Pella Manufacturing Plants Champion Safety in Product Design and Manufacturing for National Window Safety Week

Each year, at least 3,300 accidents in U.S. homes are related to falls from windows, and most of the cases involve young children. Pella Corporation, an award-winning manufacturer for safety compliance in window and door production, helps spread the word about window safety by sharing best practices from their plant in Reidsville.

“Safety is built into every step of our design and production process,” said Mara Caldwell, manufacturing facility manager at the Reidsville plant. “When an order arrives in our plant for production, it is already specified to be built with important safety attributes. The manufacturing technologies we use in our plant enable us to see those safety specs for every order. After the build is complete, we perform quality control checks on our products before they are installed so we know they will perform to safety expectations in a home or commercial building.”

There are several design attributes and tips Pella recommends customers consider for safety purposes:  

     - Window opening and close devices. These should be included on windows above the first floor. This limits the range of the window opening to four inches, helping to prevent falls.
     - Tempered glass options for high traffic areas. Use in places like staircases or entryways to help prevent shattered glass from an accidental impact.
     - Blinds and shades between the glass. This feature eliminates choking hazards created by dangling cords, ideal for windows and patio doors in homes with children. This popular feature has been certified by the non-profit organization Parents for Window Blind Safety.
     - Teach screen safety. Screens are not intended to prevent a fall. Keeping children away from open windows, especially in buildings with a second story or above, is critical to preventing dangerous falls.

With a culture of safety infused throughout the organization, Pella equips their manufacturing-based safety coordinators with ongoing training opportunities, regular cross-team insights sharing and on-the-job coaching. Thanks to these rigorous and continuously practiced standards, the organization has won over a dozen safety awards over the past two years.

“The perception of manufacturing as dangerous work is a relic of the past for organizations who put safety at the forefront of their operations,” said Caldwell. “In fact, across our company our average Recordable Injury (RI) rate for residential operations, which is a national manufacturing safety standard, is below average. As we continue to hire for new positions, we are ensuring that our culture of safety is an immediate and ongoing priority as part of the onboarding process. Making sure that every team member is safe each day when they come to work is the key to ensuring products for our customers are built with safety in mind.”  

For more information on National Window Safety Week, the National Safety Council makes a number of resources available for parents, grandparents, caregivers and children.   

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About Pella Corporation
Pella Corporation designs and manufactures windows and doors for residential homes and commercial applications. The company is headquartered in Pella, Iowa, and employs more than 9,500 people with 17 manufacturing locations and more than 200 showrooms across the country. For more information, visit pressroom.pella.com.

For more information on open positions and the benefits of growing your career with Pella, please visit pella.com/about/careers/