Will Kraft, during his twenty-four years with DuPont, held a full range of technical and management positions including engineering, supervisory, sales, manufacturing, and business roles. Throughout this time, he assisted individuals and businesses so that they could continually build on successes and achieve SafeOperations.
For the last seventeen years, Kraft has consulted with companies looking to improve their safety and operational excellence through culture change. His initiative, Together for Excellence-Safety & MoreSM, has enabled managers to integrate safety into everything they do while significantly improving safety and other business success factors.
Why did you choose your profession?
After twenty five years with DuPont in various roles, I decided to start a consulting business to share my experiences with a focus on managing personal risk / safety. I saw a real need to take a more comprehensive approach to safety because of the high injury rates.
What is the most important thing to do to be effective in your role?
I have found the ability to transfer knowledge through various communication tools and coaching effectively to be most important.
Have you ever had an incident that changed you, and how did you approach it with your role?
Early in my career with Dupont, two individuals did not follow Lock-Tag-Try procedure and first break protocol of a chemical line. As a result, one died of the injuries.
The negative impact the death had on the family, co-workers, and community was long lasting. I now understand and emphasize that there are no exceptions to following procedures and management must regularly audit to assure compliance.
What do you want everyone to know about safety?
Safety cannot be accomplished separately from the work but must be an integral part of the work just like production, quality, cost, etc. at all levels in the organization. I provide the training and coaching of systems that achieve “Zero Harm” by managing personal risk to “As Low As Reasonably Achievable”.
Four behaviors are required to achieve “Zero Harm”; Plan Work with Risk Management, Accept Accountability, Take Care of Each Other, and Lead by Example.
What is your superpower?
I do not know if I have any more “super power” than anyone else. A part of my success has been the ability to relate and communicate to all levels in the organization and provide tools that are practical and effective.
