What is a Safety Culture and Why Do You Need One?
The words “safety culture” gets bandied about a lot. But it’s also a term that nobody quite understands. What exactly is safety culture? And what, if any, impact does it have on a company’s liability risks? What Is Safety Culture? Safety culture is one of those fuzzy concepts like “obscenity” that nobody can precisely define but everybody knows when they see. Safety culture is first and foremost a mindset, a set of shared values and thinking among all the members of an organization. When we say a company has a “good safety culture,” we basically mean that people who work [...]
What to Look for in Results Tracking Software
Like other functions of safety management systems, tracking the consequences of preventive actions has moved from the realm of paper to software. Although technology offers significant advantages, it also poses equally daunting challenge. First and foremost, you need to ensure that your tracking software has the right technological capabilities and functions. Safety Software and the Tracking Function Safety management systems generate potentially significant value to an organization by using timely, accurate and meaningful information data to generate more effective safety solutions. Most safety system management models are based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle of continual improvement is the centerpiece of most [...]
5 Steps to Protect Workers Who Lift Materials Manually
Although technology has advanced since the days of ancient Egypt and the pyramids, there are still many workers who carry and move heavy materials manually. What's also advanced is our understanding of how performing these tasks continually over time causes musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs), like strains and sprains to the lower back, shoulders and arms. 5 Steps to Compliance Taking the following 5 steps should help you avoid citations for manual materials: Step #1: Determine if Materials Can Be Moved Mechanically Determine if mechanical devices such as forklifts, dollies, conveyors and hand trucks can be used to move materials. To the [...]
Why Companies Shouldn’t Cut Corners on PPE
The economics of PPE, is a topic that doesn’t get much attention. Here are the three key lessons from a recent survey's findings about the importance of PPE: Lesson #1: PPE Training Is Critical The survey suggests that PPE’s effectiveness is based not only on the quality of the equipment but also how it’s actually used. PPE training is the best way to ensure that workers understand why they need to use PPE and how to use it properly. But workers may not be getting the PPE training they need. So companies shouldn’t cut corners when it comes to PPE training. In fact, [...]
Workplace Stress – Getting Management to Take It Seriously
Getting Management to Take It Seriously Work-related stress has been around for as long as workplaces themselves. But recognition of stress as an occupational hazard is a product of modern times. Unfortunately, not all companies have gotten the message. That leaves it to safety directors and supervisors to persuade management that stress really is a problem to take seriously. The best way to do that is to relate the problem to dollars. Here’s how to educate your company’s “bigs” to the dangers of workplace stress and gain their support for programs to combat it. There’s also a Model Worksheet below [...]
You Can’t Delegate Compliance with Environmental Laws to Your Workers
Although workers can be liable for deliberate violations they commit, the responsibility for ensuring compliance with the law ultimately falls on the company.
Remind Workers to Pay Attention Around Flammables
If your worklplace includes the use or handling of flammable substances, workers need special training to recognize and avoid the hazards that go along with them.
Shifting Into Night Shift Safely
In many industries, falling asleep on the job for even 30 seconds can cause a serious mistake. Yet studies show that 30 to 50% of night shift workers report falling asleep at least once a week while on the job. Sleep issues affect truck and bus drivers, airline pilots, factory workers, police, emergency workers, healthcare providers, hotel employees and anyone else on night or changing shifts. The body has high and low points every 24-hour period. Body and brain functions slow down during the nighttime and early morning in a pattern known as circadian rhythms. Working while the body is [...]
Concussion Awareness isn’t Just for Sports
You don’t have to scroll too far into the sports section to read about some famous athlete’s career sidelined by a concussion or series of them. But the football field isn’t the only workplace where concussions happen, and the effect to employers and employees can be just as costly as it is to a major sports franchise. What is a concussion? A concussion is a traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head or whiplash that results in the head and brain moving rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or [...]
Understanding Communication Styles
Communication style is the key to fostering positive relationships, avoiding miscommunications, and ensuring the message you send is understood by the recipient. The advantages are even more pronounced in a business context, where effective communication is essential to success on an individual, team, and company-wide level. FOUR PRIMARY COMMUNICATION STYLES Passive Communication Style Passive communicators are typically quiet and don’t seek attention. They may act indifferent during debates and rarely take a strong stance or assert themselves. They don’t usually share their needs or express their feelings, so it may be difficult to know when they are uncomfortable or need [...]
Great Fall Protection Programs Include more than Harnesses
Improper fall protection is one of the most cited and fined violations in the United States and Canada, and for good reason. Do you. know how to get it right? Step 1 When it comes to Fall Protection it’s all about knowing your enemy. This starts long before you’re training anyone. You need to know and understand exactly where your hazards are and have a clear plan on how you and your company will protect employees, contractors, and visitors. This hazard assessment process can take as long as a couple days depending on the size of your organization. Here’s how [...]
The Importance of a Job Safety Analysis
This week a large organization was hit with over a million dollars in workplace safety fines. The US Department of Labor proposed fines of close to $1.3 million for workplace violations at multiple stores - the Assistant Secretary for OSHA said that “Dollar General continues to demonstrate a willful pattern of ignoring hazardous working conditions and a disregard for the well-being of its employees,” even after being hit with fines previously. Facing big fines is not the only risk to ignoring the citations – companies that don’t fix hazards risk employees lives when they ignore orders to comply with investigation [...]
