solvent delivery

We had six 55-gallon drums of solvents delivered by a man working by himself. He would back his truck into the docking "bay" (I use the term loosely) of the shed, blocking traffic to do so. To open the bay doors, he would clamber up an empty 55-gallon drum. Next, he would beg borrow and steal a lab tech to help him tip the drums over onto their sides, manouvering them so that they wouldn't leak through the valves, and hoist them up onto a 60-year old pulley system. YIPES!
I had Safety watch him do this, and we are not allowed to let him deliver them in this manner again. Whew! This was the justification for buying three two-drum cabinets which will be stored outside on the other end of the building. This area has a shelter, and a driveway (of sorts) which will make it easier to back up the truck. He will be using a lift-gate, and will be manouvering all the drums in an upright postion.

introduction

I work in a production assurance laboratory, and am tasked with safety, inventory and environmental matters. In performing these duties, I keep returning to three major topics: Good Laboratory Practices, Chemical Hygiene Plan, and Lean Manufacturing.
I get to re-write our Chemical Hygiene Plan for our Production Lab. Yay! (caution: entering Nerd-Zone!)
I am also studying Lean Manufacturing (i.e. Toyota Way), and there are so many intuitive parallels between Lean and Good Lab Practices. We are working towards Visual Factory at the lab, and the CHP is a part of this.
These are all related in an actual sense by leadership and management skills, of which I have a grand total of none. The things I struggle with here are motivation and interpersonal skills. I know why it is important for the lab techs to check their safety showers, but trying to verbalize this importance is hard for me.