all, but the giving spirit is still the same, or maybe even stronger than before. The group was determined to make it special for the families, so a few weeks ago they began raising funds to support the gift program. They raised a lot of funds!!!

AMS employees responded by donating a total of $5,000 to divide into gift cards to share among almost 30 families. AMS also bought dinner vouchers from Vallarta Supermarket to share with the families. The families were selected from those that participate in the YAL “Adopt a Family” program. YAL is co-supported by both the Val Verde Community and our local Sheriff Station. The gift-giving took place on the evening of December 21st

While the office areas at AMS lay quiet this year from the bustle of gift wrapping, organizing, and infectious smiles, AMS associates prepared for this annual gift giving. They were working from desks remote, or working behind protective masks and safely distanced in offices or the warehouse. Still they showed their hearts with donations to those struggling this COVID year in our neighboring Val Verde community.

Our thanks go out to Erica and Betty-Lou for championing the very best, and to our generous AMS associates for doing the most healing thing we can do this Holiday Season… care about one another.

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AMS’ safety record is no accident: Workforce safety during COVID #15

Warehouse Safety - AMS FulfillmentThe year 2020 has been life-changing, and we have all been taking safety measures as best we can. Warehouses and fulfillment companies have come under a special kind of pressure. A working supply chain is vital to the lives of American citizens and therefore fulfillment companies are essential businesses in this rapidly adjusting world. Safety from a very contagious virus went quickly to the top of warehouse safety concerns.

Prior to 2020 AMS Fulfillment enjoyed an excellent safety record, and this was due to the strong focus on safety training and the determined efforts of the company’s management. COVID-19 brought new safety challenges never before faced. The AMS Safety Team went to work back in February and March, responding at the highest level as prescribed for business by the CDC. The Team’s decisions, efforts, purchases and policies are described in our weekly safety blogs #1 through #14, accompanied by photos. We are proud to say that our safety record is still excellent!

As we approach the end of the year we face a continuing threat, and that means continuing efforts to protect our employees. With that in mind, this week’s blog features a message from AMS’ Security & Safety Supervisor, Matthew Warholy. His message is as follows:

“Covid-19 has been prevalent in our minds for almost 10 months now. We are constantly bombarded with reminders to use face masks, social distancing & hand sanitizer. We all need these reminders because the virus is making a return with a vengeance. States and countries that had low numbers in the past, have spiked and infection rates are soaring worse than before. The news is filled with reports of infections, deaths and previously healthy folks that are now victims of the virus.

“Of course, social distancing, face masks & hand sanitizer are keys to keep yourself safe but what other reminders do we need? Stay home if you feel even the least bit sick. Why risk yourself and others if you are sick. Do NOT show up at work. Call in. You’re not only infecting co-workers by showing up, you’re risking the health of their families, people who come in contact with them, anything that you or they touch and so on. When we are in the warehouses or offices, stop and think of how many times a cart, a copier, a microwave or a door handle gets touched every day……or every hour. It’s mind boggling how many times we touch things and not think about how many other people have touched it too. Think of how many times we hand our credit card to a fast food employee in the drive thru. How many cards have they touched? What have they touched that others have touched?

“I saw a CNN News report 7 months ago about how quickly a virus can spread. A Japanese researcher created a mock buffet and gave one person a special liquid on his hands to simulate that he coughed into his hand. Then, people went through the buffet and ate their meals. When the lights were turned off, they turned on a black light to show how quickly and dangerously the virus had spread. It’s fascinating what happens. You can watch it here:”

Click HERE to view our AMS Blog list and our Safety Series #1 through #14.

Click here to access the LA County recommendations for business 

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AMS’ safety record is no accident: Workforce safety during COVID #14

Warehouse safety - AMS FulfillmentIt appears that we are facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, and in a number of states the stay at home restrictions are tightening because of it. AMS Fulfillment provides an essential service, so our employees are asked to leave home and do the order fulfillment work that is essential to the economy. Millions of people, staying at home, depend upon being able to order the products they need and have them delivered.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “…the stay-at-home restrictions that took hold at 11:59 p.m. Sunday (December 6th) across Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will remain in place for at least three weeks, meaning those regions will not be able to emerge from the state’s latest stay-at-home order until Dec. 28 at the earliest.”

The surge has been attributed to family gatherings and travel during Thanksgiving. In an effort to give our employees peace of mind during this time, AMS has offered a rapid test to all of our employees where they can get tested and get their results back within 20 minutes. AMS has also purchased and offered to employees a home COVID-19 test kit so they can take the test at home, send it out themselves, and get the results back within 24 to 48 hours.

While there have been a small number of reported cases among our 400+ employees, at this time no employees have reported to us that their infection came from exposure at AMS. Rather, employees have in most cases pointed to family events or positive testing people living within their homes as their source of infection. We are encouraged by that and committed to continue and expand our efforts.

In our past safety blogs we have talked about the extensive adaptations that have been undertaken to keep our employees safe at work, and that effort continues daily. In response to the surge, we have increased the number of barriers in our warehouses to keep employees protected. We have also added more restrictions across all buildings, increasing the number of breaks and lunches to minimize the number of people gathering around the lunchroom area, and we have set up lunch and break areas outside the warehouses.

This is a very busy time for AMS, with seasonal employees coming in to help us meet the needs of clients. For that reason we are staying even more vigilant with masks, distancing, taking temperatures, sanitizing, and all of the other efforts to keep our employees safe while at work. We are very happy to give them some additional peace of mind with the rapid tests.

Click here to access the LA County recommendations for business 

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Series: What B Corporations do for the World #12

B Corporation - AMS FulfillmentThis week’s offering in our B Corporation series features the theme of Giving Back to the community. In the past we have published blogs about how AMS Fulfillment gives back to the community through volunteering, donating, serving on Boards and so forth. We know from long experience how giving back is beneficial for the community and for ourselves. This week we will talk about how AMS encourages employees in their support of non-profits.

Samantha Hicks, Sr. Administrator, Human Resources Benefits, administers a unique program wherein AMS employees who participate in or support a non-profit organization or non-profit extracurricular activity can apply to AMS and receive a $100 donation to their organization from AMS in appreciation of their community service. It’s called the AMS Employee Extra Curricular Donation Program. Each month three gifts of $100 are given to three nominated non-profits.

Recent donations include $100 to Valencia High School Sports Medicine Academy (see image below), AYSO Castaic Region, Breast Cancer Awareness- Girls Gone RX, Relay for Life and Antelope Valley High School ROTC Program.

This week we are also pleased to feature an article on Giving Back from the BCorporation.net website.

Giving Back Throughout the Year: 3 B Corps Share How to Create Mission-Aligned Charitable Partnerships

Companies of All Sizes Show Why Doing Good Is Good for Business

“In a year when many days were repetitive, we’ve hit the season when each day gets a commercial nickname: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday.

“That final day — Giving Tuesday — has expanded from its start in 2012 at the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City into the current global celebration of generosity that encourages millions of people to help others through donations of time or money. The center’s initial goal — to make giving a part of everyday life — is uplifted by the Certified B Corporation community, made up of businesses that operate with a stakeholder mindset that includes benefit to people and planet as well as the bottom line.

“For the three B Corps highlighted below — NEEV, a solo entrepreneur’s venture; Lemonade, a growing and innovative insurance midsize business; and Davines, a large international hair and skin care company — giving back to the community is an inherent part of doing business throughout the year. “

Read the full article HERE.

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AMS’ safety record is no accident: Workforce safety during COVID #13

Warehouse safety - AMS FulfillmentIn our safety blog #11 we talked about AMS’ compliance with standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA. We focused on forklift training, as according to OSHA, injuries in forklift accidents are some of the most serious in the warehouse.

Another type of injury that most of us are familiar with is described by OSHA as movement injuries or ergonomic injuries: lifting heavy items, bending, reaching overhead, pushing and pulling heavy loads, working in awkward body postures and performing the same or similar tasks repetitively.

OSHA refers to ergonomic injuries as MSDs, which means musculoskeletal disorders. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2013, MSD cases accounted for 33% of all worker injury and illness cases. OSHA guidelines include the following common-sense recommendations:

Provide Management Support –
Involve Workers –
Provide Training –
Identify Problems –
Encourage Early Reporting of MSD Symptoms –
Implement Solutions to Control Hazards –
Evaluate Progress –

AMS is doing all of these things, with training, listening to employees and encouraging early reporting. Our safety team is very watchful in noticing any hazards and we evaluate how we’re doing and create solutions. Communication between managers and associates is vital. Clearly, prevention of MSD injuries is a daily task.

Matthew Warholy, AMS’ Security & Safety Supervisor, had this to say about AMS’ training, and how the team handles the daily task of prevention:

“AMS Fulfillment prides itself on safety training when it comes to ergonomic issues. We instruct employees to complete tasks such as lifting with their legs and not their backs, don’t overreach, don’t lift heavy objects by yourself and ask for help if a task is beyond your capacity. Often, we find that many physical injuries happen in a rush or due to lack of attention.

“When it comes to ergonomic injuries, some don’t show up right away. For example, an injury can happen over time and the employee doesn’t notice until that evening or the next day. Sometimes, it takes weeks or months to notice. We look at how an employee works and try to give them different tasks to break up the repetitive movement. One employee who is very tall, was scanning packages at a ship station and noticed that his back hurt every night, but didn’t equate his injury to the fact that he was bent over all day. Ken Wiseman noticed it and had the maintenance crew build a simple wooden platform for him to work on so he could stand up straight. A simple solution can make a world of difference and prevent lost time injuries.”

AMS has a great safety record and we created that great record through continuous training and routine safety practices. Thank you to Ken Wiseman, Chief Workforce Development Officer, and thank you to Matt and the entire team!

Click here to access the LA County recommendations for business   

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AMS Employees Help YAL Families Enjoy Thanksgiving 2020

Community service - AMS FulfillmentFor the tenth year in a row, AMS employees have reached in their pockets and donated full Thanksgiving dinners to SCV families in need. This year is an exceptional one for all due to the effects of the COVID pandemic and the resulting hardships on families.

In response to the time and the need, AMS employees donated funds to supply a full dinner to 55 selected families, and 30 turkeys to additional families! Vallarta Supermarket (Valencia – Lyons) participated as well by offering the volunteers a 5% discount on the dinners. Also present at the event were volunteers from Valencia Hills Church, which gave out boxes of food for the holiday.

The recipient families are participants in the Santa Clarita Youth Activities League (YAL) ‘Adopt a Family’ program. The Youth Activity League is a very beneficial nonprofit organized by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for young people in the Los Angeles community. Deputy Brian Rooney, stationed in Santa Clarita, is actively involved with the Val Verde YAL program.

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, volunteers met with the families at the Val Verde YAL. Jimmy Briano, the YAL Center Site Manager, had selected the recipient families and arranged for them to receive their donation. Jimmy was joined by Deputy Rooney and AMS retired CEO, now Chief Workforce Development Officer, Ken Wiseman as well as AMS volunteers Erica and Gene. For the safety of all, Jimmy and his team arranged for the dinner and turkey recipients to stay in their cars and proceed past the AMS truck where the dinners were loaded into their cars.

AMS President, Betty-Lou Wiseman, administers the company’s giving programs, including this annual Thanksgiving effort. She is supported by long-time employee and volunteer, Erica Martinez. Regarding the needs of families during this difficult year, Betty-Lou said, “The Holiday Season has always warmed all of our hearts to give, and this year is extraordinary for all of us. We are so proud of the generosity of AMS employees, and their desire to make Thanksgiving great for even more YAL families. Our Christmas families are next!”

Regarding the opportunity of giving, Erica said, “It is such a great honor to participate every year in bringing families together and see them smile. This year it was even more of joy to be there. Our families were so happy.”

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Series: What B Corporations do for the World #11

B Corporation - AMS FulfillmentIn this week’s B Corp series we return to one of our major events of the year, the AMS “March for Change.” We will look into how AMS is doing with regard to instituting changes in the company’s diversity and inclusivity practices.

Our subject is inspired by the weekly message from B The Change:

“The events of this year — the inequitable impact of COVID-19 and police killings of People of Color among them — are bringing long overdue conversations about racism and social justice to the forefront and prompting a re-examination and reshaping of systems and structures.”

In June of this year AMS employees organized and conducted a “March for Change” in response to the police killing of George Floyd. The employees gathered to hear a guest speaker, and a statement from Ken Wiseman, AMS Chief Workforce Development Officer, where Ken laid out plans for change and promised that AMS could and would do more.

Following up on Ken’s speech, in September we published a blog laying out plans for change in following areas:

1) Make the Diversity & Inclusion Breakfast a paid meeting at the start of the workday; 2) Make Learning Opportunities more convenient and have them take place during workday; 3) Involve more discussion on Empathy, Respect, Trigger and Action plan in our leadership classes; 4) Change Role Playing in the leadership classes; 5) Develop an Up-Skill matrix for employees who want to move up in their careers; 6) Launch a Paycom job registration allowing people to register for positions they are interested in; 7) Hold 90-minute lunch meetings with supervisors and 8) Encourage employees to share their journey at the breakfast meeting, giving opportunity for the leadership team to listen.

In this week’s report, we have turned to Carmen Kernek, AMS’ Human Resources Director, for an update on how we are doing:

“AMS is strong and committed to positive change. In order to have more positive learning experiences, we use a variety of training methods to achieve success, from Classroom-Based Training, to Interactive Training and certainly, On the Job Training. We have also added Social Learning and online training as well. Our goal is to create an inclusive training experience for all learners. We have waiting list in most all training areas for 2021!”

AMS is a medium to large company with more than 400 employees. Hopefully our example can provide guidance for other companies of a similar size. We’d also like to feature an article about how small businesses can develop diversity and inclusion planning. From the B the Change website:

How Small Businesses Can Activate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plans Now
B Corp Commits to Anti-Racist Learning and Action

“The company I work for is a small, woman-owned Certified B Corporation. We have always believed business should be a force for good. And while our intention is genuine, our clarity of intent and activation have been inconsistent.

“When George Floyd was murdered in our hometown this summer, everything shifted — for us, the community and the nation. We knew it was time to listen, learn and do more. The racial justice movement that followed has strengthened our resolve to be more active, vocal and consistent.

“Like many other small B Corps, Beehive Strategic Communication’s time and resources are limited. We are mostly white and don’t have a diversity, equity and inclusion expert on staff. These are all things that could have become excuses preventing us from taking action — and, to be honest, they slowed us down. So we know it can feel challenging and overwhelming for small companies to get started on this critical work. And yet, to do nothing right now — for any organization, especially a B Corp — is simply not an option.”

Read the full article HERE.

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AMS Fulfillment Employees ‘Adopt a Family’ for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving - AMS FulfillmentValencia, CA, November 20, 2020 – This Thanksgiving marks the tenth year that AMS employees have joined with the Val Verde Sheriff’s Youth Activity League (YAL) to provide Thanksgiving meals to families in need. The families are participants in the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff Station YAL ‘Adopt a Family’ program.

AMS President Betty-Lou Wiseman is in charge of the effort, assisted by long-time employee Erica Martinez. For the past few weeks Erica and her team of volunteers have put up flyers and sent out emails companywide, seeking donations to purchase Thanksgiving dinners for the YAL families.

Jimmy Briano, the YAL Center Site Manager, had this to say about the donation and the importance of the “Adopt a Family” program, especially this year. “AMS Really makes this holiday special for the parents, and these are families that would have difficulty providing such a meal on Thanksgiving. They are excited to receive the meals and so grateful.”

With regard to the LASD Sheriff Department’s YAL, he said, “The Youth Activity League is nonprofit that serves kids from 7-17 in so many ways. Every day 50 or 60 kids come to the homework club where they can do their homework and use our computers. We have after school field trips, we have a rec room, sports programs, softball, arts and crafts – a little bit of everything. It’s somewhere for the kids to go. Deputy Rooney has always been amazing. He does so much for the kids.”

AMS employees have been generous and very appreciative of the opportunity as they contributed funds to purchase 55 full meals. Vallarta Supermarket (Valencia – Lyons) participated as well by offering the volunteers a 5% discount on the dinners. Betty Lou and Ken Wiseman, Erica Martinez and several more from AMS will bring the meals and meet with the families. They will be joined at the YAL Center by Deputy Rooney and Jimmy Briano.

Regarding the annual drive, Erica said, “Being able to help for the past several years has been a blessing! It’s not how much we give but how much Joy – Love we all put into giving!”

Fully in the spirit of making Thanksgiving 2020 a day of gratitude for Life and Health in an unprecedented time, AMS is giving 360+ Turkeys to AMS employees to help with their meal, and as an additional thank you, the company is giving Seas Candy to the part time and seasonal workers.

# # # #
For more information please contact:

AMS Fulfillment
Steven Helmle
VP Business Development
661-775-0611
[email protected]

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AMS’ safety record is no accident: Workforce safety during COVID #12

Workforce Safety - AMS FulfillmentRecently AMS CEO, Jay Catlin, sent out two messages that touched on COVID-19 Safety during Peak Season. The first mentioned “COVID Fatigue”. The phrase refers to people becoming fatigued by the precautions of wearing a mask and keeping safe through distancing.

He said, “I remind you and implore you all to please stay safe… during your personal time and also within the walls of AMS. Wear your masks, wash your hands, don’t come in if you’re feeling ill or feverish, socially distance (especially during lunch w/ masks off)… we absolutely need to stay strong on the COVID-19 front for everyone’s sake!”

The second message was with regard to new employees. The ads are out there – We’re Hiring at AMS!! Every year when Peak Season comes around AMS brings on new employees to handle a greatly increased workload. This year the new employees will need to fully understand and follow our COVID safety practices that have been established.

In the second message Jay said, “…we will double up on all of our safety practices in addition to controlling the number of people operating at any one time by running double shifts.”

Our VP of Operations, Marco Pelaez, reported the following about the COVID safety training and expectations of new employees, including seasonal workers and temporary help.

Marco said, “We are taking all of the necessary precautions when bringing seasonal employees and temporary help to deal with the spike of orders. Seasonal employees are advised to keep their mask on while they are working, keep their social distancing as they are taking breaks and lunches and wear their mask while at lunch when moving to a different area from their lunch spot area.”

Regarding COVID fatigue, he said, “We are having a meeting with all buildings to remind them about the virus and ask them to keep safe and healthy. We continue sanitizing all work areas where employees are working. We are working with the temp agencies, asking them to remind their employees that they must wear their mask while they are in our facilities. We also advise people that they need to comply with our face mask policy to keep it on while at work.”

AMS has a great safety record and we work hard to keep it that way. Thank you Jay and Marco! Let’s have a super safe Peak Season.

Click here to access the LA County recommendations for business   

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Series: What B Corporations do for the World #10

B Corporation - AMS Fulfillment“Every B Corp should make it part of their mission to educate their employees, customers, and suppliers about why being a B Corp is important.” — Jared Meyers, Chairman of Legacy Vacation Resorts and Salt Palm Development in Florida and one of the founders of Florida for Good.

The intention of AMS’ B Corporation series is to do just that – educate all of our readers about why AMS is a B Corporation and why B Corps are important in the changing world.

Education is vital. If given a choice, everything being equal, and one of the companies is a B Corporation, people who are knowledgeable about B Corps will naturally consider it a plus. The B Corp might be the one they want to do business with. And with that choice comes growth and a world changing for the better.

Ultimately we want business to be good for the world: for the people who work at the business, for the customers and clients, for the surrounding community, for the environment, and for the owners or investors. It’s not too much to desire and it is clearly possible… because businesses are doing it!

This week’s blog features an interview with Jared Meyers, the Chairman of Legacy Vacation Resorts and founder of Florida for Good. Mr. Meyers is quoted above. The article also features an interview with Kevin Christopher, Founder and Principal of Rockridge Venture Law in Tennessee and a founder of B Tennessee. Both are champions of the B Corp movement.

We hope you enjoy the article.

Making It Easy to Choose Better Business: Southeast U.S. B Corp Champions Build Regional Movement

Local Networks Provide Opportunity to Build Community in Multiple Ways

“While the global Certified B Corporation community now includes more than 3,500 companies — and continues to grow — many people around the world remain unfamiliar with businesses operating as a force for good. Certain regions of the United States, including the Southeast and the Midwest, have lower concentrations of B Corps than other areas. To raise awareness of B Corps and attract more businesses to the movement, two Southeast U.S. business leaders are among those building local networks and organizing outreach and education.

“It’s no accident that B Corps include community as one of their stakeholders that drives business decisions and practices: The local level is where many companies can make the biggest impact through close connections that provide strength, especially during challenging times.

“As part of my research on purpose-driven business I recently talked with B Corp leaders in the Southeastern U.S., a region where the stakeholder-minded certification remains fairly novel, about their efforts to raise awareness of B Corps and encourage others to learn how business can be a force for good.”

Read the full article HERE.

 

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Series: What B Corporations do for the World #9

B Corporation - AMS FulfillmentOne would be hard pressed to find a B Corporation that is not focused on their company’s impact on the environment. Being earth-conscious is a part of being good for the world, and B Corporations, no matter what their primary focus, will be focused on ‘green’ practices.

When AMS began doing business in 2002 it engaged in the ‘green’ practices of the time, such as recycling and thoughtful purchasing. Through the years the company reduced waste, purchased recycled packaging and kept the company’s impact on the environment as small as possible.

In 2017 a group of employees under the guidance of President (now CEO) Jay Catlin decided to organize a Green Team. The Green Team would monitor AMS business practices within each of the operating warehouses and recommend additional ways to reduce the ecological footprint.

The Green Team looked at some additional ways to face the environmental challenges of a fulfillment company: waterless urinals; non-toxic cleaning products; reducing copy paper waste and going electronic; separating comingled trash, paper and food in order to properly recycle and so on.

Since that time the Green Team has been hard at work. Today the team is under the guidance of AMS CFO, Anthony (Tony) Shepherd who has assumed the role of Green Team Executive Administrator. In a future blog we will focus exclusively on the Green Team and take a look at the changes that they have accomplished and the information they’ve gathered on ways for AMS to be Good for the World.

This week’s featured ‘B The Change’ article about the United Nations Climate Change Conference and the way that B Corporations are responding to the climate crisis. We hope you enjoy the article.

Earth Rising: The Global B Corp Community Responds to the Climate Emergency

Optimism and Radical Collaboration on the Road to a Zero-Carbon Future

On December 11, 2019, on the floor of the United Nations Climate Change Conference known as COP25 in Madrid, Spain, Commander Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency connected by video from the International Space Station (ISS) and spoke directly to the thousands of delegates assembled. As he floated above Earth, with the blue-green hues swirling across the marble-like surface of our planet below, Commander Parmitano made an emotional appeal for world leaders to step up their pace on climate action. “Our planet is incredibly beautiful. We also see its incredible fragility. … I have seen with my own eyes the terrible effects of climate change.” The ISS itself, the largest manned object ever put into space, was built through a historic triumph of international cooperation and knowledge sharing by 16 nations and five space agencies.

That same day, on the same stage at COP25, 533 Certified B Corporations from 33 countries committed to Net Zero by 2030. It was the largest and most aggressive climate commitment to date by a group of businesses — and 20 years ahead of the Paris Agreement 2050 targets.

Both of these are shining examples of what humans can achieve when they are united in purpose and hope.

There are now nearly 800 B Corps committed to Net Zero by 2030.

You can read the full article HERE.

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AMS’ safety record is no accident: Workforce safety during COVID #11

Workforce Safety - AMS FulfillmentIn this week’s Safety Blog we will look more closely at AMS’ compliance and stellar record with OSHA safety standards. In Blog #9 we talked about our AMS Team’s monthly OSHA safety walk. This week we’ll go into the subject further.

Safety in American warehouses is regulated by a series of standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OHSA. Congress created OSHA under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which was signed into law in 1970. The main focus of OSHA is to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths.

When our safety team takes the OSHA walk around the warehouse they review the top areas of concern. They are given a comprehensive workbook that covers all of the areas OSHA cites plus more of concern to AMS. The workbook makes it clear – all employees are asked to, “Speak Up if you find anything – as small as it may be – that you feel could be done better, or may become a safety issue or cause of injuries.”

First on the list of safety concerns is Forklifts.

Forklifts can be dangerous. OSHA records about 100 warehouse employees are killed and 95,000 injured every year in forklift accidents while operating forklifts. The majority of fatalities are caused by forklift turnovers.

OHSA issues guidelines on forklift operation including the following:

“Train, evaluate and certify all operators to ensure that they can operate forklifts safely, follow safe procedures for picking up, putting down and stacking loads. Drive safely, never exceeding 5 mph and slow down in congested areas. Maintain sufficiently safe clearances for aisles and at loading docks or passages where forklifts are used.”

AMS has two active certified trainers that perform a classroom style instruction and test prior to an actual session of training on our three types of Powered Industrial Trucks.

Our trainers have developed study materials that allow employees to take the classroom portion by themselves. Once they have finished with the self-study, the test is given to them. After passing the test they move on to a one-on-one training. Students are given instructions on the controls and safety devices prior to stepping on each type of forklift, and then the real training begins.

Student materials include a 33-page manual that goes fully into how forklift trucks operate, what are the rules of the road and what can cause a forklift accident or to flip over. The manual goes over careless mistakes and reckless operations that can create dangerous situations. Responsibility for safety is strongly emphasized as students are instructed on AMS’ rules on the operation vehicles and the expectation that the operator will have the vehicle under control at all times.

With more than 400 employees in six warehouses, AMS’ safety record is remarkable: only one lost-time injury in more than 2 1/2 years! Congratulations to the entire safety team, and keep up the good work!!

Click here to access the LA County recommendations for business   

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