THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502030262
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CAROLE O'KEEFE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
Lipton Tea, operating here since 1955, produces 40 million pounds of tea a year. Having a safe work place is every bit as important as producing first-rate tea, company officials say.
Recently, the company logged 2 million work hours with no time lost to accidents.
``We're really productive, and we try to be conscious about safety,'' Melvin Keeling says. He is a safety resource group member. ``If we get hurt, sure it costs the company money, but it costs us more in terms of our health. Suffolk co-workers make safety their No. 1 priority.''
Personnel manager Max Hoynacki said the plant here is envied by other Lipton sites for its safety record.
The safety recourse group is made up of hourly workers representing their departments. They meet weekly to discuss potential hazards and ask for improvement suggestions. Safety presentations are given monthly on such dangers as hazardous materials, back safety and blood-borne pathogens.
``Taking the initiative and the time to correct a potential safety hazard has helped not only reach 2 million safe hours, but has helped to prevent accidents and near misses,'' Rosemary Lonberger said. She is plant safety coordinator.
The next goal for the plant is to reach 2 1/2 million hours.
``Obviously, we do not ever want to experience another lost-time accident or any plant injury and our next milestone is 2,500,000 man hours. We will reach this milestone by continuing to work safely, supporting each other by reminding each other of unsafe work practices and by applying the training received in our safety meetings.
``When we reach our 2.5 million man-hour record, we will have surpassed the Suffolk plant record and the all-time Lipton record for man hours worked without a lost-time accident,'' plant manager Ralph Roberts said.
A chiropractor and an auto body shop owner are sharing space in the former Starr Motors building.
Michael C. Ebner, a doctor of chiropractic, is in the front portion of the former auto showroom at 2425 Pruden Blvd.
Chiropractors offer conservative health care and concentrate on maintaining the structural integrity of the body. What that means is keeping all parts of the human body in the correct alignment. Ebner uses manipulation, moist heat, electric muscle stimulation and massage and traction.
His patients have such complaints as headaches, back pain, stiffness, whip lash injuries or numbness of the arms or legs, hands or feet.
As a boy, Ebner played ice hockey. He was having a sharp pain in his left ankle, under the bone, he said. Exploratory surgery was recommended, but Ebner, about 10 then, told his family he would rather to see a relative who practiced chiropractic in New York. ``I went to see him. He adjusted me three times and I never had the pain again,'' he said.
The doctor adjusted his pelvis and a knee to remove the pain.
Chiropractors don't prescribe drugs but they often prescribe over-the-counter vitamins. ``We try to treat the cause of the problems, not use drugs to mask symptoms. We use non-invasive drug-free methods of treating patients,'' he said.
``If we can't help, we refer patients to other kinds of doctors,'' he said. His office is between Lakeview Medical Center and Obici Hospital.
Ebner is originally from rural Rockland County some 35 miles northwest of New York City. He was schooled at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, and worked as an associate doctor for a time in Mount Pleasant, S.C.
He did his undergraduate work at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., where he earned a gold medal for academic excellence. During graduate school, he was named an All-American Scholar and was inducted into the International Chiropractic Honor Society.
``I like rural areas,'' Ebner said. ``And I love the ocean.''
He was searching for a place with few chiropractors per capita when he found Suffolk. ``It's close to the ocean and it needs chiropractors,'' he said.
There is one doctor of chiropractic for each 18,000 people in Suffolk, he found. ``That was the driving force behind my coming here,'' he said.
The office has an X-ray machine, accepts workmen's compensation, personal injury and most major insurance carriers.
Ebner is married and has two children. Coincidentally, today is his 27th birthday. He is currently living in Chesapeake, but plans to relocate to Suffolk.
The hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and 3 to 6 p.m. and Thursday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.Also working on bodies is Donald D. ``Donnie'' Allred who has been in the auto body business for many years, first in his back yard and later, for about seven years, at 900 Portsmouth Blvd., Suffolk.
He most recently moved his huge operation from Portsmouth Boulevard where he had some 20,000 square feet of work area to the former Starr Motors building, where he can work on as many as 20 vehicles at one time in about 30,000 square feet.
He moved because he needed more room.
Allred had himself and one other employee seven years ago. Now he has six, not even counting his wife and his daughter. Sales have about doubled since the move, he said.
Vickie E. Allred is the bookkeeper. Their daughter, Shawn, is the receptionist.
Allred does mostly collision work in cooperation with insurance companies.
The hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Michael C. Ebner, a doctor of chiropractic, is sharing space in the
former Starr Motors building.
Donald Allred is also doing body work at the former Starr Motors
building. But he works on auto bodies.
The Lipton Tea plant workers produce 40 million pounds of tea a year
and set a safety record.
by CNB