When Your Industrial Safety Protocols Set A Unique Standard, Consider A Trademark.
You see the symbols everywhere; on packages and collateral and with brand identities; in printed text, with brand logos and across all manners of disclaimers on TV, print and interactive communications.
The little™ symbol that indicates a trademark. Or the ® symbol that indicates a trademark that has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
What does it mean to apply a trademark, and why in the world would a heavy industrial contractor choose to trademark their corporate safety procedures? That’s just what we’re about to explain in this article about Songer Services M.A.P.™ (Make Accidents Preventable) Safety Protocols.
Take a moment to learn what a trademark is, and what it does for the company or organization that either applies for one officially, or claims one as a matter of course while developing a unique approach to business.
Now that you’ve read the “book definition”, consider the M.A.P.™ program from Songer Services.
M.A.P.™ is a Statement Of Purpose For Every Job. Every Time.
The Songer Services Corporate Safety Manual is 359 pages long. And while not designed as a replacement for OSHA or other specific industrial regulations related to jobsite safety, it is an exhaustive and comprehensive breakdown of every potential workplace hazard our company can conceive at any given moment.
The Songer safety manual is updated periodically, and it includes a unique job-site requirement for all Songer employees and third party hires that sets a daily standard for safety preparation that we believe is unmatched in the industry.
This unique inclusion is the Make Accidents Preventable (M.A.P.™) protocol – a 20-page pocket reminder guide to workplace safety from a Songer Services perspective that sets the expectation for every jobsite worker.
It is a protocol that requires a daily focus on accident prevention and jobsite safety that:
- Requires a daily safety meeting across all unique job functions and disparate working teams on a jobsite.
- Requires daily identification of potential hazards and inspection of hazards prior to work beginning.
- Empowers each employee, regardless of tenure, title or status, with the ability to stop work in the event of an unsafe condition—real or perceived.
- Requires each employee to learn—and then sign—the M.A.P.™ handbook and have it accessible at all times while on the jobsite.
So Why Did We Trademark M.A.P.™?
Simply put? We believe our protocols distinguish us from our competition—if not by process, then by the psychology behind the process—M.A.P. is as much a company philosophy as it is a set of procedures.
As such, a trademark for our unique approach is warranted by definition of what a trademark is. Our trademark has been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office since December 8, 2011.
Jason W. Savasta, the Director of Health, Safety and Environment for Songer Services, had this to say about the M.A.P. Program.
“Make Accidents Preventable is a reminder to keep worker safety compartmentalized to the job at hand, every day, because each day on the job is different. One day, you may be dealing with unique overhead hazards. The next day? A completely different challenge. M.A.P.™ helps supervisors and individual project teams completely reset and refresh their task focus on safety every day, before anyone sets foot on the job.”
With all that being said—we are certain other heavy industrial contractors treat safety just as seriously, and in a similar manner. But by actually Trademarking our procedure—we set a standard for ourselves that serves as a reminder of what’s at stake for us, every day, on the jobsite.