Risk taking is familiar business to Renegage/Kibbi, LLC. Excluded from an RV show in 1997 for not being a member of the presenting organization, Kibbi set up shop in the parking lot. Dubbing themselves “Renegades”, the moniker sticks more than a decade later. Renegade Custom Coaches now carry everything from people to race cars. Their vehicles can be as basic as a traditional RV, or as extravagant as a luxury coach & trailer with an observation deck.
But taking risks with employee safety, that’s another story.
During assembly and routine maintenance, workers climb to the top of the coaches to be sure that they are properly sealed, as well as to inspect vents and satellite dishes for damage. The average height of the vehicles is 13 feet.
Although there had never been an accident or a fall from the top of the vehicles, a visit from the company’s insurance agent put a spotlight the danger those workers were in. “We had a new insurance agent come in to inspect our facility, and when she saw people on top of the trailers without any fall protection, she was quick to point out the risk we were taking,” said Scott Smith, Safety Coordinator at Renegade. “We’re always trying to keep our people safe, and that really brought to our attention that we needed to do more.”