Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Workplace incidents are never something that employers and employees look forward to experiencing. However, they do happen, and it's important for everyone involved to understand what happened and how it happened, which will require you to interview those involved in the incident. So it stands to reason you will want to ask the right questions correctly to elicit the most accurate information possible. A cognitive interview technique is one of the most effective ways to do this. Read the full article here. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit Arrow Safety for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Workplace incidents are never something that employers and employees look forward to experiencing. However, they do happen, and it's important for everyone involved to understand what happened and how it happened, which will require you to interview those involved in the incident. So it stands to reason you will want to ask the right questions correctly to elicit the most accurate information possible. A cognitive interview technique is one of the most effective ways to do this. <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/post/3682155/using-a-cognitive-interview-technique-for-safety-incidents" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Read the full article here.</a> Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit <a href="https://arrowsafetyus.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Arrow Safety</a> for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

170: Using a Cognitive Interview Technique for Safety Incidents

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! President of Arrow Safety, Drew Hinton, joins us to discuss the Firefighter Building Marking system. Firefighters must have standardized building marking in place to ensure their safety and the safety of those they are trying to rescue. This cannot be overstated, as it can mean the difference between life and death in emergencies. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit Arrow Safety for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> President of <a href="https://arrowsafetyus.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Arrow Safety</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-hinton/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Drew Hinton</a>, joins us to discuss the Firefighter Building Marking system. Firefighters must have standardized building marking in place to ensure their safety and the safety of those they are trying to rescue. This cannot be overstated, as it can mean the difference between life and death in emergencies. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit <a href="https://arrowsafetyus.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Arrow Safety</a> for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

169: Firefighter Building Marking System w/Drew Hinton

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In this episode, we talk with Nick Morrill from CavCom, Inc. about a common misconception when it comes to hearing protection at work. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit Arrow Safety for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In this episode, we talk with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-morrill-00259616/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Nick Morrill</a> from <a href="https://cavcominc.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">CavCom, Inc.</a> about a common misconception when it comes to hearing protection at work. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit <a href="https://arrowsafetyus.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Arrow Safety</a> for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

168: Preserve Hearing & Communications w/Nick Morrill

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In this episode, we talk with our good friend, Drew Hinton, President of Arrow Safety, about media coverage of workplace safety and how narratives can help and hurt workplace safety efforts. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit Arrow Safety for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In this episode, we talk with our good friend, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-hinton/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Drew Hinton</a>, President of <a href="https://arrowsafetyus.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Arrow Safety</a>, about media coverage of workplace safety and how narratives can help and hurt workplace safety efforts. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit <a href="https://arrowsafetyus.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Arrow Safety</a> for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

167: Safety + Media = Narrative?

Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In this episode, we talk with Alexander Paradies from TapRooT® about things that can cloud our ability to see real problems in our processes and even comprehend "risky" situations and project what might happen. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit Arrow Safety for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In this episode, we talk with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-paradies-taproot-root-cause-analysis/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Alexander Paradies</a> from <a href="https://www.taproot.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">TapRooT</a>® about things that can cloud our ability to see real problems in our processes and even comprehend "risky" situations and project what might happen. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your facility marking needs. Order your free sample of floor tape TODAY! Visit <a href="https://arrowsafetyus.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Arrow Safety</a> for all of your safety service needs. Remember to mention we sent you to get 25% off your estimate!

166: Biases in Incident Deep Dives w/Alexander Paradies

Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In this episode, Lori Frederic, from Balance Biomechanics, the ever-evolving injury prevention profession. Listen up, safety pros; this is good information as you look for a service provider in this industry. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Mighty Line Tape for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In this episode, Lori Frederic, from <a href="https://www.themovementninja.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Balance Biomechanics</a>, the ever-evolving injury prevention profession. Listen up, safety pros; this is good information as you look for a service provider in this industry. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

165: The Evolving Injury Prevention Field w/Lori Frederic

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!   Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In this episode, we talk about safety training with our good friend, Drew Hinton, President of Arrow Safety. The discussion includes some interesting aspects of safety training, some OSHA interpretations, and what it means to be a "qualified" trainer. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In this episode, we talk about safety training with our good friend, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-hinton/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Drew Hinton</a>, President of <a href="https://arrowsafetyus.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Arrow Safety</a>. The discussion includes some interesting aspects of safety training, some OSHA interpretations, and what it means to be a "qualified" trainer. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

164: What is Safety Training? w/Drew Hinton

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In this episode, I talk to Alex Paradies from TapRooT® about making the shift from normalization of deviation toward normalizing excellence! Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In this episode, I talk to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-paradies-taproot-root-cause-analysis/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Alex Paradies</a> from <a href="https://www.taproot.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">TapRooT®</a> about making the shift from normalization of deviation toward normalizing excellence! Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

163: Normalization of Deviation w/Alex Paradies

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In her sixth appearance on the podcast, Lori Frederic talks about conditioning ourselves for the movements we can expect to engage in throughout the day. Be sure to visit Balance Biomechanics to learn more about Fit Stop resources.  Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In her sixth appearance on the podcast, Lori Frederic talks about conditioning ourselves for the movements we can expect to engage in throughout the day. Be sure to visit <a href="https://www.themovementninja.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Balance Biomechanics</a> to learn more about Fit Stop resources.  Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

162: Should We Bend & Twist? w/Lori Frederic

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In this episode, we talk with Paul Radke, from Columbia Southern University about Occupational Safety &amp; Health degree programs and Blaine's educational journey with CSU. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Visit Mighty Line Tape for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In this episode, we talk with Paul Radke, from <a href="https://start.columbiasouthern.edu/brand/SL-osh-b?utm_source=googlebrand&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_campaign=brand&amp;utm_campaignid=35119190&amp;keyword=columbia%20southern%20university&amp;utm_matchtype=e&amp;device=c&amp;utm_network=g&amp;utm_adposition=&amp;geo=9015841&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKkQq90dpC-yALnW_aEZYkwWY61udXRMAGYF85Ytu5xSMwmUilsHkcaAkE-EALw_wcB&amp;affiliate_id=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKkQq90dpC-yALnW_aEZYkwWY61udXRMAGYF85Ytu5xSMwmUilsHkcaAkE-EALw_wcB&amp;utm_content=search&amp;utm_contentid=1211732930&amp;utm_placement=&amp;extension=&amp;utm_contentid=1211732930&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKkQq90dpC-yALnW_aEZYkwWY61udXRMAGYF85Ytu5xSMwmUilsHkcaAkE-EALw_wcB" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Columbia Southern University</a> about Occupational Safety &amp; Health degree programs and Blaine's educational journey with <a href="https://start.columbiasouthern.edu/brand/SL-osh-b?utm_source=googlebrand&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_campaign=brand&amp;utm_campaignid=35119190&amp;keyword=columbia%20southern%20university&amp;utm_matchtype=e&amp;device=c&amp;utm_network=g&amp;utm_adposition=&amp;geo=9015841&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKkQq90dpC-yALnW_aEZYkwWY61udXRMAGYF85Ytu5xSMwmUilsHkcaAkE-EALw_wcB&amp;affiliate_id=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKkQq90dpC-yALnW_aEZYkwWY61udXRMAGYF85Ytu5xSMwmUilsHkcaAkE-EALw_wcB&amp;utm_content=search&amp;utm_contentid=1211732930&amp;utm_placement=&amp;extension=&amp;utm_contentid=1211732930&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKkQq90dpC-yALnW_aEZYkwWY61udXRMAGYF85Ytu5xSMwmUilsHkcaAkE-EALw_wcB" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">CSU</a>. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro.  <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Visit <a href="https://mightylinetape.com/pages/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mighty Line Tape</a> for all of your floor marking and facility sign needs

161: Occupational Safety & Health Degrees at CSU w/Paul Radke

No management theory, platitudes, or guru speak - just actionable workplace safety and health info you can use right now.

An absolute great resource on a topic that can be tricky when you find yourself dealing with it.

Great Resource

What a great resource for a topic that is so important!!

Great Info!!

The Safety Pro Podcast

Powered by iReportSource  Every safety leader wakes up each morning looking to avoid any accidents. And, each day, you want to take steps to improve your culture of safety. That’s no easy task, which is part of why an analytics dashboard is so helpful in giving you the information you need to do just that. Listen to this episode to get a quick introduction into 4 ways you can use data to improve your safety culture. Use data to drive shared accountability A great scorecard tells a story of what’s happened, what’s currently happening, and what needs to be done next. Part of that picture is also about improving accountability to make sure what needs to happen does happen. iReport’s dashboard is one example of a tool that supports accountability and improvement: it shares accountability documents created, proactive reports, critical actions needed, the number of days without incidents, the number of incidents, the type of incidents, and more. In doing so, it helps to make the connection between what’s been done and what needs to be done, and why. As simple as it sounds, knowing just what to do and being held clearly responsible for it is invaluable in supporting a safer culture. Use data to show costs avoided It’s clear that there are costs to any incident or accident. Direct costs include property damage, theft, workers’ comp, fatalities, lawsuits related to injuries (or worse!), and legal fees in general, just to name a few. But if an incident happens, there’s also harm done to your company’s brand and goodwill, your reputation, and it affects employees’ trust and morale. It can negatively affect productivity and it can affect the kind of talent you’re able to recruit and hire in the future. What’s more: there is also a long list of indirect costs: downtime per day, distraction, and your insurance premium increase. The point is this: effective data will allow you to show at least some of these indirect costs. That’s a powerful tool when it comes to showing ROI and in giving a strong rationale for future safety investments. Use data to take the guesswork out of corrective actions One of the best ways to see if your data is working for you: whether or not your data has the ability to prevent future occurrences of a similar or same type of incident. If your data (or dashboard) isn’t informing you of ways to make changes, you have a major opportunity for improvement. For example, iReportSource’s dashboard generates a real-time view of near miss by type, top causes for corrective action, and Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR). It also gives you a snapshot of other key incident and inspection metrics. Based on what’s most meaningful to your company, it captures behavior-based steps/actions that have occurred so you can know exactly what’s going on and where. Use data to keep everyone in-the-know Whatever dashboard you use, be sure that anyone—from upper management to HR to safety—has quick access to your report. When everyone does have that access, there’s no more waiting on the safety leader (or another person) to send the report. That means your data is more real-time and more actionable than ever. Finally, you can easily show exactly how safety is improving each month and why. Plus, if someone leaves your company, you’re not stuck trying to figure out what he or she had completed in terms of data collection. Let me know what you think. Send an email to info@thesafetypropodcast.com and share with me the tools you use! Also, leave a rank and review on Apple Podcast, it helps others find the show and assists me in making improvements. If you think of it, find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

Powered by <a href="https://ireportsource.com/?utm_source=SafetyPro%20Podcast&amp;utm_medium=SafetyPro%20Blog&amp;utm_campaign=SafetyPro%204%20Ways%20to%20Use%20Data%20to%20Improve%20Safety" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> Every safety leader wakes up each morning looking to avoid any accidents. And, each day, you want to take steps to improve your culture of safety. That’s no easy task, which is part of why an<a href="https://ireportsource.com/analytics-preview-2/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> analytics dashboard</a> is so helpful in giving you the information you need to do just that. Listen to this episode to get a quick introduction into 4 ways you can use data to improve your safety culture. Use data to drive shared accountability A great scorecard tells a story of what’s happened, what’s currently happening, and what needs to be done next. Part of that picture is also about improving accountability to make sure what needs to happen does happen. iReport’s dashboard is one example of a tool that supports accountability and improvement: it shares accountability documents created, proactive reports, critical actions needed, the number of days without incidents, the number of incidents, the type of incidents, and more. In doing so, it helps to make the connection between what’s been done and what needs to be done, and why. As simple as it sounds, knowing just what to do and being held clearly responsible for it is invaluable in supporting a safer culture. Use data to show costs avoided It’s clear that there are costs to any incident or accident. Direct costs include property damage, theft, workers’ comp, fatalities, lawsuits related to injuries (or worse!), and legal fees in general, just to name a few. But if an incident happens, there’s also harm done to your company’s brand and goodwill, your reputation, and it affects employees’ trust and morale. It can negatively affect productivity and it can affect the kind of talent you’re able to recruit and hire in the future. What’s more: there is also a long list of indirect costs: downtime per day, distraction, and your insurance premium increase. The point is this: effective data will allow you to show at least some of these indirect costs. That’s a powerful tool when it comes to<a href="https://ireportsource.com/how-to-use-data-to-drive-safety-roi/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> showing ROI</a> and in giving a strong rationale for future safety investments. Use data to take the guesswork out of corrective actions One of the best ways to see if your data is working for you: whether or not<a href="https://ireportsource.com/tips-for-using-data-to-improve-safety/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> your data has the ability to prevent future occurrences</a> of a similar or same type of incident. If your data (or dashboard) isn’t informing you of ways to make changes, you have a major opportunity for improvement. For example, iReportSource’s dashboard generates a real-time view of near miss by type, top causes for corrective action, and Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR). It also gives you a snapshot of other key incident and inspection metrics. Based on what’s most meaningful to your company, it captures behavior-based steps/actions that have occurred so you can know exactly what’s going on and where. Use data to keep everyone in-the-know Whatever dashboard you use, be sure that anyone—from upper management to HR to safety—has quick access to your report. When everyone does have that access, there’s no more waiting on the safety leader (or another person) to send the report. That means your data is more real-time and more actionable than ever. Finally, you can easily show exactly how safety is improving each month and why. Plus, if someone leaves your company, you’re not stuck trying to figure out what he or she had completed in terms of data collection. Let me know what you think. Send an email to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a> and share with me the tools you use! Also, leave a rank and review on Apple Podcast, it helps others find the show and assists me in making improvements. If you think of it, find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter!</a>

060: 4 Ways to Use Data to Improve Your Safety Culture

In this episode, I discuss the importance of meaningful employee involvement in the safety and health management system.   Some barriers to employee involvement in the safety and health management system:   -Disregarding the fact that all injuries and illnesses result from exposure to hazards. -Perception by employees that management is primarily interested in disciplining “un-safe” acts without adequately addressing hazards and root causes. -Personnel actions, such as promotions, compensation, demotions, disciplines, and re-assignments that are administered in such a way as to reduce or undermine the commitment to safety. -Treating worker behavior as though it is a root or underlying cause rather than identifying hazards or system-related causes. -Administering a post-accident program, such as drug testing, in a way that discourages injury reporting -Not implementing hazard recognition and control measures and/or ignoring the hierarchy of controls. -Blaming employees with undue emphasis on discipline instead of implementing system changes. -Uneven accountability – focusing only on the line/hourly worker and not addressing “behavior” of supervisors, senior management and corporate leadership. -Employee perception that production takes precedence over their personal safety and health.   Be sure to subscribe, rank and review this podcast so I may improve and to aid others in finding me!

In this episode, I discuss the importance of meaningful employee involvement in the safety and health management system. Some barriers to employee involvement in the safety and health management system: -Disregarding the fact that all injuries and illnesses result from exposure to hazards. -Perception by employees that management is primarily interested in disciplining “un-safe” acts without adequately addressing hazards and root causes. -Personnel actions, such as promotions, compensation, demotions, disciplines, and re-assignments that are administered in such a way as to reduce or undermine the commitment to safety. -Treating worker behavior as though it is a root or underlying cause rather than identifying hazards or system-related causes. -Administering a post-accident program, such as drug testing, in a way that discourages injury reporting -Not implementing hazard recognition and control measures and/or ignoring the hierarchy of controls. -Blaming employees with undue emphasis on discipline instead of implementing system changes. -Uneven accountability – focusing only on the line/hourly worker and not addressing “behavior” of supervisors, senior management and corporate leadership. -Employee perception that production takes precedence over their personal safety and health. Be sure to subscribe, rank and review this podcast so I may improve and to aid others in finding me!

004: Meaningful Employee Involvement in Safety

Powered by iReportSource  Every day, thousands of lives are lost due to work accidents or fatal diseases linked to work activities. These are deaths that could and should have been prevented and must be in the future. Whether you are an employee, a manager or a business owner, you share a common goal – you don’t want anyone to get hurt on the job. Improved productivity stems from ensuring people operate in workplaces that provide transparency and build trust throughout their operation and supply chain. In addition, responsible practices are becoming increasingly important to brands and reputations. ISO 45001 is the world’s first International Standard dealing with health and safety at work. Quite simply, it offers a single, clear framework for all organizations wishing to improve their OH&amp;S performance. Directed at the top management of an organization, it hopes to provide a safe and healthy workplace for employees and visitors. In order to achieve this goal, it is important to control all factors that might result in illness, injury, and in even fatalities, by mitigating the impacts hazards have on the physical, mental and cognitive condition of workers – and ISO 45001 covers all of those aspects. While ISO 45001 does draw on OHSAS 18001 – the previous benchmark for workplace safety – it is a completely new and distinct standard, not simply a dusted off version or revision or a simple update. Organizations will, therefore, need to revise their current thinking and work practices in order to maintain organizational compliance. What are the major differences between OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001? There are many differences, but the main change is that ISO 45001 focuses on the interaction between an organization and its total business environment while OHSAS 18001 was focused on managing hazards and other internal-only issues. But the standards also differ in other ways:  ISO 45001 is process-based – OHSAS 18001 is procedure-based ISO 45001 is dynamic in all clauses – OHSAS 18001 is not ISO 45001 considers both risk and opportunities – OHSAS 18001 deals exclusively with risk ISO 45001 includes the views of interested parties – OHSAS 18001 does not  These points represent a huge shift in the way health and safety management and even viewed in business today. Safety can no longer be treated as a “stand-alone” department or silo. Instead, key safety roles need to be embedded within the company - partnering with the various departments in order to run a sustainable organization. Let's see what ISO.org has to say: My company already follows OHSAS 18001. How do I start to switch over to ISO 45001? When moving over from OHSAS 18001, there are some steps you have to take in order to lay the groundwork for ISO 45001. Here are a few steps ISO.org says you will need to take to get started:  Perform the analysis of interested parties (those individuals or organizations that can affect your organization’s activities) as well as internal and external factors that might impact your organization’s business, then ask yourself how these risks can be controlled through your management system. Establish the scope of the system, while considering what your management system is set to achieve. Use this information to establish your processes, your risk evaluation/assessment and, most importantly, to set the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the processes.  Once you have adapted all the data to the tools of OHSAS 18001, you can reuse most of what you already have in your new management system. So, while the approach is quite different, the basic tools are the same. What do I need to know if I am new to ISO 45001? The answer depends on how much you know about ISO management systems. ISO 45001 adopts Annex SL, thus sharing a high-level structure (HLS), identical core text and terms and definitions with other recently revised ISO management system standards such as ISO 9001:2015 (quality management) and ISO 14001:2015 (environmental management). If you are already acquainted with the common framework, then much of ISO 45001 will seem familiar to you and you will just need to fill the “gaps” in your system. If this is not the case, things could be a little more tricky. The standard is not easy to apprehend when you read it as a normal book. You have to realize all the interconnections between the specific clauses. The best advice would be to find a good training course to help you unlock the standard’s full potential. You may also want to consider employing consultancy services to assist you in the process. See the entire ISO.org article here: https://www.iso.org/news/ref2271.html How can I compare my safety management system against ISO 45001? The best thing to do is to use the checklist that you can download HERE Let me know what you think. Send an email to info@thesafetypropodcast.com and share with me your thoughts about ISO 45001. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Powered by <a href="https://ireportsource.com/?utm_source=SafetyPro%20Podcast&amp;utm_medium=SafetyPro%20Blog&amp;utm_campaign=SafetyPro%20ISO%2045001&amp;utm_content=SafetyPro%20ISO%2045001" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> Every day, thousands of lives are lost due to work accidents or fatal diseases linked to work activities. These are deaths that could and should have been prevented and must be in the future. Whether you are an employee, a manager or a business owner, you share a common goal – you don’t want anyone to get hurt on the job. Improved productivity stems from ensuring people operate in workplaces that provide transparency and build trust throughout their operation and supply chain. In addition, responsible practices are becoming increasingly important to brands and reputations. ISO 45001 is the world’s first International Standard dealing with health and safety at work. Quite simply, it offers a single, clear framework for all organizations wishing to improve their OH&amp;S performance. Directed at the top management of an organization, it hopes to provide a safe and healthy workplace for employees and visitors. In order to achieve this goal, it is important to control all factors that might result in illness, injury, and in even fatalities, by mitigating the impacts hazards have on the physical, mental and cognitive condition of workers – and ISO 45001 covers all of those aspects. While ISO 45001 does draw on OHSAS 18001 – the previous benchmark for workplace safety – it is a completely new and distinct standard, not simply a dusted off version or revision or a simple update. Organizations will, therefore, need to revise their current thinking and work practices in order to maintain organizational compliance. What are the major differences between OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001? There are many differences, but the main change is that ISO 45001 focuses on the interaction between an organization and its total business environment while OHSAS 18001 was focused on managing hazards and other internal-only issues. But the standards also differ in other ways: <ul> <li>ISO 45001 is process-based – OHSAS 18001 is procedure-based</li> <li>ISO 45001 is dynamic in all clauses – OHSAS 18001 is not</li> <li>ISO 45001 considers both risk and opportunities – OHSAS 18001 deals exclusively with risk</li> <li>ISO 45001 includes the views of interested parties – OHSAS 18001 does not</li> </ul> These points represent a huge shift in the way health and safety management and even viewed in business today. Safety can no longer be treated as a “stand-alone” department or silo. Instead, key safety roles need to be embedded within the company - partnering with the various departments in order to run a sustainable organization. Let's see what <a href="http://ISO.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ISO.org</a> has to say: My company already follows OHSAS 18001. How do I start to switch over to ISO 45001? When moving over from OHSAS 18001, there are some steps you have to take in order to lay the groundwork for ISO 45001. Here are a few steps <a href="http://ISO.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ISO.org</a> says you will need to take to get started: <ol> <li>Perform the analysis of interested parties (those individuals or organizations that can affect your organization’s activities) as well as internal and external factors that might impact your organization’s business, then ask yourself how these risks can be controlled through your management system.</li> <li>Establish the scope of the system, while considering what your management system is set to achieve.</li> <li>Use this information to establish your processes, your risk evaluation/assessment and, most importantly, to set the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the processes.</li> </ol> Once you have adapted all the data to the tools of OHSAS 18001, you can reuse most of what you already have in your new management system. So, while the approach is quite different, the basic tools are the same. What do I need to know if I am new to ISO 45001? The answer depends on how much you know about ISO management systems. ISO 45001 adopts Annex SL, thus sharing a high-level structure (HLS), identical core text and terms and definitions with other recently revised ISO management system standards such as ISO 9001:2015 (quality management) and ISO 14001:2015 (environmental management). If you are already acquainted with the common framework, then much of ISO 45001 will seem familiar to you and you will just need to fill the “gaps” in your system. If this is not the case, things could be a little more tricky. The standard is not easy to apprehend when you read it as a normal book. You have to realize all the interconnections between the specific clauses. The best advice would be to find a good training course to help you unlock the standard’s full potential. You may also want to consider employing consultancy services to assist you in the process. See the entire <a href="http://ISO.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ISO.org</a> article here: <a href="https://www.iso.org/news/ref2271.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.iso.org/news/ref2271.html</a> How can I compare my safety management system against ISO 45001? The best thing to do is to use the checklist that you can download <a href="http://eepurl.com/gkyeNf" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a> Let me know what you think. Send an email to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a> and share with me your thoughts about ISO 45001. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter!</a>

064: Is Your Safety Management System ISO 45001 Ready?

Have you ever heard the recommendation to conduct periodic reviews of the safety and health management system? Ever wonder what was meant by the term 'system'? I want to take some time and talk about what is involved in a comprehensive Safety and Health Management System review. You may have heard this phrase and wondered what exactly does it mean? So let's break it down. Basically, the safety and health management system starts (at least initially) with a review of all facilities, machines, chemicals, tasks, etc. to determine hazards. If you listened to my previous episode, I talked about how to go about conducting such an assessment in preparation for writing a safety manual, which will become a part of this management system. So that assessment kicks off a cycle. 

Have you ever heard the recommendation to conduct periodic reviews of the safety and health management system? Ever wonder what was meant by the term 'system'? I want to take some time and talk about what is involved in a comprehensive Safety and Health Management System review. You may have heard this phrase and wondered what exactly does it mean? So let's break it down. Basically, the safety and health management system starts (at least initially) with a review of all facilities, machines, chemicals, tasks, etc. to determine hazards. If you listened to my previous episode, I talked about how to go about conducting such an assessment in preparation for writing a safety manual, which will become a part of this management system. So that assessment kicks off a cycle.

003: What Does Leadership Support For Safety Mean?

 In this episode, I answer listener questions about workplace safety and compliance. To leave me a voice message with a question to answer on the podcast please visit my website. Click HERE to ask the SafetyPro!  Also mentioned in this episode is my 5 tips to navigate the OSHA website without losing your mind! You really want this cheat sheet if you find yourself looking up info on their website. Click HERE to get it now!

<ol> <li>In this episode, I answer listener questions about workplace safety and compliance. To leave me a voice message with a question to answer on the podcast please visit my <a href="http://www.consulthoffmann.com/get-in-touch-with-me/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">website</a>. Click <a href="http://www.consulthoffmann.com/get-in-touch-with-me/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a> to ask the SafetyPro!</li> </ol> Also mentioned in this episode is my <a href="https://consulthoffmann.leadpages.net/5-tips-to-using-oshagov/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">5 tips to navigate the OSHA website</a> without losing your mind! You really want this cheat sheet if you find yourself looking up info on their website. Click <a href="https://consulthoffmann.leadpages.net/5-tips-to-using-oshagov/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a> to get it now!

005: Safety Questions from Listeners

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! What are some of the top mistakes employers make when it comes to OSHA recordkeeping? (article link HERE) Even with good intentions, here are some of the top mistakes that can happen, resulting in major headaches and even citations:  Not understanding what an OSHA-recordable work restriction is Not using enough detail in records Not using a system to track employees’ days away from work and other events Not keeping OSHA 300 logs up to date during the required 5-year storage period Lack of alignment between workers’ comp recordkeeping and OSHA recordkeeping  Let’s take a closer look at some of these common errors, and what steps you can take to avoid making the same missteps. 1. Not understanding what an OSHA-recordable work restriction is Don’t make the mistake of believing an injury is not recordable as a work restriction if your injured employee is still doing useful work, even if that work is within their job description. Just because you’ve worked at another employer that made this mistake, don’t make this same error, even if it’s a misunderstanding of the regulation up until now (2, 6). Recognize how OSHA states how much it comes down to the routine functions of the worker: Restricted work occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness: You keep the employee from performing one or more of the routine functions of his or her job, or from working the full workday that he or she would otherwise have been scheduled to work; or A physician or other licensed health-care professional recommends that the employee not perform one or more of the routine functions of his or her job, or not work the full workday that he or she would otherwise have been scheduled to work [emphasis added] (2, 6). 2. Not using enough detail in records Be sure you accurately report and record all injuries—each and every time. That means including as many specific details as possible in case you need to defend a certain incident or issue. For example, that may include factors such as:  Where the injury or incident happened The incident and event The source Events leading up to the incident and immediately after Equipment involved—and the state of that equipment The exact nature of the injury or illness (4)  With iReportSource, you have a guided process that was designed to help make sure all information is collected and recorded in an accurate and detailed way…no matter what worker is collecting that information for future use. A major part of this is making sure you have a way for all workers to record and/or report work-related injuries, illnesses, and incidents. If there’s no simple and accessible way to do so, it’s going to be much harder to make sure that information is consistently gathered in a detailed, comprehensive manner. 3. Not using a system to track employees’ days away from work and other events Do you have detailed information on what’s happening with all your incidents and/or claims? And are you able to easily see the ongoing status of any injured worker, no matter how long they’ve been away from work? (2) One of the biggest errors employers can make is forgetting to track the days away from work once an employee has stopped reporting to work. You also don’t want to be in the dark when it comes to updates to an employee’s health that comes from their physician (2). To fix this potential error, make sure you have a system that can track and monitor these types of subsequent events. With that kind of visibility, recordkeepers can consistently track them—and you can put that knowledge to use, too, so you can mitigate risks that have been causing those accidents in the first place. 4. Not keeping OSHA 300 logs up to date during the required 5-year storage period If requested by OSHA, would you be able to present your five-year history of logs with 4 hours? Many organizations, for a number of reasons, fail to maintain their OSHA 300 Log during the five-year storage period. Updating and maintenance include newly discovered recordable injuries or illnesses. It also includes documenting changes that have occurred in the classification of previously recorded injuries and illnesses. If the description or outcome of a case changes, you must remove or line out the original entry and enter the new information (1, 3). The bottom line: make sure they are maintained, and make sure they are easily accessible so you can always provide those up-to-date copies to OSHA. 5. Lack of alignment between workers’ comp recordkeeping and OSHA recordkeeping Yes, these are separate records, but information on workers’ comp records and OSHA records should at least coordinate and the information should be able to line up accordingly. That also means if OSHA were to ask to see your workers’ comp records, the information provided should be able to align with your OSHA log—or else, you should be ready to explain why it doesn’t (5). Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro. Become a PREMIUM member today! Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Sources:  https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/tutorial/508.html  https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/10-osha-recordkeeping-questions-employers-get-wrong  https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.33  https://mn.gov/admin/assets/osha_log_recordkeeping_tips_resources_tcm36-252552.pdf  https://vividlearningsystems.com/blog/how-to-avoid-safety-recordkeeping-errors-citations  https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=9638&amp;p_table=STANDARDS 

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> What are some of the top mistakes employers make when it comes to OSHA recordkeeping? (article link <a href="https://ireportsource.com/5-common-osha-recordkeeping-errors-you-want-to-avoid/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a>) Even with good intentions, here are some of the top mistakes that can happen, resulting in major headaches and even citations: <ol> <li>Not understanding what an OSHA-recordable work restriction is</li> <li>Not using enough detail in records</li> <li>Not using a system to track employees’ days away from work and other events</li> <li>Not keeping OSHA 300 logs up to date during the required 5-year storage period</li> <li>Lack of alignment between workers’ comp recordkeeping and OSHA recordkeeping</li> </ol> Let’s take a closer look at some of these common errors, and what steps you can take to avoid making the same missteps. 1. Not understanding what an OSHA-recordable work restriction is Don’t make the mistake of <a href="https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=9638&amp;p_table=STANDARDS" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">believing an injury is not recordable</a> as a work restriction if your injured employee is still doing useful work, even if that work is within their job description. Just because you’ve worked at another employer that made this mistake, don’t make this same error, even if it’s a misunderstanding of the regulation up until now (2, 6). Recognize how OSHA states how much it comes down to the routine functions of the worker: Restricted work occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness: You keep the employee from performing one or more of the routine functions of his or her job, or from working the full workday that he or she would otherwise have been scheduled to work; or A physician or other licensed health-care professional recommends that the employee not perform one or more of the routine functions of his or her job, or not work the full workday that he or she would otherwise have been scheduled to work [emphasis added] (2, 6). 2. Not using enough detail in records Be sure you <a href="https://ireportsource.com/avoid-these-4-common-osha-recordkeeping-errors/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">accurately report and record all injuries</a>—each and every time. That means including as many specific details as possible in case you need to defend a certain incident or issue. For example, that may include factors such as: <ul> <li>Where the injury or incident happened</li> <li>The incident and event</li> <li>The source</li> <li>Events leading up to the incident and immediately after</li> <li>Equipment involved—and the state of that equipment</li> <li>The exact nature of the injury or illness (4)</li> </ul> With iReportSource, you have a guided process that was designed to help make sure all information is collected and recorded in an accurate and detailed way…no matter what worker is collecting that information for future use. A major part of this is making sure you <a href="https://ireportsource.com/reporting-3/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">have a way for all workers to record and/or report work-related injuries</a>, illnesses, and incidents. If there’s no simple and accessible way to do so, it’s going to be much harder to make sure that information is consistently gathered in a detailed, comprehensive manner. 3. Not using a system to track employees’ days away from work and other events Do you have detailed information on what’s happening with all your incidents and/or claims? And are you able to easily see the ongoing status of any injured worker, no matter how long they’ve been away from work? (2) One of the biggest errors employers can make is forgetting to track the days away from work once an employee has stopped reporting to work. You also don’t want to be in the dark when it comes to updates to an employee’s health that comes from their physician (2). To fix this potential error, make sure you <a href="https://ireportsource.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">have a system that can track and monitor these types of subsequent events</a>. With that kind of visibility, recordkeepers can consistently track them—and you can put that knowledge to use, too, so you can mitigate risks that have been causing those accidents in the first place. 4. Not keeping OSHA 300 logs up to date during the required 5-year storage period If requested by OSHA, would you be able to present your five-year history of logs with 4 hours? Many organizations, for a number of reasons, fail to maintain their OSHA 300 Log during the five-year storage period. Updating and maintenance include newly discovered recordable injuries or illnesses. It also includes documenting changes that have occurred in the classification of previously recorded injuries and illnesses. If the description or outcome of a case changes, you must remove or line out the original entry and enter the new information (1, 3). The bottom line: make sure they are maintained, and make sure they are easily accessible so you can always provide those up-to-date copies to OSHA. 5. Lack of alignment between workers’ comp recordkeeping and OSHA recordkeeping Yes, these are separate records, but information on workers’ comp records and OSHA records should at least coordinate and the information should be able to line up accordingly. That also means if OSHA were to ask to see your workers’ comp records, the information provided should be able to align with your OSHA log—or else, you should be ready to explain why it doesn’t (5). Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro. Become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">PREMIUM member today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Sources: <ol> <li><a href="https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/tutorial/508.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/tutorial/508.html</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/10-osha-recordkeeping-questions-employers-get-wrong" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/10-osha-recordkeeping-questions-employers-get-wrong</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.33" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.33</a></li> <li><a href="https://mn.gov/admin/assets/osha_log_recordkeeping_tips_resources_tcm36-252552.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://mn.gov/admin/assets/osha_log_recordkeeping_tips_resources_tcm36-252552.pdf</a></li> <li><a href="https://vividlearningsystems.com/blog/how-to-avoid-safety-recordkeeping-errors-citations" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://vividlearningsystems.com/blog/how-to-avoid-safety-recordkeeping-errors-citations</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=9638&amp;p_table=STANDARDS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=9638&amp;p_table=STANDARDS</a></li> </ol>

057: 5 Common OSHA Recordkeeping Errors to Avoid

Powered by iReportSource  How workers show up each day directly shapes your culture. To be an engaged, safe, productive culture, we want our people highly involved and deeply committed to the company mission. No doubt that today, many organizations are seeking to create and sustain this kind of engaged company culture. That's why we're taking a closer look at just a few of the top ways we can ensure that the systems, the processes, the values, and the norms of your organization all help to improve the employee experience. Let's talk about a few strategies you can embed in your culture so you can improve employee engagement. Make accountability a high priority A positive safety culture is one where someone feels safe enough to say to a colleague, "I noticed that you're not wearing your safety glasses." In turn, we want that colleague to respect the other person enough to respond positively and change their behavior. The values of the team, in such organizations, reinforce constructive accountability. Workers look out for one another, and they can communicate with one another in a positive way that upholds the values of the company. That might be safety, or it might be something else like an approach towards customer service. Individual and team accountability also help work against over-confidence or complacency that can happen over time, despite how "engaged" a worker is. Accountability is communication, trust, ownership. In my next episode, I will go over five ways to promote accountability. But for now, know that accountability is a critical factor in driving engagement. Give workers the right amount of authority If you want to drive accountability, you also must match that with authority. Authority, paired with trust, is what gives workers a sense of empowerment and true ownership in a role or project. If and when authority is missing, workers can easily get disengaged because they don't feel like they can genuinely impact the desired outcome. Just think: if you ask a high performer to complete a project, but they lack the resources (time, talent, equipment, etc.), that's a real disconnect. That's precisely the kind of scenario that can result in a high degree of stress. To support giving your employees a real sense of authority, make sure:  The authority given aligns with the outcomes you want to see You show you trust workers with that responsibility and authority Workers know what is expected of them, given their role and responsibilities Workers have the resources, tools, equipment to do the work the right way  Get workers as involved as possible Provide ample opportunity and space for workers to be as involved as possible at work, in safety-related efforts, and in other areas, as well. Make sure you have a structure that can allow them to give suggestions and feedback as to how safety can be improved. It's essential to not only provide the opportunity for ideas but demonstrate that action will be taken to address those suggestions, too. That way, people feel empowered and have a greater sense of ownership. Plus, workers will feel like they have a stake in the outcome and in shaping the environment at work. Look at the employee experience from end to end Can you confidently say that the organization is showing it holistically cares for employees throughout the entire experience they have with you? That experience starts even before starting their job! Start thinking of the "employee experience" in terms of every interaction a worker has with your organization. That means from recruitment (or even before that) until the day they exit the company. To name a few, that can include:  The recruitment process The hiring process The onboarding process The work environment(s) The work processes The career path or learning opportunities provided The ongoing communication (informal and formal) provided Coaching sessions or mentoring sessions that are a part of the job, whether formal or informal. The ways input and feedback are collected and acted upon Incentives/compensation The opportunity for training and ongoing education Employee recognition program Exit surveys and exit process in general  The list goes on and on. The point is that the employee experience starts when they first interact with your organization and continues until they potentially leave the company. Rather than merely a buzzword (experience), you want to do your best to foster trust in each of these stages. That way, workers deeply care about their role and their impact on the company, no matter where they are in the "experience."  Don't be afraid to challenge the way you do things Do you have the same old safety meeting format? Do you hold a regular safety meeting, even if you don't necessarily have a pressing topic to cover? Be open to challenging the "norms" in your culture to fight complacency and boredom. Being open to changing things when needed, can boost creativity and engagement. Create an environment where you can measure attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors So much of work is about discretionary effort, and so you want to be sure your company is measuring and monitoring levels of engagement in some way. That way, you can be aware of a problem or issue when it arises. The reality is that if employees don't feel safe, accepted, or listened to, they probably aren't as engaged with their work. In other words, if people don't feel like they can be themselves at work, then they don't feel comfortable, which takes away from their ability to do their job optimally. Recognize and reward the right values and practices Companies with safe, productive, and engaged cultures look for opportunities to make the right behaviors as visible as possible, which serves to model and reinforce these behaviors in employees. Focus on intentional positive reinforcement, appreciation, and praise. Every company is different, so build a recognition program or process that works for your organization. Not only does that keep workers feeling appreciated, but it can show you support your company values. Invest in Learning and Development Does your organization support informal and formal mentoring? What about coaching? When was the last time you had a conversation with someone about their progress? A critical component of short-term and long-term engagement is developing your leaders in a variety of ways. That includes training, leadership development, coaching and mentoring, skill development, and helping to forge a path for career growth and advancement. Don't neglect to invest in your employees since it's a powerful tool to help them advance their skills and to keep them engaged and satisfied in their work. Gallup article used with permission. Read the Gallup article here Get "It's the Manager" here. Let me know what you do to drive employee engagement. Post a LinkedIn update, letting me know. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Powered by <a href="http://www.ireportsource.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> How workers show up each day directly shapes your culture. To be an engaged, safe, productive culture, we want our people highly involved and deeply committed to the company mission. No doubt that today, many organizations are seeking to create and sustain this kind of engaged company culture. That's why we're taking a closer look at just a few of the top ways we can ensure that the systems, the processes, the values, and the norms of your organization all help to improve the employee experience. Let's talk about a few strategies you can embed in your culture so you can improve employee engagement. Make accountability a high priority A positive safety culture is one where someone feels safe enough to say to a colleague, "I noticed that you're not wearing your safety glasses." In turn, we want that colleague to respect the other person enough to respond positively and change their behavior. The values of the team, in such organizations, reinforce constructive accountability. Workers look out for one another, and they can communicate with one another in a positive way that upholds the values of the company. That might be safety, or it might be something else like an approach towards customer service. Individual and team accountability also help work against over-confidence or complacency that can happen over time, despite how "engaged" a worker is. Accountability is communication, trust, ownership. In my next episode, I will go over five ways to promote accountability. But for now, know that accountability is a critical factor in driving engagement. Give workers the right amount of authority If you want to drive accountability, you also must match that with authority. Authority, paired with trust, is what gives workers a sense of empowerment and true ownership in a role or project. If and when authority is missing, workers can easily get disengaged because they don't feel like they can genuinely impact the desired outcome. Just think: if you ask a high performer to complete a project, but they lack the resources (time, talent, equipment, etc.), that's a real disconnect. That's precisely the kind of scenario that can result in a high degree of stress. To support giving your employees a real sense of authority, make sure: <ul> <li>The authority given aligns with the outcomes you want to see</li> <li>You show you trust workers with that responsibility and authority</li> <li>Workers know what is expected of them, given their role and responsibilities</li> <li>Workers have the resources, tools, equipment to do the work the right way</li> </ul> Get workers as involved as possible Provide ample opportunity and space for workers to be as involved as possible at work, in safety-related efforts, and in other areas, as well. Make sure you have a structure that can allow them to give suggestions and feedback as to how safety can be improved. It's essential to not only provide the opportunity for ideas but demonstrate that action will be taken to address those suggestions, too. That way, people feel empowered and have a greater sense of ownership. Plus, workers will feel like they have a stake in the outcome and in shaping the environment at work. Look at the employee experience from end to end Can you confidently say that the organization is showing it holistically cares for employees throughout the entire experience they have with you? That experience starts even before starting their job! Start thinking of the "employee experience" in terms of every interaction a worker has with your organization. That means from recruitment (or even before that) until the day they exit the company. To name a few, that can include: <ul> <li>The recruitment process</li> <li>The hiring process</li> <li>The onboarding process</li> <li>The work environment(s)</li> <li>The work processes</li> <li>The career path or learning opportunities provided</li> <li>The ongoing communication (informal and formal) provided</li> <li>Coaching sessions or mentoring sessions that are a part of the job, whether formal or informal.</li> <li>The ways input and feedback are collected and acted upon</li> <li>Incentives/compensation</li> <li>The opportunity for training and ongoing education</li> <li>Employee recognition program</li> <li>Exit surveys and exit process in general</li> </ul> The list goes on and on. The point is that the employee experience starts when they first interact with your organization and continues until they potentially leave the company. Rather than merely a buzzword (experience), you want to do your best to foster trust in each of these stages. That way, workers deeply care about their role and their impact on the company, no matter where they are in the "experience."  Don't be afraid to challenge the way you do things Do you have the same old safety meeting format? Do you hold a regular safety meeting, even if you don't necessarily have a pressing topic to cover? Be open to challenging the "norms" in your culture to fight complacency and boredom. Being open to changing things when needed, can boost creativity and engagement. Create an environment where you can measure attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors So much of work is about discretionary effort, and so you want to be sure your company is measuring and monitoring levels of engagement in some way. That way, you can be aware of a problem or issue when it arises. The reality is that if employees don't feel safe, accepted, or listened to, they probably aren't as engaged with their work. In other words, if people don't feel like they can be themselves at work, then they don't feel comfortable, which takes away from their ability to do their job optimally. Recognize and reward the right values and practices Companies with safe, productive, and engaged cultures look for opportunities to make the right behaviors as visible as possible, which serves to model and reinforce these behaviors in employees. Focus on intentional positive reinforcement, appreciation, and praise. Every company is different, so build a recognition program or process that works for your organization. Not only does that keep workers feeling appreciated, but it can show you support your company values. Invest in Learning and Development Does your organization support informal and formal mentoring? What about coaching? When was the last time you had a conversation with someone about their progress? A critical component of short-term and long-term engagement is developing your leaders in a variety of ways. That includes training, leadership development, coaching and mentoring, skill development, and helping to forge a path for career growth and advancement. Don't neglect to invest in your employees since it's a powerful tool to help them advance their skills and to keep them engaged and satisfied in their work. Gallup article used with permission. <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/257945/ways-create-company-culture-accountability.aspx" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Read the Gallup article here</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/2Q8bz8f" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Get "It's the Manager" here.</a> Let me know what you do to drive employee engagement. Post a LinkedIn update, letting me know. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter.</a>

086: Got Employee Engagement?

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Join the Community of Safety Pros today! In this episode, I want to talk about Lean manufacturing principles and how they can help you transform safety in your organization. If you listen to this podcast regularly (and I hope you do!), you probably have heard me tell you to look at the tools the lean or quality folks use in your organization. And there is a good reason for that, and they CAN help you improve safety processes. I will reference two good books I studied and draw upon their lessons in this episode. One is called Lean Safety: Transforming your safety program with lean management by Robert B. Hafey. The other is called Safety Performance in a Lean Environment: A guide to building safety into a process by Paul F. English. Overview Lean is a manufacturing philosophy that reduces the total cycle time between taking a customer order and the shipment by eliminating waste. What is excellent about lean principles is that they apply to all business processes, especially safety. Also, lean can be used for all types of businesses. Edward Demming is widely considered the father of lean and what became the Toyota Production System (TPS). After WWII, he went to Japan to teach Japanese business leaders how to improve quality, and his work went unnoticed in the US until the early 1980s. Of course, that period is important; it’s when Japanese automakers overtook US companies in quality and productivity. Ford first brought Demming in to help improve their quality. This was when Demming determined Ford’s quality systems were not at fault, but instead, their management practices were. A significant cultural change would be needed. So Demming developed 14 points of management. Let’s go through them and see how they relate to safety:  Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services. Adopt the new philosophy. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by working with a single supplier. Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production, and service. Institute training on the job. Adopt and institute leadership. Drive out fear. Break down barriers between staff areas. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce. Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management. Remove barriers that rob people of pride in workmanship, and eliminate the annual rating or merit system. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone. Put everybody in the company to work accomplishing the transformation.  Tools to Use It is clear to see how universal these can be. Another useful tool we can take from lean (and trust me, there are many, as I have covered in past episodes) is DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analysis, Improve, and Control. Let’s go through what this might look like for safety.  Define: Who is the customer? What is the voice of the customer? What is critical to safety? What is the cost of poor safety? Measure: Cause &amp; Effect fishbone. Is the safety process in control? What is the current safety process performance (or capability)? What actions are being taken to protect the employee/company (containment)? Analysis: Which issues are affecting health &amp; safety the most? At which measurements are you looking? How many samples do you need to conclude this? Improve: What is the ideal solution? What is the proof the solution will work? How many trials are needed? What is the work plan to implement and validate the solution? Control: Can you demonstrate the improvement is sustainable over time? Is the process in control? How do we keep it that way?  Again, here is just one example of how lean principles and tools can be applied to safety. Furthermore, this can empower everyone in an organization to champion safety. So safety leadership doesn’t require a business leader or manager. Shop floor workers can get lean training and begin identifying ways to improve the systems they have to interface with every day, including safety. Examples We see this in accident investigations as well. One of my favorite lines is to focus on the process, not the person. In his book, Lean Safety, Robert Hafey tells a story about accidents at a manufacturer he once toured, where they uncovered a trend involving forklift accidents. Some managers looked into force monitors; these shut down the forklift in the event of an impact requiring operators to seek out a manager to turn it back on. Most of the incidents were hit and runs, with no witnesses. His approach was different. Because they had no idea who caused the damage, since someone other than the driver usually reported it, they needed a plan that removed that aspect from the equation. The approach was to invite a forklift driver (any driver) in that area and help investigate. The drivers were told that they would not be spending time looking for WHO was responsible but instead trying to determine the root cause and develop corrective processes to prevent a recurrence.  They discovered that the majority of the incidents resulted from poorly placed racks, improper clearances, etc. So they went about fixing those things, and wouldn’t you know, soon enough, the drivers that had an incident began self-reporting. The reason is TRUST! The approach to many accident investigations destroys trust - if it focuses on “what did you do wrong?” instead of “how can this be improved?” I remembered at a client site years ago, an operator got a laceration from removing a glove to grab a sample piece of metal off the line for a quality check. Management wanted to issue discipline for removing PPE. The problem was that everyone was issued the same gloves - heavy leather gloves because of the sharp metal edges on their product. But they were also required to cut a sample piece for a quality check. They all knew you could not pick up this thin 4” wide sample with those gloves on. So, everyone, every worker removed their glove to do so. And management knew this. But the others had not gotten a laceration…yet. So issuing discipline would destroy trust and drive reporting underground. Also, it did NOTHING to address the root cause; the conditions remained the same. Therefore they were doomed to repeat this cycle. By focusing on the process, we determined that those gloves' form, fit, and function (on that line anyway) needed to change. We brought in samples for operators to try and then score based on cut resistance level needed and dexterity. That operator became a part of the solution, not just another victim of a hazard of the job. I could go on with hundreds of stories like this that I have seen. But let’s save those for future episodes! Conclusion The main takeaway I want you to get here is to look toward Lean principles to help you improve safety. Mainly build the trust needed to create a collaborative environment where you turn workers into champions for change and improvement across all business areas. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a SafetyPro Community member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro. Become a PREMIUM member today! Join the Community of Safety Pros today!

<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> In this episode, I want to talk about Lean manufacturing principles and how they can help you transform safety in your organization. If you listen to this podcast regularly (and I hope you do!), you probably have heard me tell you to look at the tools the lean or quality folks use in your organization. And there is a good reason for that, and they CAN help you improve safety processes. I will reference two good books I studied and draw upon their lessons in this episode. One is called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Safety-Transforming-Culture-Management/dp/1439816425/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=6ce4b1c86e08a8ded4f429e63ce73907&amp;creativeASIN=1439816425" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Lean Safety: Transforming your safety program with lean management by Robert B. Hafey</a>. The other is called Safety Performance in a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Safety-Performance-Lean-Environment-Occupational/dp/1439821127/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=5ef345811964cb7d055510ecf44609d7&amp;creativeASIN=1439821127" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Lean Environment: A guide to building safety into a process by Paul F. English.</a> Overview Lean is a manufacturing philosophy that reduces the total cycle time between taking a customer order and the shipment by eliminating waste. What is excellent about lean principles is that they apply to all business processes, especially safety. Also, lean can be used for all types of businesses. Edward Demming is widely considered the father of lean and what became the Toyota Production System (TPS). After WWII, he went to Japan to teach Japanese business leaders how to improve quality, and his work went unnoticed in the US until the early 1980s. Of course, that period is important; it’s when Japanese automakers overtook US companies in quality and productivity. Ford first brought Demming in to help improve their quality. This was when Demming determined Ford’s quality systems were not at fault, but instead, their management practices were. A significant cultural change would be needed. So Demming developed 14 points of management. Let’s go through them and see how they relate to safety: <ol> <li>Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services.</li> <li>Adopt the new philosophy.</li> <li>Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.</li> <li>End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by working with a single supplier.</li> <li>Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production, and service.</li> <li>Institute training on the job.</li> <li>Adopt and institute leadership.</li> <li>Drive out fear.</li> <li>Break down barriers between staff areas.</li> <li>Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce.</li> <li>Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management.</li> <li>Remove barriers that rob people of pride in workmanship, and eliminate the annual rating or merit system.</li> <li>Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone.</li> <li>Put everybody in the company to work accomplishing the transformation.</li> </ol> Tools to Use It is clear to see how universal these can be. Another useful tool we can take from lean (and trust me, there are many, as I have covered in past episodes) is DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analysis, Improve, and Control. Let’s go through what this might look like for safety. <ul> <li>Define: Who is the customer? What is the voice of the customer? What is critical to safety? What is the cost of poor safety?</li> <li>Measure: Cause &amp; Effect fishbone. Is the safety process in control? What is the current safety process performance (or capability)? What actions are being taken to protect the employee/company (containment)?</li> <li>Analysis: Which issues are affecting health &amp; safety the most? At which measurements are you looking? How many samples do you need to conclude this?</li> <li>Improve: What is the ideal solution? What is the proof the solution will work? How many trials are needed? What is the work plan to implement and validate the solution?</li> <li>Control: Can you demonstrate the improvement is sustainable over time? Is the process in control? How do we keep it that way?</li> </ul> Again, here is just one example of how lean principles and tools can be applied to safety. Furthermore, this can empower everyone in an organization to champion safety. So safety leadership doesn’t require a business leader or manager. Shop floor workers can get lean training and begin identifying ways to improve the systems they have to interface with every day, including safety. Examples We see this in accident investigations as well. One of my favorite lines is to focus on the process, not the person. In his book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Safety-Transforming-Culture-Management/dp/1439816425/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=6ce4b1c86e08a8ded4f429e63ce73907&amp;creativeASIN=1439816425" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Lean Safety, Robert Hafey</a> tells a story about accidents at a manufacturer he once toured, where they uncovered a trend involving forklift accidents. Some managers looked into force monitors; these shut down the forklift in the event of an impact requiring operators to seek out a manager to turn it back on. Most of the incidents were hit and runs, with no witnesses. His approach was different. Because they had no idea who caused the damage, since someone other than the driver usually reported it, they needed a plan that removed that aspect from the equation. The approach was to invite a forklift driver (any driver) in that area and help investigate. The drivers were told that they would not be spending time looking for WHO was responsible but instead trying to determine the root cause and develop corrective processes to prevent a recurrence.  They discovered that the majority of the incidents resulted from poorly placed racks, improper clearances, etc. So they went about fixing those things, and wouldn’t you know, soon enough, the drivers that had an incident began self-reporting. The reason is TRUST! The approach to many accident investigations destroys trust - if it focuses on “what did you do wrong?” instead of “how can this be improved?” I remembered at a client site years ago, an operator got a laceration from removing a glove to grab a sample piece of metal off the line for a quality check. Management wanted to issue discipline for removing PPE. The problem was that everyone was issued the same gloves - heavy leather gloves because of the sharp metal edges on their product. But they were also required to cut a sample piece for a quality check. They all knew you could not pick up this thin 4” wide sample with those gloves on. So, everyone, every worker removed their glove to do so. And management knew this. But the others had not gotten a laceration…yet. So issuing discipline would destroy trust and drive reporting underground. Also, it did NOTHING to address the root cause; the conditions remained the same. Therefore they were doomed to repeat this cycle. By focusing on the process, we determined that those gloves' form, fit, and function (on that line anyway) needed to change. We brought in samples for operators to try and then score based on cut resistance level needed and dexterity. That operator became a part of the solution, not just another victim of a hazard of the job. I could go on with hundreds of stories like this that I have seen. But let’s save those for future episodes! Conclusion The main takeaway I want you to get here is to look toward Lean principles to help you improve safety. Mainly build the trust needed to create a collaborative environment where you turn workers into champions for change and improvement across all business areas. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). Premium Community members can access exclusive content like episode videos, video courses, templates/downloads, participate in live streams, and direct message/live chat with the Safety Pro. Become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">PREMIUM member today!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a>

033: Lean Safety

Powered by iReportSource  OSHA has changed course in its view of employers' post-incident drug testing programs and injury rate-based incentive programs. In a Memorandum to Regional Administrators and State Designees published October 11, the Agency now says most of these types of programs do not run afoul of the anti-retaliation provisions of the injury and illness recordkeeping regulation at §1904.35(b)(1)(iv). This is a massive shift in policy guidance from that published when the Agency issued the final rule in May 2016 requiring employers to submit injury and illness records electronically. As part of that rulemaking, OSHA added a provision that employers do not have any barriers for employees to report injuries or illnesses. The rule also said that employers could not discriminate or punish employees for being injured. While the rule itself didn't address drug testing or incentive programs, policy guidance published along with it indicated that most post-incident drug testing programs would be in violation. The same thing was said about incentive programs that were tied to injury rates. But now, OSHA says that many employers who implement safety incentive programs and/or conduct post-incident drug testing do so to promote workplace safety and health. Also, the Agency says evidence that the employer consistently enforces work rules (whether or not an injury or illness is reported) would demonstrate that the employer is serious about creating a culture of safety, not just the appearance of reducing rates. Thus, action taken under a safety incentive program or post-incident drug testing policy would only violate §1904.35(b)(1)(iv) if the employer took action to penalize an employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness rather than for the legitimate purpose of promoting workplace safety and health. In the new policy, OSHA says that incentive programs can be an essential tool to promote workplace safety and health. One type of incentive program rewards workers for reporting near-misses or hazards and encourages involvement in a safety and health management system. "Positive action that is taken under this type of program," the Agency says, "is always permissible under §1904.35(b)(1)(iv)." OSHA describes another type of incentive program that is rate-based and focuses on reducing the number of reported injuries and illnesses. These programs typically reward employees with a prize or bonus at the end of an injury-free month or evaluate managers based on their work unit's lack of injuries. The Agency says these rate-based incentive programs are also permissible under §1904.35(b)(1)(iv) "as long as they are not implemented in a manner that discourages reporting." So, if an employer takes an adverse action against an employee under a rate-based incentive program, such as withholding a prize or bonus because of a reported injury, OSHA would not cite the employer under §1904.35(b)(1)(iv) as long as the employer has implemented adequate precautions to ensure that employees feel free to report an injury or illness. What would be an “adequate precaution”? OSHA says that a statement that employees are encouraged to report and will not face retaliation for reporting may not, by itself, be adequate to ensure that employees feel free to report, mainly when the consequence for reporting will be a lost opportunity to receive a substantial reward. However, an employer could avoid any inadvertent deterrent effects of a rate-based incentive program by taking positive steps to create a workplace culture that emphasizes safety, not just rates. For example, the Agency says that any inadvertent deterrent effect of a rate-based incentive program on employee reporting would likely be counterbalanced if the employer also implements elements such as:  An incentive program that rewards employees for identifying unsafe conditions in the workplace; A training program for all employees to reinforce reporting rights and responsibilities and emphasizes the employer's non-retaliation policy; A mechanism for accurately evaluating employees' willingness to report injuries and illnesses.  In addition, OSHA says that most instances of workplace drug testing are permissible under §1904.35(b)(1)(iv). Examples of permissible drug testing include:  Random drug testing. Drug testing unrelated to the reporting of a work-related injury or illness. Drug testing under state workers' compensation law. Drug testing under other federal law, such as a U.S. Department of Transportation rule. Drug testing to evaluate the root cause of a workplace incident that harmed or could have harmed employees. If the employer chooses to use drug testing to investigate the incident, the employer should test all employees whose conduct could have contributed to the incident, not just employees who reported injuries.  Listen to this episode for more information on how to set up your incentive program properly. Be sure to send emails to info@thesafetypropodcast.com Find the podcast also on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Powered by <a href="http://www.ireportsource.com/?utm_source=Podcast&amp;utm_campaign=EP%2065%20-%20Fatigue%20Mgmt" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> OSHA has changed course in its view of employers' post-incident drug testing programs and injury rate-based incentive programs. In a Memorandum to Regional Administrators and State Designees published October 11, the Agency now says most of these types of programs do not run afoul of the anti-retaliation provisions of the injury and illness recordkeeping regulation at §1904.35(b)(1)(iv). This is a massive shift in policy guidance from that published when the Agency issued the final rule in May 2016 requiring employers to submit injury and illness records electronically. As part of that rulemaking, OSHA added a provision that employers do not have any barriers for employees to report injuries or illnesses. The rule also said that employers could not discriminate or punish employees for being injured. While the rule itself didn't address drug testing or incentive programs, policy guidance published along with it indicated that most post-incident drug testing programs would be in violation. The same thing was said about incentive programs that were tied to injury rates. But now, OSHA says that many employers who implement safety incentive programs and/or conduct post-incident drug testing do so to promote workplace safety and health. Also, the Agency says evidence that the employer consistently enforces work rules (whether or not an injury or illness is reported) would demonstrate that the employer is serious about creating a culture of safety, not just the appearance of reducing rates. Thus, action taken under a safety incentive program or post-incident drug testing policy would only violate §1904.35(b)(1)(iv) if the employer took action to penalize an employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness rather than for the legitimate purpose of promoting workplace safety and health. In the new policy, OSHA says that incentive programs can be an essential tool to promote workplace safety and health. One type of incentive program rewards workers for reporting near-misses or hazards and encourages involvement in a safety and health management system. "Positive action that is taken under this type of program," the Agency says, "is always permissible under §1904.35(b)(1)(iv)." OSHA describes another type of incentive program that is rate-based and focuses on reducing the number of reported injuries and illnesses. These programs typically reward employees with a prize or bonus at the end of an injury-free month or evaluate managers based on their work unit's lack of injuries. The Agency says these rate-based incentive programs are also permissible under §1904.35(b)(1)(iv) "as long as they are not implemented in a manner that discourages reporting." So, if an employer takes an adverse action against an employee under a rate-based incentive program, such as withholding a prize or bonus because of a reported injury, OSHA would not cite the employer under §1904.35(b)(1)(iv) as long as the employer has implemented adequate precautions to ensure that employees feel free to report an injury or illness. What would be an “adequate precaution”? OSHA says that a statement that employees are encouraged to report and will not face retaliation for reporting may not, by itself, be adequate to ensure that employees feel free to report, mainly when the consequence for reporting will be a lost opportunity to receive a substantial reward. However, an employer could avoid any inadvertent deterrent effects of a rate-based incentive program by taking positive steps to create a workplace culture that emphasizes safety, not just rates. For example, the Agency says that any inadvertent deterrent effect of a rate-based incentive program on employee reporting would likely be counterbalanced if the employer also implements elements such as: <ul> <li>An incentive program that rewards employees for identifying unsafe conditions in the workplace;</li> <li>A training program for all employees to reinforce reporting rights and responsibilities and emphasizes the employer's non-retaliation policy;</li> <li>A mechanism for accurately evaluating employees' willingness to report injuries and illnesses.</li> </ul> In addition, OSHA says that most instances of workplace drug testing are permissible under §1904.35(b)(1)(iv). Examples of permissible drug testing include: <ul> <li>Random drug testing.</li> <li>Drug testing unrelated to the reporting of a work-related injury or illness.</li> <li>Drug testing under state workers' compensation law.</li> <li>Drug testing under other federal law, such as a U.S. Department of Transportation rule.</li> <li>Drug testing to evaluate the root cause of a workplace incident that harmed or could have harmed employees. If the employer chooses to use drug testing to investigate the incident, the employer should test all employees whose conduct could have contributed to the incident, not just employees who reported injuries.</li> </ul> Listen to this episode for more information on how to set up your incentive program properly. Be sure to send emails to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a> Find the podcast also on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>

052: Safety Incentives that Work

Powered by iReportSource  What is an ergonomic injury? Opinions vary on how to define an ergonomics injury, and the definition of the term may depend on the context. However, ergonomic injuries are often described by the term “musculoskeletal disorders” or “MSDs.” This is the term that refers collectively to a group of injuries and illnesses that affect the musculoskeletal system. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) include a group of conditions that involve the nerves, tendons, muscles, and supporting structures (such as intervertebral discs). They represent a wide range of disorders, which can differ in severity from mild periodic conditions to those which are severe, chronic and debilitating. Some musculoskeletal disorders have specific diagnostic criteria and clear pathological mechanisms (like hand/arm vibration syndrome). Others are defined primarily by the location of pain and have a more variable or less clearly defined pathophysiology (like back disorders). Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities include carpal tunnel syndrome, wrist tendonitis, epicondylitis, and rotator cuff tendonitis. Both non-occupational and occupational factors contribute to the development and exacerbation of these disorders.  Carpal tunnel syndrome, Tendinitis, Rotator cuff injuries (affects the shoulder), Epicondylitis (affects the elbow), Trigger finger, and Muscle strains and low back injuries.  There is no single diagnosis for MSDs. As OSHA continues to develop ergonomics-related guidance material for specific industries, the agency may narrow the definition as appropriate to address the specific workplace hazards covered. OSHA says it will work closely with stakeholders to develop definitions for MSDs as part of its overall effort to develop guidance materials. Musculoskeletal disorders Lower back disorders The research into MSDs supports a relationship between the development of lower back disorders and each of the following workplace risk factors: 1. lifting and forceful movements, 2. bending and twisting in awkward postures, and 3. whole-body vibration. Disorders of the neck and shoulders For disorders of the neck and neck/shoulder region, the research identifies two important workplace factors:  sustained postures causing static contractions of the neck and shoulder muscles (for example, working overhead in automobile assembly or in construction), and combinations of highly repetitive and forceful work involving the arm and hand, which also affect the musculature of the shoulder and neck region.  Disorders of the hand, wrist, and elbow There are several conditions to consider within the hand and wrist region. Combined work factors of forceful and repetitive use of the hands and wrists are associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. Vibration from hand tools like chainsaws (those that do not have vibration controlling mechanisms) also contributes to carpal tunnel syndrome. Vibrating tool use has also been strongly linked to hand and arm vibration syndrome, a separate condition of the hand and wrist that affects the nerve and blood vessels. Carpal tunnel syndrome Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) affecting the hands and wrists. CTS is the compression and entrapment of the median nerve where it passes through the wrist into the hand in the carpal tunnel. The median nerve is the main nerve that extends down the arm to the hand and provides the sense of touch in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and half of the fourth, or ring, finger. When irritated, tendons housed inside the narrow carpal tunnel swell and press against the nearby median nerve. The pressure causes tingling, numbness, or severe pain in the wrist and hand. The pain is often experienced at night. The pressure also results in a lack of strength in the hand and an inability to make a fist, hold objects, or perform other manual tasks. If the pressure continues, it can damage the nerve, causing permanent loss of sensation and even partial paralysis. CTS develops in the hands and wrists when repetitive or forceful manual tasks are performed over a period of time. For example, the meatpacking industry is considered one of the most hazardous industries in the United States because workers can make as many as 10,000 repetitive motions per day in assembly line processes, such as deboning meats, with no variation in motion Consequently, stress and strain placed on the wrists and hands often results in CTS. Today, more than half of all U.S. workers are susceptible to developing CTS. Anyone whose job demands a lot of repetitive wrists, hand, and arm motion, which need not always be forceful or strenuous, might be a potential victim of CTS. CTS is common among meat and poultry workers, letter sorters, carpenters, garment workers, upholstery workers, shoe and boot makers, electronic and other assemblers, packers, product inspectors, machine operators, computer/keyboard operators, and cashiers. Since the early 1980s, CTS has been reported widely among many service-sector employees, including office workers and newspaper and news service employees who use video display terminals (VDTs). CTS, among other health effects, is becoming a growing problem among VDT users because of the numerous repetitive motions of keystroking data into the computer over long periods. Compounding problems is the fact that employees are often unaware of the causes of CTS and what to do about them. Initially, the person may have fatigue and pain that develops during the workday and disappears overnight with no physical symptoms. After a length of time, fatigue and pain develop earlier in the day, some physical symptoms such as clumsiness may occur, which affect work performance, and there may be no overnight recovery. When the case becomes full-blown, there is constant fatigue and pain with no overnight recovery, and disturbed sleep results. At this point, work performance is inhibited to the extent of requiring off-duty time or light/restricted duty. Often victims do not associate their pain with their work because symptoms may only occur during evening or off-duty hours. When workers finally seek medical help, they may be given the wrong diagnosis and find the road to recovery takes more time and money than had been anticipated. Length and intensity of exposure The research indicates that the greater the level of exposure to a single risk factor or combination of factors, the greater the risk of having a work-related musculoskeletal disorder. An additional important factor is a time between each episode of exposure. With adequate time to recover or adapt, and particularly when lower forces are involved, there may be less harm done to the body from repeated exposures. The intensity, as well as the extended length of the exposure to forceful, repetitive work, plays a substantial role in the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorder in many traditional occupational settings. What factors may contribute to symptoms of MSDs?  Each person has physical limits or a “comfort zone” of activities and work levels they can tolerate without developing symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Some factors which may contribute to MSD symptoms include:  Furniture designs or a work area arrangement which produces bad postures. Physically demanding work which employees are not accustomed to. Workers who are generally out of shape. Underlying arthritis. Diminished muscle strength or joint flexibility.  What’s a good plan for preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders?  A good plan starts with employee involvement. Employers and employees can work together effectively to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Here are some ways:  Look at injury and illness records to find jobs where problems have occurred. Talk with workers to identify specific tasks that contribute to pain and lost workdays. Ask workers what changes they think will make a difference. Encourage workers to report WMSD symptoms and establish a medical management system to detect problems early. Find ways to reduce repeated motions, forceful hand exertions, prolonged bending, or working above shoulder height. Reduce or eliminate vibration and sharp edges or handles that dig into the skin. Rely on equipment (not backs) for heavy or repetitive lifting. Simple solutions often work best. Workplace changes to reduce pain and cut the risk of disability need not cost a fortune. For example:   Change the height or orientation of the product or use tools with handles designed so that workers won’t have to bend their wrists unnaturally to use the tool. Offer workers involved in intensive keyboarding more frequent short breaks to rest muscles. Vary tasks of assembly line workers to avoid repeated stress for the same muscles. Provide lifting equipment so workers won’t strain their backs. Lifting equipment is available for everything from boxes and crates to nursing home patients.  Send emails to info@thesafetypropodcast.com. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Powered by <a href="https://ireportsource.com/?utm_source=SafetyPro%20Podcast&amp;utm_medium=SafetyPro%20Blog&amp;utm_campaign=SafetyPro%207%20Ways%20to%20Prevent%20Ergo%20Injuries" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> What is an ergonomic injury? Opinions vary on how to define an ergonomics injury, and the definition of the term may depend on the context. However, ergonomic injuries are often described by the term “musculoskeletal disorders” or “MSDs.” This is the term that refers collectively to a group of injuries and illnesses that affect the musculoskeletal system. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) include a group of conditions that involve the nerves, tendons, muscles, and supporting structures (such as intervertebral discs). They represent a wide range of disorders, which can differ in severity from mild periodic conditions to those which are severe, chronic and debilitating. Some musculoskeletal disorders have specific diagnostic criteria and clear pathological mechanisms (like hand/arm vibration syndrome). Others are defined primarily by the location of pain and have a more variable or less clearly defined pathophysiology (like back disorders). Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities include carpal tunnel syndrome, wrist tendonitis, epicondylitis, and rotator cuff tendonitis. Both non-occupational and occupational factors contribute to the development and exacerbation of these disorders. <ul> <li>Carpal tunnel syndrome,</li> <li>Tendinitis,</li> <li>Rotator cuff injuries (affects the shoulder),</li> <li>Epicondylitis (affects the elbow),</li> <li>Trigger finger, and</li> <li>Muscle strains and low back injuries.</li> </ul> There is no single diagnosis for MSDs. As OSHA continues to develop ergonomics-related guidance material for specific industries, the agency may narrow the definition as appropriate to address the specific workplace hazards covered. OSHA says it will work closely with stakeholders to develop definitions for MSDs as part of its overall effort to develop guidance materials. Musculoskeletal disorders Lower back disorders The research into MSDs supports a relationship between the development of lower back disorders and each of the following workplace risk factors: 1. lifting and forceful movements, 2. bending and twisting in awkward postures, and 3. whole-body vibration. Disorders of the neck and shoulders For disorders of the neck and neck/shoulder region, the research identifies two important workplace factors: <ol> <li>sustained postures causing static contractions of the neck and shoulder muscles (for example, working overhead in automobile assembly or in construction), and</li> <li>combinations of highly repetitive and forceful work involving the arm and hand, which also affect the musculature of the shoulder and neck region.</li> </ol> Disorders of the hand, wrist, and elbow There are several conditions to consider within the hand and wrist region. Combined work factors of forceful and repetitive use of the hands and wrists are associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. Vibration from hand tools like chainsaws (those that do not have vibration controlling mechanisms) also contributes to carpal tunnel syndrome. Vibrating tool use has also been strongly linked to hand and arm vibration syndrome, a separate condition of the hand and wrist that affects the nerve and blood vessels. Carpal tunnel syndrome Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) affecting the hands and wrists. CTS is the compression and entrapment of the median nerve where it passes through the wrist into the hand in the carpal tunnel. The median nerve is the main nerve that extends down the arm to the hand and provides the sense of touch in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and half of the fourth, or ring, finger. When irritated, tendons housed inside the narrow carpal tunnel swell and press against the nearby median nerve. The pressure causes tingling, numbness, or severe pain in the wrist and hand. The pain is often experienced at night. The pressure also results in a lack of strength in the hand and an inability to make a fist, hold objects, or perform other manual tasks. If the pressure continues, it can damage the nerve, causing permanent loss of sensation and even partial paralysis. CTS develops in the hands and wrists when repetitive or forceful manual tasks are performed over a period of time. For example, the meatpacking industry is considered one of the most hazardous industries in the United States because workers can make as many as 10,000 repetitive motions per day in assembly line processes, such as deboning meats, with no variation in motion Consequently, stress and strain placed on the wrists and hands often results in CTS. Today, more than half of all U.S. workers are susceptible to developing CTS. Anyone whose job demands a lot of repetitive wrists, hand, and arm motion, which need not always be forceful or strenuous, might be a potential victim of CTS. CTS is common among meat and poultry workers, letter sorters, carpenters, garment workers, upholstery workers, shoe and boot makers, electronic and other assemblers, packers, product inspectors, machine operators, computer/keyboard operators, and cashiers. Since the early 1980s, CTS has been reported widely among many service-sector employees, including office workers and newspaper and news service employees who use video display terminals (VDTs). CTS, among other health effects, is becoming a growing problem among VDT users because of the numerous repetitive motions of keystroking data into the computer over long periods. Compounding problems is the fact that employees are often unaware of the causes of CTS and what to do about them. Initially, the person may have fatigue and pain that develops during the workday and disappears overnight with no physical symptoms. After a length of time, fatigue and pain develop earlier in the day, some physical symptoms such as clumsiness may occur, which affect work performance, and there may be no overnight recovery. When the case becomes full-blown, there is constant fatigue and pain with no overnight recovery, and disturbed sleep results. At this point, work performance is inhibited to the extent of requiring off-duty time or light/restricted duty. Often victims do not associate their pain with their work because symptoms may only occur during evening or off-duty hours. When workers finally seek medical help, they may be given the wrong diagnosis and find the road to recovery takes more time and money than had been anticipated. Length and intensity of exposure The research indicates that the greater the level of exposure to a single risk factor or combination of factors, the greater the risk of having a work-related musculoskeletal disorder. An additional important factor is a time between each episode of exposure. With adequate time to recover or adapt, and particularly when lower forces are involved, there may be less harm done to the body from repeated exposures. The intensity, as well as the extended length of the exposure to forceful, repetitive work, plays a substantial role in the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorder in many traditional occupational settings. What factors may contribute to symptoms of MSDs? Each person has physical limits or a “comfort zone” of activities and work levels they can tolerate without developing symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Some factors which may contribute to MSD symptoms include: <ul> <li>Furniture designs or a work area arrangement which produces bad postures.</li> <li>Physically demanding work which employees are not accustomed to.</li> <li>Workers who are generally out of shape.</li> <li>Underlying arthritis.</li> <li>Diminished muscle strength or joint flexibility.</li> </ul> What’s a good plan for preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders? A good plan starts with employee involvement. Employers and employees can work together effectively to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Here are some ways: <ol> <li>Look at injury and illness records to find jobs where problems have occurred.</li> <li>Talk with workers to identify specific tasks that contribute to pain and lost workdays.</li> <li>Ask workers what changes they think will make a difference.</li> <li>Encourage workers to report WMSD symptoms and establish a medical management system to detect problems early.</li> <li>Find ways to reduce repeated motions, forceful hand exertions, prolonged bending, or working above shoulder height.</li> <li>Reduce or eliminate vibration and sharp edges or handles that dig into the skin.</li> <li>Rely on equipment (not backs) for heavy or repetitive lifting. Simple solutions often work best. Workplace changes to reduce pain and cut the risk of disability need not cost a fortune. For example:</li> </ol> <ul> <li>Change the height or orientation of the product or use tools with handles designed so that workers won’t have to bend their wrists unnaturally to use the tool.</li> <li>Offer workers involved in intensive keyboarding more frequent short breaks to rest muscles.</li> <li>Vary tasks of assembly line workers to avoid repeated stress for the same muscles.</li> <li>Provide lifting equipment so workers won’t strain their backs.</li> <li>Lifting equipment is available for everything from boxes and crates to nursing home patients.</li> </ul> Send emails to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a>. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>

042: 7 Ways to Prevent Ergonomics Injuries

Powered by iReportSource Are concepts like "responsibility" and "being held accountable" viewed negatively by your employees? Most likely, it's because leaders have tried to mandate responsibility from the top down. But that's not how responsibility works. People are intrinsically motivated to fulfill their commitments for a range of reasons, none of which include being mandated -- at least not effectively nor sustainably. A top-down approach makes employees feel like a kid again -- it doesn't cultivate trust and freedom -- and it doesn't motivate people to find their way to stay on top of things. Instead, leaders can encourage more responsibility among employees by creating an organizational culture that promotes and cascades accountability through five areas of focus. Gallup's research and consulting experience show that to promote accountability, leaders, and managers should: 1. Define what people are accountable for. Employees need clearly defined expectations to achieve goals. Organizations may have evergreen responsibilities that support the organization's mission, values, and purpose - like customer-centricity or quality - that they need teams to focus on continuously. At other times, companies may need employees to focus on accountabilities that are short term or long term, but not permanent, such as large-scale change initiatives. But in every case, managers need to demonstrate accountability through their availability and time spent on defining what their team is responsible for. 2. Set and cascade goals throughout the organization. Once employees clearly understand what they're accountable for, managers should help them set measurable, individualized goals that align with their role. Most, if not all, employees should have metrics defined that help them know if they're delivering on the organization's goals. Next, leaders should prioritize ongoing communication about how everyone's contributions and successes impact the organization's achievements. 3. Provide updates on progress. People need the right information to course-correct toward their goals. Feedback can come from customer or employee surveys, ongoing project updates, key listening posts with critical stakeholders, or some combination of these. The most effective form of feedback, however, comes from frequent conversations between managers and employees. When preparing to provide a progress update, managers should not ask themselves if they have all the data, but instead, if they have the correct data, which is performance orientated so they can speak to the behavior that has allowed the progress. 4. Align development, learning, and growth. Whether through conversations between managers and employees or as part of an ongoing developmental path, organizations must provide opportunities for employees to improve, learn, and grow. Gallup analytics show that millennials rank the opportunity to learn and grow in a job as being No. 1 - above all other job considerations - and it's high on the ranks for different generations as well. Managers who focus on employee development help workers address the roadblocks that prevent their ability to deliver on goals while learning and growing in the role. 5. Recognize and celebrate progress. Praise for good work is the most motivating of all forms of feedback. Identify, celebrate, and learn from successes. It motivates employees to stretch and creates responsibility role models for others to follow. What Promoting Accountability Looks Like in Practice When leaders clearly define and communicate what the organization and employees are accountable for and committed to achieving, they are describing an ideal culture. But as It's the Manager reports, "a major challenge for leaders of large organizations is that there is no common culture." Moreover, only about half of all workers -- and fewer managers -- even know what's expected of them. Leaders who define accountability align individuals and teams toward a common outcome, commonly referred to as objectives or goals. Goals inform workers of what's expected of them and help workers determine how to accomplish them. And giving people a say in goal setting can galvanize their commitment to achieving them. Altogether, these actions can solve a lack of accountability when lack of clarity is the problem, which, Gallup's research shows, is not uncommon. A to-do list is not enough, however. All employees, from the C-suite down, need follow-up and feedback. "Everyone should play a role in developing their colleagues by providing meaningful feedback and coaching," says It's the Manager. "Leaders need to be the first to model these demands because their behavior dictates what employees interpret as a realistic expectation." Setting expectations that all employees will commit to achieving is a leader's job. So is frequently communicating and reinforcing the importance of the goal to the organization's success and that all roles make a crucial contribution to accomplishing it. However, while clarity and consistency of definition are critical, so is concision. When leaders deliver too many messages, as inspiring as they may be, employees can get confused - even overwhelmed - by myriad expectations that all seem to be the "most important." To keep definitions and expectations sharply focused - and to improve performance as well - Gallup recommends encouraging managers to have frequent coaching conversations with their direct reports; performance is best directed during the moment. But 47% of workers received feedback from their manager "a few times or less" in the past year, and only 26% of employees strongly agree that the feedback they receive helps them do their work better. A company's accountability problem may be a coaching problem in disguise. These conversations should address successes, challenges, ideas for improvement, and ways to integrate ongoing learning and development. Companies will find that frequent, performance-focused coaching conversations make it easier to recognize development and growth opportunities for employees. Managers who stay in close contact with workers know where their gaps are and where their potential lies. They also activate responsibility - employees who feel cared for by their managers are more likely to want to come through. People who feel neglected aren't so motivated. And criticism and threats only demotivate workers and discourage accountability - when failure to live up to a commitment is punished, people may hide their mistakes. About a quarter of all employees say the most memorable recognition they ever received was from a high-level leader or CEO, which makes praise for good work a uniquely powerful leadership tool. And it's underutilized. Gallup finds that only about one in three workers in the U.S. strongly agree that they received recognition or praise for doing good work in the past seven days. Make Responsibility Easier - And More Rewarding When promoting accountability, this provides structures and processes people need to do what they say they'll do. It makes it easier to be responsible. It not only makes it easier, but it also makes people want to go the extra mile because they can see their progress, they're regularly receiving individualized coaching and praise. They're not being forced to merely comply. Again, leaders can't force people to develop a meaningful sense of accountability.  They can create conditions that foster personal commitment -- by shaping an organizational culture that promotes responsibility. Gallup article used with permission. Read the Gallup article here. Get "It's The Manager" here. Let me know what you do to drive employee engagement. Post a LinkedIn update, letting me know. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Powered by <a href="http://ireportsource.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> Are concepts like "responsibility" and "being held accountable" viewed negatively by your employees? Most likely, it's because leaders have tried to mandate responsibility from the top down. But that's not how responsibility works. People are intrinsically motivated to fulfill their commitments for a range of reasons, none of which include being mandated -- at least not effectively nor sustainably. A top-down approach makes employees feel like a kid again -- it doesn't cultivate trust and freedom -- and it doesn't motivate people to find their way to stay on top of things. Instead, leaders can encourage more responsibility among employees by creating an organizational culture that promotes and cascades accountability through five areas of focus. Gallup's research and consulting experience show that to promote accountability, leaders, and managers should: 1. Define what people are accountable for. Employees need clearly defined expectations to achieve goals. Organizations may have evergreen responsibilities that support the organization's mission, values, and purpose - like customer-centricity or quality - that they need teams to focus on continuously. At other times, companies may need employees to focus on accountabilities that are short term or long term, but not permanent, such as large-scale change initiatives. But in every case, managers need to demonstrate accountability through their availability and time spent on defining what their team is responsible for. 2. Set and cascade goals throughout the organization. Once employees clearly understand what they're accountable for, managers should help them set measurable, individualized goals that align with their role. Most, if not all, employees should have metrics defined that help them know if they're delivering on the organization's goals. Next, leaders should prioritize ongoing communication about how everyone's contributions and successes impact the organization's achievements. 3. Provide updates on progress. People need the right information to course-correct toward their goals. Feedback can come from customer or employee surveys, ongoing project updates, key listening posts with critical stakeholders, or some combination of these. The most effective form of feedback, however, comes from frequent conversations between managers and employees. When preparing to provide a progress update, managers should not ask themselves if they have all the data, but instead, if they have the correct data, which is performance orientated so they can speak to the behavior that has allowed the progress. 4. Align development, learning, and growth. Whether through conversations between managers and employees or as part of an ongoing developmental path, organizations must provide opportunities for employees to improve, learn, and grow. Gallup analytics show that millennials rank the opportunity to learn and grow in a job as being No. 1 - above all other job considerations - and it's high on the ranks for different generations as well. Managers who focus on employee development help workers address the roadblocks that prevent their ability to deliver on goals while learning and growing in the role. 5. Recognize and celebrate progress. Praise for good work is the most motivating of all forms of feedback. Identify, celebrate, and learn from successes. It motivates employees to stretch and creates responsibility role models for others to follow. What Promoting Accountability Looks Like in Practice When leaders clearly define and communicate what the organization and employees are accountable for and committed to achieving, they are describing an ideal culture. But as <a href="https://amzn.to/2Q8bz8f" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">It's the Manager</a> reports, "a major challenge for leaders of large organizations is that there is no common culture." Moreover, only about half of all workers -- and fewer managers -- even know what's expected of them. Leaders who define accountability align individuals and teams toward a common outcome, commonly referred to as objectives or goals. Goals inform workers of what's expected of them and help workers determine how to accomplish them. And giving people a say in goal setting can galvanize their commitment to achieving them. Altogether, these actions can solve a lack of accountability when lack of clarity is the problem, which, Gallup's research shows, is not uncommon. A to-do list is not enough, however. All employees, from the C-suite down, need follow-up and feedback. "Everyone should play a role in developing their colleagues by providing meaningful feedback and coaching," says It's the Manager. "Leaders need to be the first to model these demands because their behavior dictates what employees interpret as a realistic expectation." Setting expectations that all employees will commit to achieving is a leader's job. So is frequently communicating and reinforcing the importance of the goal to the organization's success and that all roles make a crucial contribution to accomplishing it. However, while clarity and consistency of definition are critical, so is concision. When leaders deliver too many messages, as inspiring as they may be, employees can get confused - even overwhelmed - by myriad expectations that all seem to be the "most important." To keep definitions and expectations sharply focused - and to improve performance as well - Gallup recommends encouraging managers to have frequent coaching conversations with their direct reports; performance is best directed during the moment. But 47% of workers received feedback from their manager "a few times or less" in the past year, and only 26% of employees strongly agree that the feedback they receive helps them do their work better. A company's accountability problem may be a coaching problem in disguise. These conversations should address successes, challenges, ideas for improvement, and <a href="https://www.gallup.com/learning/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">ways to integrate ongoing learning and development.</a> Companies will find that frequent, <a href="https://courses.gallup.com/workplace/performance-management/developing-performance-the-five-conversations-that-drive-performance.html" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">performance-focused coaching conversations</a> make it easier to recognize development and growth opportunities for employees. Managers who stay in close contact with workers know where their gaps are and where their potential lies. They also activate responsibility - employees who feel cared for by their managers are more likely to want to come through. <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/231659/performance-measures-motivate-madden-employees.aspx" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">People who feel neglected aren't so motivated.</a> And criticism and threats only demotivate workers and discourage accountability - when failure to live up to a commitment is punished, people may hide their mistakes. About a quarter of all employees say the most memorable recognition they ever received was from a high-level leader or CEO, which makes praise for good work a uniquely powerful leadership tool. And it's underutilized. Gallup finds that only about one in three workers in the U.S. strongly agree that they received recognition or praise for doing good work in the past seven days. Make Responsibility Easier - And More Rewarding When promoting accountability, this provides structures and processes people need to do what they say they'll do. It makes it easier to be responsible. It not only makes it easier, but it also makes people want to go the extra mile because they can see their progress, they're regularly receiving individualized coaching and praise. They're not being forced to merely comply. Again, leaders can't force people to develop a meaningful sense of accountability.  They can create conditions that foster personal commitment -- by shaping an organizational culture that promotes responsibility. Gallup article used with permission. <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/257945/ways-create-company-culture-accountability.aspx" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Read the Gallup article here.</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/2Q8bz8f" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Get "It's The Manager" here</a>. Let me know what you do to drive employee engagement. Post a LinkedIn update, letting me know. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter.</a>

087: 5 Ways to Promote Accountability

Powered by iReportSource  With proper safety training and an air-tight safety program in your workplace, you won’t have to write too many incident reports. However, sometimes, things slip through the cracks, and it results in an incident or near-miss. When this happens, it’s not only mandated by OSHA to report it, but it can be imperative in future prevention of similar events. The best way to go about reporting an incident is to fill out an incident report. The following steps will help you to write an effective incident report that covers all of the necessary elements needed for further action. 1. Respond promptly You should begin to gather the details almost immediately after receiving news and becoming aware of the incident. Which will help you collect details that are fresh in the minds of those involved, and will help you be able to piece together the factors involved in the incident’s occurrence. 2. Gather all of the details and facts Having all the facts is vital in being able to decipher what caused the incident and how it can be prevented in the future. It’s also necessary for business insurance purposes and to help make decisions in the final stages of analysis. Critical facts of the incident to include are:  The date and time it occurred The specific location of the incident All of those who were involved and their immediate supervisors  Names Title of their position The department of employees involved Their immediate supervisor(s)   Names and accounts of those who witnessed the incident The series of events that took place leading up to the incident What the employee(s) involved were doing at the exact time of the incident The environmental conditions of the location in which it occurred  For example, were the floors slippery? Was the area cluttered? Was there a lot of noise? Etc.   The circumstance or materials involved when it took place  For example, the tools, machinery, equipment, or PPE that was involved.   The specific injuries that were sustained to the involved parties, and what area of the body were affected The treatment that was administered to the employees who were injured Any damage to the equipment, materials, areas, etc.  Another resource that is beneficial for documenting events is to take pictures of where the incident took place. Note the conditions of the area and the scene(s) of the incident. If available, CCTV footage is another avenue of reviewing the chain of events that led to the incident. 3. Piece together the sequence of events Piecing together the series of events will help determine which factors were involved and how they were involved at the time the incident occurred.  The details of the events leading up to the incident.  What specific actions the employee was doing before the incident What materials, tools, equipment was involved   Determine what was involved in the incident.  What exactly happened to the employee How they were injured Why they were injured   Identify what happened after the incident.  What did the employee do after the incident What kind of reaction did they have How did they signal for help if they were able to How was it discovered that the incident occurred    The details gathered above should be specific enough so that anyone reading the report can seamlessly create a story in their mind, and can, therefore, view the incident as a whole. It often helps to create a diagram to start to analyze the incident visually. 4. Analyze your findings of the incident You can now begin to create an in-depth analysis of what caused the events, the factors involved, and ultimately answer the “why” of the incident. With the details you gathered, you should be able to speculate the following items:  The primary cause (Ex: a machine that wasn’t locked out released hazardous energy) The secondary causes (Ex. an employee did not check to see if the machine was locked out before maintenance) Additional factors (Ex. Employees haven’t received their refresher lockout tagout training)   5. Formulate a preventative action plan An incident report is useless without a plan to correct actions for future prevention. Every incident is a hard lesson that has yet to be learned or has been overlooked. The following items are examples of areas that may need correcting based on the facts surrounding the incident:  Adequate employee safety training Sufficient and proper maintenance of machinery, equipment, workspace, etc. Re-evaluating standard operating procedures regarding specific jobs, and re-assessing how they should be carried out Identifying and conducting a job hazard analysis (JHA) to cover all risks associated with particular job tasks thoroughly and carrying out the necessary safety training. Operational changes and adjustment that include more thorough safety measures, such as adding additional safety equipment, changing procedures, etc.  Bottom Line A good incident report identifies the problem using in-depth analysis and research and offers a viable solution to that problem. A thorough, well-prepared report will accurately pinpoint what corrective action is necessary so that you may prevent future incidents and keep your team safe! Reprinted with permission from Atlantic Training Be sure to send emails to info@thesafetypropodcast.com Find the podcast also on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Powered by <a href="https://ireportsource.com/?utm_source=SafetyPro%20Podcast&amp;utm_medium=SafetyPro%20Blog&amp;utm_campaign=SafetyPro%20Writing%20Effective%20Accident%20Reports" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> With proper safety training and an air-tight safety program in your workplace, you won’t have to write too many incident reports. However, sometimes, things slip through the cracks, and it results in an incident or near-miss. When this happens, it’s not only mandated by <a href="https://www.osha.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OSHA</a> to report it, but it can be imperative in future prevention of similar events. The best way to go about reporting an incident is to fill out an incident report. The following steps will help you to write an effective incident report that covers all of the necessary elements needed for further action. 1. Respond promptly You should begin to gather the details almost immediately after receiving news and becoming aware of the incident. Which will help you collect details that are fresh in the minds of those involved, and will help you be able to piece together the factors involved in the incident’s occurrence. 2. Gather all of the details and facts Having all the facts is vital in being able to decipher what caused the incident and how it can be prevented in the future. It’s also necessary for business insurance purposes and to help make decisions in the final stages of analysis. Critical facts of the incident to include are: <ul> <li>The date and time it occurred</li> <li>The specific location of the incident</li> <li>All of those who were involved and their immediate supervisors <ul> <li>Names</li> <li>Title of their position</li> <li>The department of employees involved</li> <li>Their immediate supervisor(s)</li> </ul> </li> <li>Names and accounts of those who witnessed the incident</li> <li>The series of events that took place leading up to the incident</li> <li>What the employee(s) involved were doing at the exact time of the incident</li> <li>The environmental conditions of the location in which it occurred <ul> <li>For example, were the floors slippery? Was the area cluttered? Was there a lot of noise? Etc.</li> </ul> </li> <li>The circumstance or materials involved when it took place <ul> <li>For example, the tools, machinery, equipment, or PPE that was involved.</li> </ul> </li> <li>The specific injuries that were sustained to the involved parties, and what area of the body were affected</li> <li>The treatment that was administered to the employees who were injured</li> <li>Any damage to the equipment, materials, areas, etc.</li> </ul> Another resource that is beneficial for documenting events is to take pictures of where the incident took place. Note the conditions of the area and the scene(s) of the incident. If available, CCTV footage is another avenue of reviewing the chain of events that led to the incident. 3. Piece together the sequence of events Piecing together the series of events will help determine which factors were involved and how they were involved at the time the incident occurred. <ul> <li>The details of the events leading up to the incident. <ul> <li>What specific actions the employee was doing before the incident</li> <li>What materials, tools, equipment was involved</li> </ul> </li> <li>Determine what was involved in the incident. <ul> <li>What exactly happened to the employee</li> <li>How they were injured</li> <li>Why they were injured</li> </ul> </li> <li>Identify what happened after the incident. <ul> <li>What did the employee do after the incident</li> <li>What kind of reaction did they have</li> <li>How did they signal for help if they were able to</li> <li>How was it discovered that the incident occurred</li> </ul> </li> </ul> The details gathered above should be specific enough so that anyone reading the report can seamlessly create a story in their mind, and can, therefore, view the incident as a whole. It often helps to create a diagram to start to analyze the incident visually. 4. Analyze your findings of the incident You can now begin to create an in-depth analysis of what caused the events, the factors involved, and ultimately answer the “why” of the incident. With the details you gathered, you should be able to speculate the following items: <ul> <li>The primary cause (Ex: a machine that wasn’t locked out released hazardous energy)</li> <li>The secondary causes (Ex. an employee did not check to see if the machine was locked out before maintenance)</li> <li>Additional factors (Ex. Employees haven’t received their refresher <a href="http://www.atlantictraining.com/affiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=242" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">lockout tagout training</a>)</li> </ul>  5. Formulate a preventative action plan An incident report is useless without a plan to correct actions for future prevention. Every incident is a hard lesson that has yet to be learned or has been overlooked. The following items are examples of areas that may need correcting based on the facts surrounding the incident: <ul> <li>Adequate employee <a href="http://www.atlantictraining.com/affiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=242" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">safety training</a></li> <li>Sufficient and proper maintenance of machinery, equipment, workspace, etc.</li> <li>Re-evaluating standard operating procedures regarding specific jobs, and re-assessing how they should be carried out</li> <li>Identifying and conducting a job hazard analysis (JHA) to cover all risks associated with particular job tasks thoroughly and carrying out the necessary safety training.</li> <li>Operational changes and adjustment that include more thorough safety measures, such as adding additional safety equipment, changing procedures, etc.</li> </ul> Bottom Line A good incident report identifies the problem using in-depth analysis and research and offers a viable solution to that problem. A thorough, well-prepared report will accurately pinpoint what corrective action is necessary so that you may prevent future incidents and keep your team safe! Reprinted with permission from <a href="http://www.atlantictraining.com/affiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=242" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Atlantic Training</a> Be sure to send emails to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a> Find the podcast also on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>

051: How to Write an Effective Accident Report

Changing Safety Culture Requires a Framework! The link to the book mentioned in this episode can be found HERE In this episode, I want to talk about changing workplace culture. I have had a couple of episodes on Safety Culture already. And all of that still applies. Again, for the discussion let’s define the term: Culture is the character and personality of your organization. It's what makes your organization unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes. This is key: the values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes. These are what drive behavior, specifically, what helps workers make CHOICES that we then see in actions or behaviors. The reason I bring this up is that for the last year or so I have been talking to colleagues, reading and chatting in online groups and I keep reading about a common theme out there by so-called “thought leaders’ and ‘guru’s’ in organizational development and safety culture development. As many of you know I had been in consulting for a decade specializing in these areas; culture development. And yes, I have an opinion on this as you may have guessed. So let me use a specific example of what I am talking about;  I have seen a number of LinkedIn posts and articles about NOT talking too much about regulations or starting a conversation with “OSHA says…”. or similar discussions. While we can all agree that not having to drag in the references to regulations is good; we often have to go to those minimum standards. The reason? It is a sign of a “bad” safety culture. Workplace culture often drives HOW we communicate about safety. The mistake most folks make is they manage by aspirational cultural values or from a future state. Here is what I mean; I see a lot of professionals pick up a book about culture this and culture that or read The Toyota Way and then look at their work culture and think, “yeah, we need to be like this!” Problem; You are NOT like that. You need a roadmap to get there, yes. But do NOT approach your work culture as if they already are, based on what you wish were true about your work culture. These aspirations are commendable but sets you up for failure. You manage from where you ARE, not where you wish to be. So I have some examples of what I mean. If you think you should not have to talk about minimum regulations because you feel your culture is so much beyond this yet you continually get challenged by leaders and coaches to “show me where I have to do this” or “where does it say I have to do that?” then you are not there yet! You can try and avoid stating regulations or reciting the unfortunate phrase “according to OSHA…” but at some point, you will have to simply because your culture is still at that place. I have heard time and time again and have had key maintenance and leadership personnel flat out ask, “What is the policy or regulation on this or that?” And if they are seeking validation, give it to them. These are folks that just need to be consulted. Give them the info because this is what they are saying they need as a basis for their work. OR justification for how they work. You may eventually get past this point but if this is where you are now…manage from there. Another sign of where you are is when key personnel asks what the minimum amount of effort needed is to get by? Or, when you attempt to go above and beyond but the workforce pushes back with “we never had to do this before…” These are clear signs of YOU needing to understand where your work culture is right NOW, not wishing where you would like them to be. Again, those aspirations should motivate us to discover where we are (or current state) and determine the difference between that and the ideal (or future) state. This is the gap we need to work to close. That way we can devise a change plan that is realistic and addresses the areas that need developed and not focus on things we will never be able to improve. So, if you are tired of having to say, “According to the Standard…” then ask WHY you are still having to say it. If you try to improve something beyond minimum compliance and get pushback, ask WHAT it is folks are resisting. It may just be the change and not the specific safety rule. So you may want to shift focus to change management in general. Go ask the quality folks or the lean folks if they have issues implementing even small changes to tasks or the work environment. Chances are they do. So don’t get wrapped around the axle that your SAFETY culture is broken, when it may just be a PEOPLE thing. Strive to work with the other teams to find common obstacles and barriers. Safety needs to STOP operating in a vacuum and collaborate with other areas of the business to strategically align efforts to improve workplace culture. If you are reading a book about workplace safety culture, fine. I recommend several on my resources page. But again, don’t get so wrapped up in your silo and think that this is unique to YOUR department. Most likely it is not. And if you have something figured out, like an aspect of the culture that you can improve, then you need to reach out and share this with others. Look into some management of change approaches. Helping workers deal with change. You have a change plan, laid out timelines for training on this initiative you want to implement, how long before everyone gets the new equipment, etc. You know, a project management process. But do you have a process for change? One example is the ADKAR Model (again, just ONE example). This is a framework for understanding change at an individual level. It has 5 elements or building blocks, that must be in place for real change: ADKAR: Awareness: this represents a person’s awareness of the nature of the change, why it is being made and the risk of NOT changing. Desire: This represents the willingness to support and engage in the change. Knowledge: This represents the information, training, and education needed to know HOW to change. Ability: This represents the realization or the execution of the change. It addresses turning the knowledge into action. Reinforcement: This represents those internal and external factors that sustain change. The elements of the ADKAR model fall into the natural order of how one person experiences change. Desire cannot come before awareness because it is the awareness of the need for change that stimulates our desire or triggers our resistance to that change. Knowledge cannot come before desire because we do not seek to know how to do something we do not want to do. Ability cannot come before knowledge because we cannot implement what we do not know. Reinforcement cannot come before ability because we can only recognize and appreciate what has been achieved. The lifecycle for ADKAR begins after a change has been identified. From this starting point, the model provides a framework and sequence for managing the people side of change. In the workplace, ADKAR provides a solid foundation for change management activities, including readiness assessments, sponsorship, communications, coaching, training, recognition and resistance management. Look, there are other models. This is but one that I have used and have seen success in the past. But I want to point you in the right direction to get started addressing what I stated earlier, that is identifying the change that is needed is one thing, having a process to facilitate the change, ensuring its success is another. This is a tool that can help. Stop managing from where you wish you were. Identify where you are today and get started laying out a plan to achieve successful, lasting change. Let me know what you think! Send emails to info@thesafetypropodcast.com. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update, letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

<a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADKAR-Change-Business-Government-Community/dp/1930885504/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=de134634f48588f4cda2395da287d8c1&amp;creativeASIN=1930885504" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Changing Safety Culture Requires a Framework</a>! The link to the book mentioned in this episode can be found <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADKAR-Change-Business-Government-Community/dp/1930885504/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=de134634f48588f4cda2395da287d8c1&amp;creativeASIN=1930885504" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a> In this episode, I want to talk about changing workplace culture. I have had a couple of episodes on Safety Culture already. And all of that still applies. Again, for the discussion let’s define the term: Culture is the character and personality of your organization. It's what makes your organization unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes. This is key: the values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes. These are what drive behavior, specifically, what helps workers make CHOICES that we then see in actions or behaviors. The reason I bring this up is that for the last year or so I have been talking to colleagues, reading and chatting in online groups and I keep reading about a common theme out there by so-called “thought leaders’ and ‘guru’s’ in organizational development and safety culture development. As many of you know I had been in consulting for a decade specializing in these areas; culture development. And yes, I have an opinion on this as you may have guessed. So let me use a specific example of what I am talking about;  I have seen a number of LinkedIn posts and articles about NOT talking too much about regulations or starting a conversation with “OSHA says…”. or similar discussions. While we can all agree that not having to drag in the references to regulations is good; we often have to go to those minimum standards. The reason? It is a sign of a “bad” safety culture. Workplace culture often drives HOW we communicate about safety. The mistake most folks make is they manage by aspirational cultural values or from a future state. Here is what I mean; I see a lot of professionals pick up a book about culture this and culture that or read The Toyota Way and then look at their work culture and think, “yeah, we need to be like this!” Problem; You are NOT like that. You need a roadmap to get there, yes. But do NOT approach your work culture as if they already are, based on what you wish were true about your work culture. These aspirations are commendable but sets you up for failure. You manage from where you ARE, not where you wish to be. So I have some examples of what I mean. If you think you should not have to talk about minimum regulations because you feel your culture is so much beyond this yet you continually get challenged by leaders and coaches to “show me where I have to do this” or “where does it say I have to do that?” then you are not there yet! You can try and avoid stating regulations or reciting the unfortunate phrase “according to OSHA…” but at some point, you will have to simply because your culture is still at that place. I have heard time and time again and have had key maintenance and leadership personnel flat out ask, “What is the policy or regulation on this or that?” And if they are seeking validation, give it to them. These are folks that just need to be consulted. Give them the info because this is what they are saying they need as a basis for their work. OR justification for how they work. You may eventually get past this point but if this is where you are now…manage from there. Another sign of where you are is when key personnel asks what the minimum amount of effort needed is to get by? Or, when you attempt to go above and beyond but the workforce pushes back with “we never had to do this before…” These are clear signs of YOU needing to understand where your work culture is right NOW, not wishing where you would like them to be. Again, those aspirations should motivate us to discover where we are (or current state) and determine the difference between that and the ideal (or future) state. This is the gap we need to work to close. That way we can devise a change plan that is realistic and addresses the areas that need developed and not focus on things we will never be able to improve. So, if you are tired of having to say, “According to the Standard…” then ask WHY you are still having to say it. If you try to improve something beyond minimum compliance and get pushback, ask WHAT it is folks are resisting. It may just be the change and not the specific safety rule. So you may want to shift focus to change management in general. Go ask the quality folks or the lean folks if they have issues implementing even small changes to tasks or the work environment. Chances are they do. So don’t get wrapped around the axle that your SAFETY culture is broken, when it may just be a PEOPLE thing. Strive to work with the other teams to find common obstacles and barriers. Safety needs to STOP operating in a vacuum and collaborate with other areas of the business to strategically align efforts to improve workplace culture. If you are reading a book about workplace safety culture, fine. I recommend several on my resources page. But again, don’t get so wrapped up in your silo and think that this is unique to YOUR department. Most likely it is not. And if you have something figured out, like an aspect of the culture that you can improve, then you need to reach out and share this with others. Look into some management of change approaches. Helping workers deal with change. You have a change plan, laid out timelines for training on this initiative you want to implement, how long before everyone gets the new equipment, etc. You know, a project management process. But do you have a process for change? One example is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADKAR-Change-Business-Government-Community/dp/1930885504/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=de134634f48588f4cda2395da287d8c1&amp;creativeASIN=1930885504" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">ADKAR Model</a> (again, just ONE example). This is a framework for understanding change at an individual level. It has 5 elements or building blocks, that must be in place for real change: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADKAR-Change-Business-Government-Community/dp/1930885504/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=de134634f48588f4cda2395da287d8c1&amp;creativeASIN=1930885504" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">ADKAR</a>: Awareness: this represents a person’s awareness of the nature of the change, why it is being made and the risk of NOT changing. Desire: This represents the willingness to support and engage in the change. Knowledge: This represents the information, training, and education needed to know HOW to change. Ability: This represents the realization or the execution of the change. It addresses turning the knowledge into action. Reinforcement: This represents those internal and external factors that sustain change. The elements of the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADKAR-Change-Business-Government-Community/dp/1930885504/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=de134634f48588f4cda2395da287d8c1&amp;creativeASIN=1930885504" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">ADKAR</a> model fall into the natural order of how one person experiences change. Desire cannot come before awareness because it is the awareness of the need for change that stimulates our desire or triggers our resistance to that change. Knowledge cannot come before desire because we do not seek to know how to do something we do not want to do. Ability cannot come before knowledge because we cannot implement what we do not know. Reinforcement cannot come before ability because we can only recognize and appreciate what has been achieved. The lifecycle for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADKAR-Change-Business-Government-Community/dp/1930885504/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=de134634f48588f4cda2395da287d8c1&amp;creativeASIN=1930885504" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">ADKAR</a> begins after a change has been identified. From this starting point, the model provides a framework and sequence for managing the people side of change. In the workplace, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADKAR-Change-Business-Government-Community/dp/1930885504/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkCode=w00&amp;linkId=de134634f48588f4cda2395da287d8c1&amp;creativeASIN=1930885504" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">ADKAR</a> provides a solid foundation for change management activities, including readiness assessments, sponsorship, communications, coaching, training, recognition and resistance management. Look, there are other models. This is but one that I have used and have seen success in the past. But I want to point you in the right direction to get started addressing what I stated earlier, that is identifying the change that is needed is one thing, having a process to facilitate the change, ensuring its success is another. This is a tool that can help. Stop managing from where you wish you were. Identify where you are today and get started laying out a plan to achieve successful, lasting change. Let me know what you think! Send emails to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a>. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update, letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter.</a>

031: A Process to Change Workplace Safety Culture

Powered by iReportSource  Have you ever struggled to make your safety processes mesh with other existing business processes, like quality or maintenance? By using lean principles and tools it can be easy to do just that. Stop trying to convert workers and take the work to them, in terms/tools they are comfortable using. This can be as simple as using a layered audit approach - piggyback off another inspection that is done frequently. Or leveraging existing operator checks, sprinkling safety-related checks in there. If there are chemical checks needed for quality then add checks for labels, SDS, spill kits, PPE, etc. to the list. Using lean manufacturing is all about first asking what else are we doing that has worker's attention? Can we leverage those efforts? I read a pretty decent article touching on this and you can find it here: https://www.industryweek.com/safety/think-lean-make-safety-simpler But for a deeper look and some real-world examples listen to this podcast episode. Be sure to share your tips on how you have been able to integrate safety with existing business processes. Send emails to info@thesafetypropodcast.com You can also find the podcast on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Powered by <a href="https://ireportsource.com/?utm_source=SafetyPro%20Podcast&amp;utm_medium=SafetyPro%20Blog&amp;utm_campaign=SafetyPro%20Integrating%20Safety" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> Have you ever struggled to make your safety processes mesh with other existing business processes, like quality or maintenance? By using lean principles and tools it can be easy to do just that. Stop trying to convert workers and take the work to them, in terms/tools they are comfortable using. This can be as simple as using a layered audit approach - piggyback off another inspection that is done frequently. Or leveraging existing operator checks, sprinkling safety-related checks in there. If there are chemical checks needed for quality then add checks for labels, SDS, spill kits, PPE, etc. to the list. Using lean manufacturing is all about first asking what else are we doing that has worker's attention? Can we leverage those efforts? I read a pretty decent article touching on this and you can find it here: <a href="https://www.industryweek.com/safety/think-lean-make-safety-simpler" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.industryweek.com/safety/think-lean-make-safety-simpler</a> But for a deeper look and some real-world examples listen to this podcast episode. Be sure to share your tips on how you have been able to integrate safety with existing business processes. Send emails to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a> You can also find the podcast on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>

054: Integrating Safety with Existing Processes

Fundamentals of Total Worker Health  Keeping workers safe is the foundation upon which a TWH approach is built. Total Worker Health integrates health protection efforts with a broad spectrum of interventions to improve worker health and well-being. The Fundamentals of Total Worker Health Approaches is the practical starting point for employers, workers, labor representatives, and other professionals interested in implementing workplace safety and health programs aligned with the Total Worker Health (TWH) approach. There are five Defining Elements of TWH: Element 1: Demonstrate leadership commitment to worker safety and health at all levels of the organization. Element 2: Design work to eliminate or reduce safety and health hazards and promote worker well-being. Element 3: Promote and support worker engagement throughout program design and implementation. Element 4: Ensure the confidentiality and privacy of workers. Element 5: Integrate relevant systems to advance worker well-being. Getting Started Create a team of people who know about different policies, programs, and practices in your workplace that impact worker safety, health, and well-being. Draw team members from all levels of the workforce, and consider including the following:  Workers who have requested or participated in changes for safety and health Safety directors Human resources representatives Occupational health nurses or other healthcare practitioners Workers’ compensation professionals Employee Assistance Program professionals Those responsible for disability management and return-to-work procedures Health and wellness champions  Defining Element 1: Demonstrate leadership commitment to worker safety and health at all levels of the organization Organizational leaders should acknowledge and communicate the value of workforce safety and health as a core function, and they should prioritize worker safety and health on the same level as the quality of services and products. ProTip: Middle management is the direct link between workers and upper management and plays a critical role in program success or failure. For example, supervisors often serve as gatekeepers to employee participation in programs, and when program involvement competes with productivity demands, they may discourage employee participation Effective programs thrive in organizations that promote respect throughout the organization and encourage active worker participation, input, and involvement. Leaders at all levels of the organization can help set this tone, but everyone (from managers down to front-line workers) plays an essential role in contributing to this shared commitment to safety and health. Beyond written policies, stated practices, and implemented programs that endorse safety and health in your workplace, consider the extent to which your organization's spoken and unspoken beliefs and values either support or deter worker well-being [CPWR and NIOSH 2013]. Encourage top leaders to:  Establish and communicate the principles of the proposed initiative to all levels of the organization; teach managers to value workers' input on safety and health issues. Maintain the visibility of the effort at the organization's highest levels by presenting data that is linked to the program resource allocations. Promote routine communications between leadership and employees on issues related to safety, health, and well-being. Openly support and participate in workplace safety and health initiatives.  Facilitate participation across all levels of the workforce. Add safety and health-related standards into performance evaluations.  Build safety and health into the organization's mission and objectives.  Establish a mechanism and budget for acting on workforce recommendations.  Emphasize that shortcuts must not compromise worker safety and health. Provide adequate resources, including appropriately trained and motivated staff or vendors, space, and time.  If necessary, ensure dedicated funding over multiple years, as an investment in your workforce. Encourage mid-level management to:  Recognize and discuss the competitive advantage (e.g., recruitment, retention, employee satisfaction, community engagement and reputation, and workforce sustainability) that TWH brings to the long-term sustainability of the organization. Highlight examples of senior leadership's commitment to TWH. Provide training on how managers can implement and support Total Worker Health aligned approaches, such as those related to work-life balance.                                    Defining Element 2: Design work to eliminate or reduce safety and health hazards and promote worker well-being A Total Worker Health approach prioritizes a hazard-free work environment for all workers. It applies a prevention approach that is consistent with traditional occupational safety and health prevention principles of the Hierarchy of Controls.  Eliminating or reducing recognized hazards in the workplace first, including those related to the organization of work itself, is the most effective means of prevention and thus is foundational to all Total Worker Health principles. Although some hazards can be eliminated from the work environment, others (such as shift work) are more difficult to change. These must be managed through various engineering, administrative, or (as the very last resort) individual-level changes. Workplace programs that adopt a TWH approach emphasize elimination or control of workplace hazards and other contributors to inadequate safety, health, and well-being. This emphasis on addressing environmental determinants of health is a crucial concept for TWH programs. The Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health provides a conceptual model for prioritizing efforts to advance worker safety, health, and well-being. This applied model is based on the traditional Hierarchy of Controls well-known to occupational safety and health professionals. As in the traditional Hierarchy of Controls, controls, and strategies are presented in descending order of anticipated effectiveness and protectiveness, as suggested by the cascading arrows. The Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health expands the traditional hierarchy from occupational safety and health to include controls and strategies that more broadly advance worker well-being.  The Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health is not meant to replace the traditional Hierarchy of Controls, but rather is a companion to this important occupational safety and health model. It serves to illustrate how TWH approaches emphasize organizational-level interventions to protect workers’ safety, health, and well-being. To apply this model:  Begin by eliminating workplace conditions that cause or contribute to worker illness and injury or otherwise negatively impact well-being. These include factors related to supervision throughout the management chain. Replace unsafe, unhealthy working conditions or practices with safer, health-enhancing policies, programs, and management practices that improve the culture of safety and health in the workplace. Redesign the work environment, where needed, for safety, health, and well-being. Remove impediments to well-being, enhance employer-sponsored benefits, and provide flexible work schedules. Provide safety and health education and resources to enhance personal knowledge for all workers. Lastly, encourage personal change for improvements to health, safety, and well-being. Assist workers with individual risks and challenges; provide support for healthier choice-making.                                            EXAMPLE: Using the Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health, a program targeting reductions in musculoskeletal disorders could consist of the following:  Reorganizing or redesigning the work to minimize repetitive movement, excessive force, and awkward postures Providing ergonomic consultations to workers to improve job and workstation design and interface, along with training in ergonomic principles and opportunities for workers to participate in design efforts Evaluating the age profile and health needs of the workforce to provide education on self-management strategies (including preventive exercise) for arthritis or other musculoskeletal conditions that impact the physical ability                                            Similarly, a TWH program reducing work-related stress might consider the following:  Implementing organizational and management policies that give workers more flexibility and control over their work and schedules, as well as opportunities to identify and eliminate root causes of stress. Providing training for supervisors on approaches to address stressful working conditions. Providing skill-building interventions for stress reduction for all workers and providing access to the Employee Assistance Program.                                            Defining Element 3: Promote and support worker engagement throughout program design and implementation Ensure that workers involved in daily operations, as well as supervisory staff, are engaged in identifying safety and health issues, contributing to program design, and participating in all aspects of program implementation and evaluation. Again, letting workers be involved in workplace safety, health, and well-being, instead of being just recipients of services, nurtures a shared commitment to Total Worker Health. Some ways to do this include:  Identify safety and health issues that are most important to front-line employees More effectively identify potential barriers to program use and effectiveness Improve the long-term sustainability of the initiative Increase employee buy-in and participation in policies and other interventions                                            ProTip: Design programs with a long-term outlook to ensure sustainability. Short-term approaches have short-term value. Programs aligned with the core values of the organization will likely last. These should be flexible enough to be responsive to changes in workforce and market conditions, workplace hazards and exposures, and the needs of individual workers. A participatory approach can help in this regard, but keep sustainability in mind for the bigger picture. To help encourage worker engagement, communicate strategically; everyone with a stake in worker safety and health (workers, their families, supervisors, etc.) must know what you are doing and why. Tailor your messages and how they are delivered, and make sure they consistently reflect the values and direction of the initiative. Whether workers are willing to engage in workplace safety and health initiatives, however, may depend on their perceptions of whether the work environment truly supports safety and health. For example, one study found that blue-collar workers who smoke are more likely to quit and stay quit after a worksite tobacco cessation program if workplace dust, fumes, and vapors are controlled and workplace smoking policies are in place Defining Element 4: Ensure the confidentiality and privacy of workers Designing and enforcing appropriate privacy protections goes beyond ensuring that only authorized personnel has access to sensitive safety and health information. Observe all relevant local, state, and national laws regarding the privacy of personally identifiable data and health-related information by taking appropriate steps. So doing things like masking personally identifiable information on reports, and using a digital management system that is encrypted and protected by user passwords are some best practices. Data sources that require confidentiality considerations and/or protections:  Health risk assessment Electronic health records Management systems Program evaluation data Self-reported survey data  Privacy precautions:  Rigorous de-identification of records Destruction of personally identifiable information as appropriate Hiring a third party to handle certain aspects of the program to reduce employee fear of retribution or penalty Using group or population-level data rather than individual data    Defining Element 5: Integrate relevant systems to advance worker well-being. Total Worker Health emphasizes the role that organizations have in shaping worker safety and health outcomes, recognizing that a multilevel perspective that includes policy, environmental, organizational, and social concerns may be best for tackling complex challenges to worker safety, health, and well-being. Integrating data systems across programs and among vendors, for instance, can simplify monitoring and evaluation while also enabling both tracking of results and continual program improvement.  Conduct an initial assessment of existing workplace policies, programs, and practices pertinent to safety, health, and well-being and determine how they relate to one another. Note: for some larger organizations, this may seem like an overwhelming task. To assist in helping to focus this step, consider, at a minimum, these factors: Human resources or personnel policies on issues such as health insurance, paid sick leave, family leave, vacation benefits, retirement, and disability. Safety and health policies and procedures for identifying hazards, reporting work-related injuries and illnesses, and filing worker compensation claims. Identify apparent areas of overlap with existing efforts, and note opportunities for future coordination. Purposefully and regularly bring together leaders and teams with overlapping or complementary responsibilities for planning and priority setting. For example, hold joint meetings of safety committees and occupational health staff, human resources, and wellness committees.  Questions to Consider Asking Yourself or Your Team  Do we regularly seek the input of our workers on the selection and design of our offered benefits? How can we change or adjust management policies or programs to more effectively support improved safety and health? How does the everyday physical work environment affect worker safety and health? Beyond our workplace policies or programs that may be targeting safety and health, what influence do our workplace or organizational norms have on worker safety and health outcomes? How do our efforts feed into the community at large? What sorts of resources outside the workplace, such as community support, would be useful in helping to reinforce and support our safety and health programs?  Understanding the connections between various systems and levels of an individual worker's experience may help design creative, well-rounded approaches to safety and health challenges. By working together and discovering what each professional in the organization is already working on you will often find related goals and objectives - the benefits administrator struggling to get workers to participate in an exercise class and the safety professional struggling to get a warm-up/stretching program started will be able to work together. So to wrap this topic up, I will say this: If you want to have a successful wellness program, you must first have a strong culture of workplace safety. Then you can build on that credibility and ask folks to move toward participating in safety or health-related activities off-the-job. Make sure you are first building a workplace safety culture. Let me know what you think about this episode. Send emails to info@thesafetypropodcast.com and share with me your thoughts. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post an update, letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Fundamentals of Total Worker Health  Keeping workers safe is the foundation upon which a TWH approach is built. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/twh/totalhealth.html" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">To</a><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/twh/totalhealth.html" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">tal Worker Health</a> integrates health protection efforts with a broad spectrum of interventions to improve worker health and well-being. The Fundamentals of Total Worker Health Approaches is the practical starting point for employers, workers, labor representatives, and other professionals interested in implementing workplace safety and health programs aligned with the Total Worker Health (TWH) approach. There are five Defining Elements of TWH: Element 1: Demonstrate leadership commitment to worker safety and health at all levels of the organization. Element 2: Design work to eliminate or reduce safety and health hazards and promote worker well-being. Element 3: Promote and support worker engagement throughout program design and implementation. Element 4: Ensure the confidentiality and privacy of workers. Element 5: Integrate relevant systems to advance worker well-being. Getting Started Create a team of people who know about different policies, programs, and practices in your workplace that impact worker safety, health, and well-being. Draw team members from all levels of the workforce, and consider including the following: <ul> <li>Workers who have requested or participated in changes for safety and health</li> <li>Safety directors</li> <li>Human resources representatives</li> <li>Occupational health nurses or other healthcare practitioners</li> <li>Workers’ compensation professionals</li> <li>Employee Assistance Program professionals</li> <li>Those responsible for disability management and return-to-work procedures</li> <li>Health and wellness champions</li> </ul> Defining Element 1: Demonstrate leadership commitment to worker safety and health at all levels of the organization Organizational leaders should acknowledge and communicate the value of workforce safety and health as a core function, and they should prioritize worker safety and health on the same level as the quality of services and products. ProTip: Middle management is the direct link between workers and upper management and plays a critical role in program success or failure. For example, supervisors often serve as gatekeepers to employee participation in programs, and when program involvement competes with productivity demands, they may discourage employee participation Effective programs thrive in organizations that promote respect throughout the organization and encourage active worker participation, input, and involvement. Leaders at all levels of the organization can help set this tone, but everyone (from managers down to front-line workers) plays an essential role in contributing to this shared commitment to safety and health. Beyond written policies, stated practices, and implemented programs that endorse safety and health in your workplace, consider the extent to which your organization's spoken and unspoken beliefs and values either support or deter worker well-being [CPWR and NIOSH 2013]. Encourage top leaders to: <ol> <li>Establish and communicate the principles of the proposed initiative to all levels of the organization; teach managers to value workers' input on safety and health issues.</li> <li>Maintain the visibility of the effort at the organization's highest levels by presenting data that is linked to the program resource allocations.</li> <li>Promote routine communications between leadership and employees on issues related to safety, health, and well-being.</li> <li>Openly support and participate in workplace safety and health initiatives. </li> <li>Facilitate participation across all levels of the workforce.</li> <li>Add safety and health-related standards into performance evaluations. </li> <li>Build safety and health into the organization's mission and objectives. </li> <li>Establish a mechanism and budget for acting on workforce recommendations. </li> <li>Emphasize that shortcuts must not compromise worker safety and health.</li> <li>Provide adequate resources, including appropriately trained and motivated staff or vendors, space, and time.</li> </ol> If necessary, ensure dedicated funding over multiple years, as an investment in your workforce. Encourage mid-level management to: <ol> <li>Recognize and discuss the competitive advantage (e.g., recruitment, retention, employee satisfaction, community engagement and reputation, and workforce sustainability) that TWH brings to the long-term sustainability of the organization.</li> <li>Highlight examples of senior leadership's commitment to TWH.</li> <li>Provide training on how managers can implement and support Total Worker Health aligned approaches, such as those related to work-life balance.</li> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> Defining Element 2: Design work to eliminate or reduce safety and health hazards and promote worker well-being A Total Worker Health approach prioritizes a hazard-free work environment for all workers. It applies a prevention approach that is consistent with traditional occupational safety and health prevention principles of the Hierarchy of Controls. Eliminating or reducing recognized hazards in the workplace first, including those related to the organization of work itself, is the most effective means of prevention and thus is foundational to all Total Worker Health principles. Although some hazards can be eliminated from the work environment, others (such as shift work) are more difficult to change. These must be managed through various engineering, administrative, or (as the very last resort) individual-level changes. Workplace programs that adopt a TWH approach emphasize elimination or control of workplace hazards and other contributors to inadequate safety, health, and well-being. This emphasis on addressing environmental determinants of health is a crucial concept for TWH programs. The Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health provides a conceptual model for prioritizing efforts to advance worker safety, health, and well-being. This applied model is based on the traditional Hierarchy of Controls well-known to occupational safety and health professionals. As in the traditional Hierarchy of Controls, controls, and strategies are presented in descending order of anticipated effectiveness and protectiveness, as suggested by the cascading arrows. The Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health expands the traditional hierarchy from occupational safety and health to include controls and strategies that more broadly advance worker well-being. The Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health is not meant to replace the traditional Hierarchy of Controls, but rather is a companion to this important occupational safety and health model. It serves to illustrate how TWH approaches emphasize organizational-level interventions to protect workers’ safety, health, and well-being. To apply this model: <ol> <li>Begin by eliminating workplace conditions that cause or contribute to worker illness and injury or otherwise negatively impact well-being. These include factors related to supervision throughout the management chain.</li> <li>Replace unsafe, unhealthy working conditions or practices with safer, health-enhancing policies, programs, and management practices that improve the culture of safety and health in the workplace.</li> <li>Redesign the work environment, where needed, for safety, health, and well-being. Remove impediments to well-being, enhance employer-sponsored benefits, and provide flexible work schedules.</li> <li>Provide safety and health education and resources to enhance personal knowledge for all workers.</li> <li>Lastly, encourage personal change for improvements to health, safety, and well-being. Assist workers with individual risks and challenges; provide support for healthier choice-making.</li> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> EXAMPLE: Using the Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health, a program targeting reductions in musculoskeletal disorders could consist of the following: <ol> <li>Reorganizing or redesigning the work to minimize repetitive movement, excessive force, and awkward postures</li> <li>Providing ergonomic consultations to workers to improve job and workstation design and interface, along with training in ergonomic principles and opportunities for workers to participate in design efforts</li> <li>Evaluating the age profile and health needs of the workforce to provide education on self-management strategies (including preventive exercise) for arthritis or other musculoskeletal conditions that impact the physical ability</li> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> Similarly, a TWH program reducing work-related stress might consider the following: <ol> <li>Implementing organizational and management policies that give workers more flexibility and control over their work and schedules, as well as opportunities to identify and eliminate root causes of stress.</li> <li>Providing training for supervisors on approaches to address stressful working conditions.</li> <li>Providing skill-building interventions for stress reduction for all workers and providing access to the Employee Assistance Program.</li> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> <ol> <li> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> Defining Element 3: Promote and support worker engagement throughout program design and implementation Ensure that workers involved in daily operations, as well as supervisory staff, are engaged in identifying safety and health issues, contributing to program design, and participating in all aspects of program implementation and evaluation. Again, letting workers be involved in workplace safety, health, and well-being, instead of being just recipients of services, nurtures a shared commitment to Total Worker Health. Some ways to do this include: <ul> <li>Identify safety and health issues that are most important to front-line employees</li> <li>More effectively identify potential barriers to program use and effectiveness</li> <li>Improve the long-term sustainability of the initiative</li> <li>Increase employee buy-in and participation in policies and other interventions</li> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> <ul> <li> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> ProTip: Design programs with a long-term outlook to ensure sustainability. Short-term approaches have short-term value. Programs aligned with the core values of the organization will likely last. These should be flexible enough to be responsive to changes in workforce and market conditions, workplace hazards and exposures, and the needs of individual workers. A participatory approach can help in this regard, but keep sustainability in mind for the bigger picture. To help encourage worker engagement, communicate strategically; everyone with a stake in worker safety and health (workers, their families, supervisors, etc.) must know what you are doing and why. Tailor your messages and how they are delivered, and make sure they consistently reflect the values and direction of the initiative. Whether workers are willing to engage in workplace safety and health initiatives, however, may depend on their perceptions of whether the work environment truly supports safety and health. For example, one study found that blue-collar workers who smoke are more likely to quit and stay quit after a worksite tobacco cessation program if workplace dust, fumes, and vapors are controlled and workplace smoking policies are in place Defining Element 4: Ensure the confidentiality and privacy of workers Designing and enforcing appropriate privacy protections goes beyond ensuring that only authorized personnel has access to sensitive safety and health information. Observe all relevant local, state, and national laws regarding the privacy of personally identifiable data and health-related information by taking appropriate steps. So doing things like masking personally identifiable information on reports, and using a digital management system that is encrypted and protected by user passwords are some best practices. Data sources that require confidentiality considerations and/or protections: <ul> <li>Health risk assessment</li> <li>Electronic health records</li> <li>Management systems</li> <li>Program evaluation data</li> <li>Self-reported survey data</li> </ul> Privacy precautions: <ul> <li>Rigorous de-identification of records</li> <li>Destruction of personally identifiable information as appropriate</li> <li>Hiring a third party to handle certain aspects of the program to reduce employee fear of retribution or penalty</li> <li>Using group or population-level data rather than individual data</li> <li> </li> </ul> Defining Element 5: Integrate relevant systems to advance worker well-being. Total Worker Health emphasizes the role that organizations have in shaping worker safety and health outcomes, recognizing that a multilevel perspective that includes policy, environmental, organizational, and social concerns may be best for tackling complex challenges to worker safety, health, and well-being. Integrating data systems across programs and among vendors, for instance, can simplify monitoring and evaluation while also enabling both tracking of results and continual program improvement. <ul> <li>Conduct an initial assessment of existing workplace policies, programs, and practices pertinent to safety, health, and well-being and determine how they relate to one another. Note: for some larger organizations, this may seem like an overwhelming task. To assist in helping to focus this step, consider, at a minimum, these factors: Human resources or personnel policies on issues such as health insurance, paid sick leave, family leave, vacation benefits, retirement, and disability. Safety and health policies and procedures for identifying hazards, reporting work-related injuries and illnesses, and filing worker compensation claims.</li> <li>Identify apparent areas of overlap with existing efforts, and note opportunities for future coordination.</li> <li>Purposefully and regularly bring together leaders and teams with overlapping or complementary responsibilities for planning and priority setting. For example, hold joint meetings of safety committees and occupational health staff, human resources, and wellness committees.</li> </ul> Questions to Consider Asking Yourself or Your Team <ul> <li>Do we regularly seek the input of our workers on the selection and design of our offered benefits?</li> <li>How can we change or adjust management policies or programs to more effectively support improved safety and health?</li> <li>How does the everyday physical work environment affect worker safety and health?</li> <li>Beyond our workplace policies or programs that may be targeting safety and health, what influence do our workplace or organizational norms have on worker safety and health outcomes?</li> <li>How do our efforts feed into the community at large? What sorts of resources outside the workplace, such as community support, would be useful in helping to reinforce and support our safety and health programs?</li> </ul> Understanding the connections between various systems and levels of an individual worker's experience may help design creative, well-rounded approaches to safety and health challenges. By working together and discovering what each professional in the organization is already working on you will often find related goals and objectives - the benefits administrator struggling to get workers to participate in an exercise class and the safety professional struggling to get a warm-up/stretching program started will be able to work together. So to wrap this topic up, I will say this: If you want to have a successful wellness program, you must first have a strong culture of workplace safety. Then you can build on that credibility and ask folks to move toward participating in safety or health-related activities off-the-job. Make sure you are first building a workplace safety culture. Let me know what you think about this episode. Send emails to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a> and share with me your thoughts. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post an update, letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>

068: Why You Should Care About Total Worker Health (TWH) & Safety

Powered by iReportSource  I want to get into confined spaces and permit-required confined spaces. I need to break this topic up into a couple of different episodes, beginning with a general introduction to terms, definitions, emergency response, and some training requirements before getting into specifics around the actual entry permits and entry procedures like monitoring in the next episode. Ok, so let’s first define the terms for our discussion: According to 29 CFR 1910.146, a confined space is ANY space that: * Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work * Has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (for example, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, and pits are spaces that may have limited means of entry.) * Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy. Let’s talk about that last part for a moment; OSHA defines continuous human occupancy vaguely, but use the following as a benchmark: Can the worker safely remain inside the space during operation? Of course, we are talking about not being exposed to a recognized hazard while inside; moving/rotating parts, live electrical components, gases, fumes, or other hazardous atmosphere, things like that. I have heard all sorts of crazy excuses why a space is NOT a confined space: - It has a door - There is a light, they meant for someone to be in there - There are two ways out You need to assess and evaluate ALL aspects of the space to determine whether or not it is considered a confined space according to OSHA. So, confined spaces can include underground vaults, tanks, storage bins, manholes, pits, silos, underground utility vaults and pipelines, etc. It really depends on you being able to assess the space in question. Now, OSHA states that the employer shall evaluate the workplace to determine if any spaces are PERMIT-required confined spaces. Well, a ”Permit-required confined space (permit space)" means a confined space that we already defined, has one or more of the following characteristics: 1. Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere 2. Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant 3. Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section OR 4. Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard If the workplace contains any permit spaces, you have to inform exposed employees, by posting danger signs or by any other equally effective means, of the existence and location of and the danger posed by the PERMIT spaces. I always recommend controlling access further by adding physical locks when possible. Especially if your policy is that no employees are permitted to enter these spaces. This adds another level of security to the postings. Ok, for me, starting with managing the spaces themselves as well as the activities in and around these spaces is the key to ensuring worker safety. And it all starts with making sure you are PREPARED to respond to ANY emergency in the workplace. Emergency services (whether you have confined spaces or not) is critical for any workplace. First and foremost, you need to determine whether or not emergency crews are able to reach your facility in what OSHA calls a “reasonable amount of time” for life-threatening situations. So, according to OSHA, in workplaces where serious accidents such as those involving falls, suffocation, electrocution, or amputation are possible, emergency medical services must be available within 3-4 minutes, if there is no employee on the site who is trained to render first aid. OSHA recognizes that a somewhat longer response time of up to 15 minutes may be reasonable in workplaces, such as offices, where the possibility of such serious work-related injuries is more remote. Also, OSHA has interpreted the standard to require a separate (either in-house or outside) rescue and emergency service when permit space entry operations are performed in an immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) atmosphere. This means any condition that poses an immediate or delayed threat to life or that would cause irreversible adverse health effects or that would interfere with an individual's ability to escape unaided from a permit space. An example would be during inerting activities. Even in permit space entry operations involving non-IDLH atmospheres, more than one rescuer may be required in permit space entry operations depending on the hazards present and the number of authorized entrants that may require rescue. The minimum number of people required to perform work that is covered by OSHA standards for permit-required confined space entry standards and respiratory protection standards will be driven by facts such as the hazards or potential hazards, the number of entrants who may require rescue and the configuration and size of the space. So planning is critical! When using outside services that are able to meet the response time, consider the following: * Have local response crews been out to see your facility? * Have they done a walkthrough of some high-hazard processes and activities (not just confined spaces)? * Are they equipped to manage the types of emergencies your site may present? (Many rural departments may lack some of the resources needed) * Have emergency services crews trained or conducted simulated rescues at your site? These are just a few examples of best practices you can follow to ensure a higher level of safety. Also, keeping track of who is entering these spaces at any given time is key. Whether they are contractors or your own employees; knowing when entries are taking place and tracking entrants is a major part of the OSHA requirements. This gets us into the permit entry system. This is your written procedure for preparing and issuing permits for entry and for returning the permit space to service following the termination of entry. This is important; for a PERMIT required confined space, NO entry is allowed unless a written entry permit is completed, you have identified the trained attendant, entrants and entry supervisor (we will go through all that in the next episode) and have documented each hazard of the space and how each hazard is mitigated. Now, since deaths in confined spaces often occur because the atmosphere is oxygen-deficient or toxic, confined spaces need to be tested prior to entry and continually monitored. More than 60% of confined space fatalities occur among would-be rescuers; therefore, a well-designed and properly executed rescue plan is a must. If spaces are properly evaluated prior to entry and continuously monitored while the work is being performed and have appropriate rescue procedures in effect, fewer incidents would occur. OSHA considers entry to have been made into space whenever ANY part of the entrant’s body breaks the plane of the space opening.  CAUTION: hazards may still be present right outside the opening, like when a space has undergone nitrogen purging; an oxygen deficiency could exist just feet outside the opening and someone could be bending down to look inside (without breaking the plane) and be overcome, and pass out, fall into the space, etc. And this HAS led to fatalities before. So just because OSHA says you have to break the plane to have made an entry, don’t forget about the general environmental controls standard that applies just outside the space. Let’s stop there with entry procedures and save that specific topic for the next episode. I wanted to give you an overview of what is involved and what to expect moving forward.  Now that you have an idea of what these spaces are (according to OSHA) and some of the requirements; let’s focus on preparing for confined space operations in general. In a word; TRAINING. Employees need to be trained BEFORE they are assigned any duties related to confined space work. Let me break these into some categories for you: 1. General safety 2. Entrants 3. Attendants 4. Supervisors For general safety training, all employees, regardless of their role, need to understand the common hazards present or that may be present in any of the spaces that they might work. Especially hazards they may be introducing themselves. Are they cutting or welding? Are they using chemicals? Are they using electrical equipment? Training also has to include signs and symptoms of exposure to certain hazards. All workers need to know how to identify whether or not an entrant is being affected by any of the hazards that may be present. They also need to understand how hazards are to be controlled, the monitoring equipment used in spaces, etc.  General training also has to include how to respond in an emergency. If you do rely on 911 (local emergency services, assuming you already verified they are able to perform such rescues as I already discussed) they need to go over the communication system to be used prior to work beginning. According to the Standard; you have to develop and implement procedures for summoning rescue and emergency services, for rescuing entrants from permit spaces, for providing necessary emergency services to rescued employees, and for preventing unauthorized personnel from attempting a rescue. Also, if there is any fall protection or retrieval equipment being used, they have to be properly trained on its set up and use. Especially if non-entry rescue is being utilized. This is crucial. You can see that knowing the confined spaces standard is not enough. You will need to know general safety requirements, PPE standards, Fall Protection, Respiratory Protection, Emergency Services, and First Aid, and more! Attendants need to know all of the general training requirements as well as the need to remain at the space at all times. They cannot perform ANY other duties that interfere with being an attendant. The entrant can’t yell out to the attendant that they need a wrench or something and the attendant runs to the toolbox real quick and grabs it. They can’t be chatting up another site worker about the game last night, nothing like that!  This all has to part of the training. The same goes for the entry supervisor. Now the entry supervisor is responsible for ensuring ALL the sections of the permit have been addressed appropriately. The entry supervisor can also serve as the attendant if they are trained to do both, but I always recommend off you have the ability, use another layer of oversight by having someone else be the entry supervisor. The permit itself we will go into detail on in the next episode. How to fill it out, terminating the space entry, how long you need to keep these on file, all that stuff. I will have permit templates available, checklists for you so you can get started. But this episode, I wanted to introduce the topic, talk about some of the definitions and training requirements to get us started. So keep an ear out for the next episode as we go deeper into this topic. Let me know what your thoughts are regarding confined spaces. I would like to cover some FAQs as well and talk about some common letters of interpretation in the next episode that will help you improve your confined space entry program. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Powered by <a href="https://ireportsource.com/?utm_source=SafetyPro%20Podcast&amp;utm_medium=SafetyPro%20Blog&amp;utm_campaign=SafetyPro%20Safety%20for%20Tree%20Trimmers" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> I want to get into confined spaces and permit-required confined spaces. I need to break this topic up into a couple of different episodes, beginning with a general introduction to terms, definitions, emergency response, and some training requirements before getting into specifics around the actual entry permits and entry procedures like monitoring in the next episode. Ok, so let’s first define the terms for our discussion: According to 29 CFR 1910.146, a confined space is ANY space that: * Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work * Has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (for example, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, and pits are spaces that may have limited means of entry.) * Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy. Let’s talk about that last part for a moment; OSHA defines continuous human occupancy vaguely, but use the following as a benchmark: Can the worker safely remain inside the space during operation? Of course, we are talking about not being exposed to a recognized hazard while inside; moving/rotating parts, live electrical components, gases, fumes, or other hazardous atmosphere, things like that. I have heard all sorts of crazy excuses why a space is NOT a confined space: - It has a door - There is a light, they meant for someone to be in there - There are two ways out You need to assess and evaluate ALL aspects of the space to determine whether or not it is considered a confined space according to OSHA. So, confined spaces can include underground vaults, tanks, storage bins, manholes, pits, silos, underground utility vaults and pipelines, etc. It really depends on you being able to assess the space in question. Now, OSHA states that the employer shall evaluate the workplace to determine if any spaces are PERMIT-required confined spaces. Well, a ”Permit-required confined space (permit space)" means a confined space that we already defined, has one or more of the following characteristics: 1. Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere 2. Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant 3. Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section OR 4. Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard If the workplace contains any permit spaces, you have to inform exposed employees, by posting danger signs or by any other equally effective means, of the existence and location of and the danger posed by the PERMIT spaces. I always recommend controlling access further by adding physical locks when possible. Especially if your policy is that no employees are permitted to enter these spaces. This adds another level of security to the postings. Ok, for me, starting with managing the spaces themselves as well as the activities in and around these spaces is the key to ensuring worker safety. And it all starts with making sure you are PREPARED to respond to ANY emergency in the workplace. Emergency services (whether you have confined spaces or not) is critical for any workplace. First and foremost, you need to determine whether or not emergency crews are able to reach your facility in what OSHA calls a “reasonable amount of time” for life-threatening situations. So, according to OSHA, in workplaces where serious accidents such as those involving falls, suffocation, electrocution, or amputation are possible, emergency medical services must be available within 3-4 minutes, if there is no employee on the site who is trained to render first aid. OSHA recognizes that a somewhat longer response time of up to 15 minutes may be reasonable in workplaces, such as offices, where the possibility of such serious work-related injuries is more remote. Also, OSHA has interpreted the standard to require a separate (either in-house or outside) rescue and emergency service when permit space entry operations are performed in an immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) atmosphere. This means any condition that poses an immediate or delayed threat to life or that would cause irreversible adverse health effects or that would interfere with an individual's ability to escape unaided from a permit space. An example would be during inerting activities. Even in permit space entry operations involving non-IDLH atmospheres, more than one rescuer may be required in permit space entry operations depending on the hazards present and the number of authorized entrants that may require rescue. The minimum number of people required to perform work that is covered by OSHA standards for permit-required confined space entry standards and respiratory protection standards will be driven by facts such as the hazards or potential hazards, the number of entrants who may require rescue and the configuration and size of the space. So planning is critical! When using outside services that are able to meet the response time, consider the following: * Have local response crews been out to see your facility? * Have they done a walkthrough of some high-hazard processes and activities (not just confined spaces)? * Are they equipped to manage the types of emergencies your site may present? (Many rural departments may lack some of the resources needed) * Have emergency services crews trained or conducted simulated rescues at your site? These are just a few examples of best practices you can follow to ensure a higher level of safety. Also, keeping track of who is entering these spaces at any given time is key. Whether they are contractors or your own employees; knowing when entries are taking place and tracking entrants is a major part of the OSHA requirements. This gets us into the permit entry system. This is your written procedure for preparing and issuing permits for entry and for returning the permit space to service following the termination of entry. This is important; for a PERMIT required confined space, NO entry is allowed unless a written entry permit is completed, you have identified the trained attendant, entrants and entry supervisor (we will go through all that in the next episode) and have documented each hazard of the space and how each hazard is mitigated. Now, since deaths in confined spaces often occur because the atmosphere is oxygen-deficient or toxic, confined spaces need to be tested prior to entry and continually monitored. More than 60% of confined space fatalities occur among would-be rescuers; therefore, a well-designed and properly executed rescue plan is a must. If spaces are properly evaluated prior to entry and continuously monitored while the work is being performed and have appropriate rescue procedures in effect, fewer incidents would occur. OSHA considers entry to have been made into space whenever ANY part of the entrant’s body breaks the plane of the space opening.  CAUTION: hazards may still be present right outside the opening, like when a space has undergone nitrogen purging; an oxygen deficiency could exist just feet outside the opening and someone could be bending down to look inside (without breaking the plane) and be overcome, and pass out, fall into the space, etc. And this HAS led to fatalities before. So just because OSHA says you have to break the plane to have made an entry, don’t forget about the general environmental controls standard that applies just outside the space. Let’s stop there with entry procedures and save that specific topic for the next episode. I wanted to give you an overview of what is involved and what to expect moving forward.  Now that you have an idea of what these spaces are (according to OSHA) and some of the requirements; let’s focus on preparing for confined space operations in general. In a word; TRAINING. Employees need to be trained BEFORE they are assigned any duties related to confined space work. Let me break these into some categories for you: 1. General safety 2. Entrants 3. Attendants 4. Supervisors For general safety training, all employees, regardless of their role, need to understand the common hazards present or that may be present in any of the spaces that they might work. Especially hazards they may be introducing themselves. Are they cutting or welding? Are they using chemicals? Are they using electrical equipment? Training also has to include signs and symptoms of exposure to certain hazards. All workers need to know how to identify whether or not an entrant is being affected by any of the hazards that may be present. They also need to understand how hazards are to be controlled, the monitoring equipment used in spaces, etc.  General training also has to include how to respond in an emergency. If you do rely on 911 (local emergency services, assuming you already verified they are able to perform such rescues as I already discussed) they need to go over the communication system to be used prior to work beginning. According to the Standard; you have to develop and implement procedures for summoning rescue and emergency services, for rescuing entrants from permit spaces, for providing necessary emergency services to rescued employees, and for preventing unauthorized personnel from attempting a rescue. Also, if there is any fall protection or retrieval equipment being used, they have to be properly trained on its set up and use. Especially if non-entry rescue is being utilized. This is crucial. You can see that knowing the confined spaces standard is not enough. You will need to know general safety requirements, PPE standards, Fall Protection, Respiratory Protection, Emergency Services, and First Aid, and more! Attendants need to know all of the general training requirements as well as the need to remain at the space at all times. They cannot perform ANY other duties that interfere with being an attendant. The entrant can’t yell out to the attendant that they need a wrench or something and the attendant runs to the toolbox real quick and grabs it. They can’t be chatting up another site worker about the game last night, nothing like that!  This all has to part of the training. The same goes for the entry supervisor. Now the entry supervisor is responsible for ensuring ALL the sections of the permit have been addressed appropriately. The entry supervisor can also serve as the attendant if they are trained to do both, but I always recommend off you have the ability, use another layer of oversight by having someone else be the entry supervisor. The permit itself we will go into detail on in the next episode. How to fill it out, terminating the space entry, how long you need to keep these on file, all that stuff. I will have permit templates available, checklists for you so you can get started. But this episode, I wanted to introduce the topic, talk about some of the definitions and training requirements to get us started. So keep an ear out for the next episode as we go deeper into this topic. Let me know what your thoughts are regarding confined spaces. I would like to cover some FAQs as well and talk about some common letters of interpretation in the next episode that will help you improve your confined space entry program. You can find me on LinkedIn! Post a LinkedIn update letting me know what you think of the podcast. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>

034: Confined Space Entry Safety Pt 1

040: Trenching and Excavation Safety

Powered by iReportSource We know by now that the application of a safety management system (SMS) can drastically improve organizational safety performance. Even OSHA's Partnership program, VPP, relies on management system principles, and you can see the results that participants encounter on their website. So, back in 1999, ANSI started a committee to begin work on what would become known as the Z10 standard. The committee looked at existing national and international standards in occupational safety and health. Initially approved in 2005, it was revised once and reaffirmed in 2017. More recently, the collaboration between ANSI and the American Industrial Hygiene Association was replaced on the Z10 committee by the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), which is why you will now see the standard now titled ANSI/ASSP Z10. ANSI Z10 encourages participants to integrate other management systems with the safety management system. Mainly because most other systems follow the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) model as the basis for continuous improvement, so it should be familiar to most organizations. Not only that, it is incredibly useful! The stated purpose of the standard is to provide organizations a valuable tool for continuous improvement of their safety and health performance. The standard focuses mainly on the strategic aspects of policies and the things that go into making sure they are carried out. What ANSI Z10 does NOT do is provide companies with things like detailed procedures and job instructions. So let's get into what is required by this voluntary standard. Like other voluntary standards, the ANSI/ASSP Z10 is broken down into sections. According to the Table of Contents, the seven sections are as follows:  Scope, Purpose, &amp; Application Definitions Management Leadership &amp; Employee Participation Planning Implementation &amp; Operation Evaluation &amp; Corrective Action Management Review  Scope, Purpose, &amp; Application Just as in the case with ISO 45001, ANSI/ASSP Z10 starts with the Scope, Purpose &amp; Application. It defines the minimum requirements for the safety management system, and its primary purpose is, again, to provide a tool that organizations can use to reduce injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Of course, the standard can be applied to any organization regardless of size and type. Management Leadership &amp; Employee Participation The top management has to mandate all parts of the organization to establish, maintain, implement, and maintain the SMS per the standard. This mandate starts with top management establishing a documented EHS policy. Companies have to make sure that, at a minimum, the safety policy includes the following:  Protection and continual improvement of employee safety and health. Meaningful employee involvement. Require conformance with the organization's safety and health program requirements. Require compliance with established safety and health laws and regulations.  The top leadership must also accept ultimate responsibility for safety and health by doing the things we come to expect in these safety management systems:  Provide financial and professional resources to carry out the management system requirements. Define roles and responsibilities, accountability, and authority to carry out the management system requirements.  Integrate the SMS into other business systems and processes, which includes performance reviews, compensation, rewards, and recognition programs are in line with the SMS.  Employees also have to assume responsibility for parts of the SMS over which they have control, like following safety rules and procedures. All of this must be communicated to all employees as well as be made available to relevant external interested parties. According to ANSI, top leadership should not only hire a safety professional and delegate all of this to them. They must be visible in their leadership by participating in carrying out aspects of the SMS as well. Employee Participation The organization has to establish a process that ensures meaningful employee participation throughout all levels. At a minimum:  Provide employees the means, time, and resources needed to participate in the planning, implementation, evaluation, corrective action, and preventative actions required by the SMS. Provide employees access to information related to the SMS. Effectively remove all barriers to meaningful involvement.  Planning ANSI states that the planning process goal is to identify and prioritize SMS issues such as hazards, risks, SMS deficiencies, and opportunities for improvement. The organization must also establish goals and objectives to improve upon the SMS as well. There are four parts of this section:  Review Process Assessment and Prioritization Objectives Implementation Plans and Allocation of Resources  Let's talk about Review; I often mention the need to conduct a gap assessment. Well, so does ANSI. You need to identify the differences, the gap between the organization's SMS, and the requirements of the Z10. Not only does this need to be done when implementing Z10, but also periodically after that. The organization must document these activities. The activities you should document include:  Relevant business systems and processes Operational issues like hazards, risks, and controls Previously identified issues Allocation of needed resources Applicable regulations, standards, and other EHS requirements Risk assessments Opportunities for employee participation Results of other audits Any other relevant activities  Implementation &amp; Operation This section is where ANSI spells out which elements an organization needs for the implementation of an effective SMS. These elements are considered foundational elements of the SMS and feed into the planning process. ANSI believes the implementation fo these elements also generates the much-needed experience and knowledge that will be looped back into the planning process continuously. The elements are as follows:  Risk Assessment Education, Training, Awareness, and Competence Communication Document and Record Control Process  Here I want to focus on the first element. The organization must establish and implement a risk assessment process that addresses the nature of the hazards and level of risks in the business. In the Risk Assessment element, ANSI spells out the use of the hierarchy of controls, design review, management of change, procurement processes, contractor management, and emergency preparedness. These all must be addressed to comply with the standard. Evaluation &amp; Corrective Action In this section, ANSI covers the requirements for processes to achieve the following:  Evaluate the performance of the SMS through monitoring, measurement, assessment, incident investigation, and audits. Take corrective action when the organization discovers deficiencies. Consider the results of audits as part of the planning process and management review. The purpose is to help evaluate SMS performance by measuring the company's efforts at reducing risks.  ANSI spells out five areas that will help:  Monitoring, Measurement, and Assessment Incident Investigation Audits Corrective and Preventative Action Feedback to the Planning Process  In the end, the findings and lessons learned will loop back into the continuous process of improving the SMS overall. Management Review In this section, ANSI defines the requirements for occasional management reviews. The reason is for top management, along with crucial leaders in the organization, to do a strategic evaluation of the performance of the SMS and recommend improvements. The difference being that this speaks specifically to top leadership. Things to consider using during any management review include:  Any reduction of risks identified The effectiveness of the organization's ability to identify, assess, and prioritize risk The effectiveness in addressing underlying causes and contributors to risks and deficiencies  Input from employees The status of corrective actions determined to be needed Progress on any stated SMS goals and objectives  The reason top management needs to conduct these reviews is that they have the authority to make the necessary decisions about allocating resources about choices.  The results need to be summarized, spelling out action items top management needs to address. These go into action plans with targets to achieve as well as identifying those responsible for seeing them through. To recap, the ANSI/ASSP Z10 Standard has requirements under the following sections:  Scope, Purpose, &amp; Application Definitions Management Leadership &amp; Employee Participation Planning Implementation &amp; Operation Evaluation &amp; Corrective Action Management Review  I wanted to cover ANSI Z10 as I did for the ISO 45001 Standard in the last episode. Which one do you think you would recommend following? Why? I like aspects of both, but the ANSI Standard reads better. They formatted the standard into two columns. The left-hand side spells out standard requirements while the right-hand side offers recommendations or best practices related to each. It is pretty easy to follow in that regard. Let me know what you think - ISO or ANSI at this point? Post a LinkedIn update, letting me know. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Powered by <a href="http://ireportsource.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">iReportSource</a> We know by now that the application of a safety management system (SMS) can drastically improve organizational safety performance. Even OSHA's Partnership program, VPP, relies on management system principles, and you can see the results that participants encounter on their website. So, back in 1999, ANSI started a committee to begin work on what would become known as the Z10 standard. The committee looked at existing national and international standards in occupational safety and health. Initially approved in 2005, it was revised once and reaffirmed in 2017. More recently, the collaboration between ANSI and the American Industrial Hygiene Association was replaced on the Z10 committee by the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), which is why you will now see the standard now titled ANSI/ASSP Z10. ANSI Z10 encourages participants to integrate other management systems with the safety management system. Mainly because most other systems follow the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) model as the basis for continuous improvement, so it should be familiar to most organizations. Not only that, it is incredibly useful! The stated purpose of the standard is to provide organizations a valuable tool for continuous improvement of their safety and health performance. The standard focuses mainly on the strategic aspects of policies and the things that go into making sure they are carried out. What ANSI Z10 does NOT do is provide companies with things like detailed procedures and job instructions. So let's get into what is required by this voluntary standard. Like other voluntary standards, the ANSI/ASSP Z10 is broken down into sections. According to the Table of Contents, the seven sections are as follows: <ol> <li>Scope, Purpose, &amp; Application</li> <li>Definitions</li> <li>Management Leadership &amp; Employee Participation</li> <li>Planning</li> <li>Implementation &amp; Operation</li> <li>Evaluation &amp; Corrective Action</li> <li>Management Review</li> </ol> Scope, Purpose, &amp; Application Just as in the case with ISO 45001, ANSI/ASSP Z10 starts with the Scope, Purpose &amp; Application. It defines the minimum requirements for the safety management system, and its primary purpose is, again, to provide a tool that organizations can use to reduce injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Of course, the standard can be applied to any organization regardless of size and type. Management Leadership &amp; Employee Participation The top management has to mandate all parts of the organization to establish, maintain, implement, and maintain the SMS per the standard. This mandate starts with top management establishing a documented EHS policy. Companies have to make sure that, at a minimum, the safety policy includes the following: <ul> <li>Protection and continual improvement of employee safety and health.</li> <li>Meaningful employee involvement.</li> <li>Require conformance with the organization's safety and health program requirements.</li> <li>Require compliance with established safety and health laws and regulations.</li> </ul> The top leadership must also accept ultimate responsibility for safety and health by doing the things we come to expect in these safety management systems: <ul> <li>Provide financial and professional resources to carry out the management system requirements.</li> <li>Define roles and responsibilities, accountability, and authority to carry out the management system requirements.</li> <li> Integrate the SMS into other business systems and processes, which includes performance reviews, compensation, rewards, and recognition programs are in line with the SMS.</li> </ul> Employees also have to assume responsibility for parts of the SMS over which they have control, like following safety rules and procedures. All of this must be communicated to all employees as well as be made available to relevant external interested parties. According to ANSI, top leadership should not only hire a safety professional and delegate all of this to them. They must be visible in their leadership by participating in carrying out aspects of the SMS as well. Employee Participation The organization has to establish a process that ensures meaningful employee participation throughout all levels. At a minimum: <ul> <li>Provide employees the means, time, and resources needed to participate in the planning, implementation, evaluation, corrective action, and preventative actions required by the SMS.</li> <li>Provide employees access to information related to the SMS.</li> <li>Effectively remove all barriers to meaningful involvement.</li> </ul> Planning ANSI states that the planning process goal is to identify and prioritize SMS issues such as hazards, risks, SMS deficiencies, and opportunities for improvement. The organization must also establish goals and objectives to improve upon the SMS as well. There are four parts of this section: <ol> <li>Review Process</li> <li>Assessment and Prioritization</li> <li>Objectives</li> <li>Implementation Plans and Allocation of Resources</li> </ol> Let's talk about Review; I often mention the need to conduct a gap assessment. Well, so does ANSI. You need to identify the differences, the gap between the organization's SMS, and the requirements of the Z10. Not only does this need to be done when implementing Z10, but also periodically after that. The organization must document these activities. The activities you should document include: <ul> <li>Relevant business systems and processes</li> <li>Operational issues like hazards, risks, and controls</li> <li>Previously identified issues</li> <li>Allocation of needed resources</li> <li>Applicable regulations, standards, and other EHS requirements</li> <li>Risk assessments</li> <li>Opportunities for employee participation</li> <li>Results of other audits</li> <li>Any other relevant activities</li> </ul> Implementation &amp; Operation This section is where ANSI spells out which elements an organization needs for the implementation of an effective SMS. These elements are considered foundational elements of the SMS and feed into the planning process. ANSI believes the implementation fo these elements also generates the much-needed experience and knowledge that will be looped back into the planning process continuously. The elements are as follows: <ol> <li>Risk Assessment</li> <li>Education, Training, Awareness, and Competence</li> <li>Communication</li> <li>Document and Record Control Process</li> </ol> Here I want to focus on the first element. The organization must establish and implement a risk assessment process that addresses the nature of the hazards and level of risks in the business. In the Risk Assessment element, ANSI spells out the use of the hierarchy of controls, design review, management of change, procurement processes, contractor management, and emergency preparedness. These all must be addressed to comply with the standard. Evaluation &amp; Corrective Action In this section, ANSI covers the requirements for processes to achieve the following: <ul> <li>Evaluate the performance of the SMS through monitoring, measurement, assessment, incident investigation, and audits.</li> <li>Take corrective action when the organization discovers deficiencies.</li> <li>Consider the results of audits as part of the planning process and management review.</li> <li>The purpose is to help evaluate SMS performance by measuring the company's efforts at reducing risks.</li> </ul> ANSI spells out five areas that will help: <ol> <li>Monitoring, Measurement, and Assessment</li> <li>Incident Investigation</li> <li>Audits</li> <li>Corrective and Preventative Action</li> <li>Feedback to the Planning Process</li> </ol> In the end, the findings and lessons learned will loop back into the continuous process of improving the SMS overall. Management Review In this section, ANSI defines the requirements for occasional management reviews. The reason is for top management, along with crucial leaders in the organization, to do a strategic evaluation of the performance of the SMS and recommend improvements. The difference being that this speaks specifically to top leadership. Things to consider using during any management review include: <ul> <li>Any reduction of risks identified</li> <li>The effectiveness of the organization's ability to identify, assess, and prioritize risk</li> <li>The effectiveness in addressing underlying causes and contributors to risks and deficiencies</li> <li> Input from employees</li> <li>The status of corrective actions determined to be needed</li> <li>Progress on any stated SMS goals and objectives</li> </ul> The reason top management needs to conduct these reviews is that they have the authority to make the necessary decisions about allocating resources about choices.  The results need to be summarized, spelling out action items top management needs to address. These go into action plans with targets to achieve as well as identifying those responsible for seeing them through. To recap, the ANSI/ASSP Z10 Standard has requirements under the following sections: <ol> <li>Scope, Purpose, &amp; Application</li> <li>Definitions</li> <li>Management Leadership &amp; Employee Participation</li> <li>Planning</li> <li>Implementation &amp; Operation</li> <li>Evaluation &amp; Corrective Action</li> <li>Management Review</li> </ol> I wanted to cover ANSI Z10 as I did for the ISO 45001 Standard in the last episode. Which one do you think you would recommend following? Why? I like aspects of both, but the ANSI Standard reads better. They formatted the standard into two columns. The left-hand side spells out standard requirements while the right-hand side offers recommendations or best practices related to each. It is pretty easy to follow in that regard. Let me know what you think - ISO or ANSI at this point? Post a LinkedIn update, letting me know. Be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-safetypro-podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn</a> page. You can also find the podcast on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thesafetypropodcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/safetypropodcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/safetypropod" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter.</a>

084: SMS Pt 5 - Breaking Down ANSI/ASSP Z10

www.thesafetypropodcast.com If you want to increase safety engagement between leadership (direct supervisors) and workers try asking what coaching leaders are already getting. Chances are HR is coaching front line supervisors on how to engage workers to increase morale, retention and productivity. Instead of reinventing the wheel, piggyback on what they are already doing. I have used the Gallup Survey information many times with many clients. It just works! Listen to this episode for details but you can get the one-pager of the 12 questions by clicking HERE. If you are SERIOUS about learning more about this approach, you NEED the book! Click HERE FOR THE BOOK. And of course, head over to my RESOURCE page for ALL the essential tools you should have! This topic is a good one and I will definitely expand on it in a later episode. Send your thought to info@thesafetypropodcast.com Be safe, enjoy the Holidays with your friends and family:)

<a href="http://www.thesafetypropodcast.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.thesafetypropodcast.com</a> If you want to increase safety engagement between leadership (direct supervisors) and workers try asking what coaching leaders are already getting. Chances are HR is coaching front line supervisors on how to engage workers to increase morale, retention and productivity. Instead of reinventing the wheel, piggyback on what they are already doing. I have used the Gallup Survey information many times with many clients. It just works! Listen to this episode for details but you can get the one-pager of the 12 questions by clicking <a href="http://eepurl.com/dfLuIz" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a>. If you are SERIOUS about learning more about this approach, you NEED the book! Click <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595621113/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1595621113&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=2470d3c-20&amp;linkId=6eee2d9a3243aba9896415531199d296" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE FOR THE BOOK.</a> And of course, head over to my <a href="http://www.thesafetypropodcast.com/resources/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">RESOURCE</a> page for ALL the essential tools you should have! This topic is a good one and I will definitely expand on it in a later episode. Send your thought to <a href="mailto:info@thesafetypropodcast.com">info@thesafetypropodcast.com</a> Be safe, enjoy the Holidays with your friends and family:)

027: Engaging Workers In Safety

Join the Community of Safety Pros today!  Mentioned in this episode: The National Safety Council The NSC Safe Driving Kit Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths dipped slightly – 1% – in 2017, claiming 40,100 lives versus the 2016 total of 40,327. The small decline is not necessarily an indication of progress, as much as a leveling off of the steepest two-year increase in more than 50 years.  The 2017 assessment is 6% higher than the number of deaths in 2015. If the estimate holds, it will be the second consecutive year that motor vehicle deaths topped 40,000. About 4.57 million people were injured severely enough to require medical attention in motor vehicle crashes in 2017, and costs to society totaled $413.8 billion. Both figures are about 1% lower than 2016 calculations. So what can we do about all of this? A driver safety program should keep the driver safe, as well as others who share the road. If necessary, the program must work to change driver attitudes, improve behavior, and increase skills to build a “be safe” culture. By instructing your employees in basic safe driving practices and then rewarding safety-conscious behavior, you can help your employees, and their families avoid tragedy. Do current prevention efforts address the problem?  • Nearly all legislation focuses on banning only handheld phones or only texting while driving.  • All state laws and many employer policies allow hands-free cell phone use.  • Public opinion polls show people recognize the risks of talking on handheld phones and texting more than they realize the risks of hands-free phones. • Many drivers mistakenly believe talking on a hands-free cell phone is safer than handheld. A hands-free device most often is a headset that communicates via wired or wireless with a phone, or a factory-installed or aftermarket feature built into vehicles that often includes voice recognition. Many hands-free devices allow voice-activated dialing and operation.  Hands-free devices often are seen as a solution to the risks of driver distraction because they help eliminate two obvious risks – visual, looking away from the road and manual, removing your hands off of the steering wheel. However, the third type of distraction can occur when using cell phones while driving – cognitive, taking your mind off the road.  Hands-free devices do not eliminate cognitive distraction.  The amount of exposure to each risk is vital. Crashes are a function of the severity of each risk and how often the risk occurs. Most people can recognize when they are visually or mechanically distracted and seek to disengage from these activities as quickly as possible. However, people typically do not realize when they are cognitively distracted, such as taking part in a phone conversation; therefore, the risk lasts much, much longer. This likely explains why researchers have not been able to find a safety benefit to hands-free phone conversations.  The National Safety Council has compiled more than 30 research studies and reports by scientists around the world that used a variety of research methods, to compare driver performance with handheld and hands-free phones. All of these studies show hands-free phones offer no safety benefit when driving. Conversation occurs on both handheld and hands-free phones. The cognitive distraction from paying attention to a conversation – from listening and responding to a disembodied voice – contributes to numerous driving impairments. Specific driving risks are discussed in detail later in this paper. First, let us look at why hands-free and handheld cell phone conversations can impair your driving ability.  Multitasking is a myth. Human brains do not perform two tasks at the same time. Instead, the brain handles tasks sequentially, switching between one task and another. Brains can juggle tasks very rapidly, which leads us to erroneously believe we are doing two tasks at the same time. In reality, the brain is switching attention between tasks – performing only one task at a time. The brain not only juggles tasks, but it also juggles focus and attention. When people attempt to perform two cognitively complex tasks such as driving and talking on a phone, the brain shifts its focus (people develop “inattention blindness”). Important information falls out of view and is not processed by the brain. For example, drivers may not see a red light. Because this is a process people are not aware of, people can't realize they are mentally taking on too much.  Brain researchers have identified “reaction-time switching costs,” which is a measurable time when the brain is switching its attention and focus from one task to another. Research studying the impact of talking on cell phones while driving has identified slowed reaction time to potential hazards are tangible, measurable, and risky. Longer reaction time is an outcome of the brain switching focus, which impacts driving performance.  The cost of switching could be a few tenths of a second per switch. When the brain repeatedly switches between tasks, these costs add up.  Even small amounts of time spent switching can lead to significant risks from delayed reaction and braking time. For example, if a vehicle is traveling 40 mph, it goes 120 feet before stopping, which equals eight car lengths (an average car length is 15 feet). A fraction-of-a-second delay would make the car travel several additional car lengths. When a driver needs to react immediately, there is no margin for error.  Brains may face a “bottleneck” in which different regions of the brain must pull from a shared and limited resource for seemingly unrelated tasks, constraining the mental resources available for the tasks. Research has identified that even when different cognitive tasks draw on two different regions of the brain, we still can have performance problems when trying to do dual tasks at the same time, which may help explain why talking on cell phones could affect what a driver sees: two usually unrelated activities become interrelated when a person is behind the wheel. These tasks compete for our brain’s information processing resources. There are limits to our mental workload. The workload of information processing can bring risks when unexpected driving hazards arise.31 Under most driving conditions, drivers are performing well-practiced, automatic driving tasks. For example, without thinking about it much, drivers slow down when they see yellow or red lights and activate turn signals when intending to make a turn or lane change. These are automatic tasks for experienced drivers. Staying within a lane, noting the speed limit and navigation signs, and checking rear- and side-view mirrors also are automated tasks for most experienced drivers. People can do these driving tasks safely with an average cognitive workload. During the vast majority of road trips, nothing terrible happens, as it should be. But that also can lead people to feel a false sense of security or competency when driving. Drivers may believe they can safely multitask; however, a driver always must be prepared to respond to the unexpected. The industrial ergonomics field has been able to identify physical workload limits and, in the same way, the workload limits of our brains now are being defined. The challenge to the general public is the bottlenecks and limits of the brain are more difficult to feel and see than physical limits.  Multitasking Impairs Performance  We can safely walk while chewing gum in a city crowded with motor vehicles and other hazards. That is because one of those tasks – chewing gum – is not a cognitively demanding task.  When chewing gum and talking, people still can visually scan the environment for potential hazards. People do not perform as well when trying to perform two attention-demanding tasks at the same time. 32 Research shows that even pedestrians don’t effectively monitor their environment for safety while talking on cell phones. 33-35 The challenge is managing two tasks demanding our cognitive attention.   Indeed, most would agree that driving a vehicle involves a more complex set of tasks than walking.  What are primary and secondary tasks? What happens when people switch attention between them?  When people perform two tasks at the same time, one is a primary task and the other a secondary task. One task gets full focus (primary) and the other moves to a back burner (secondary). People can move back and forth between primary and secondary tasks.  The American National Standards Institute publication ANSI Z15.1, Safe Practices for Motor Vehicle Operations, offers guidelines and best practices for motor vehicle safety programs. Also, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) assisted in developing a 10-step program. NETS 10-step program to minimize crash risk The Program provides guidelines for what an employer can do to improve traffic safety performance and reduce the risk of motor vehicle crashes. Following these steps helps to ensure that you hire capable drivers, only allow eligible drivers to drive on company business, and maintain company vehicles properly. Adherence to these ten steps can also help to keep your motor vehicle insurance costs as low as possible. These steps are from the NETS Traffic Safety Primer: A Guidebook for Employers. Step 1: Senior management commitment and employee involvement Senior management can provide leadership, set policies, and allocate resources (staff and budget) to create a safety culture. Actively encouraging employee participation and involvement at all levels of the organization is a good practice and will help the effort to succeed. Workers and their representatives must be involved in the initial planning phase. Step 2: Written policies and procedures A written statement emphasizing the commitment to reducing traffic-related deaths and injuries is essential to a successful program. Create a clear, comprehensive, and enforceable set of traffic safety policies and communicate them to all employees. Post them throughout the workplace, distribute copies periodically, and discuss the policies at company meetings. Offer incentives for sticking to the rules, and point out the consequences of disregarding them. Step 3: Driver agreements Establish a contract with all employees who drive for work purposes, whether they drive assigned company vehicles or personal vehicles. By signing an agreement, the driver acknowledges awareness and understanding of the organization’s traffic safety policies, procedures, and expectations regarding driver performance, vehicle maintenance, and reporting of moving violations. Step 4: Motor vehicle record (MVR) checks Check the driving records of all employees who drive for work purposes. Screen out drivers who have poor driving records since they are most likely to cause problems in the future. Periodically review the MVR to ensure that the driver maintains a good driving record. Clearly define the number of violations an employee/driver can have before losing the privilege of driving for work, and provide training where indicated. Step 5: Crash reporting and investigation Establish and enforce a crash reporting and investigation process. All crashes, regardless of severity, should be reported to the employee’s supervisor as soon as feasible after the incident. Company policies and procedures should guide drivers through their responsibilities in a crash situation. Review all crashes to determine their cause and whether or not the incidents were preventable. Understanding the root causes of crashes and why they are happening, regardless of fault, forms the basis for eliminating them in the future. Step 6: Vehicle selection, maintenance, and inspection Properly maintaining and routinely inspecting company vehicles is an essential part of preventing crashes and related losses. Review the safety features of all vehicles to be considered for use. Choose vehicles that demonstrate “best in class” status for crashworthiness and overall safety. Regular maintenance preventive maintenance should be done at specific mileage intervals consistent with the manufacturer’s recommendations. A mechanic should do a thorough inspection of each vehicle at least annually with documented results placed in the vehicle’s file. Personal vehicles used for company business are not necessarily subject to the same criteria and are generally the responsibility of the owner. However, personal vehicles used on company business should be maintained in a manner that provides the employee with maximum safety and reflects positively on the company. Step 7: Disciplinary action system Develop a strategy to determine the course of action after a moving violation and/or “preventable” crash. The system should provide for progressive discipline if a driver begins to develop a pattern of repeated traffic violations and/or preventable crashes. The system should describe what specific action(s) will be taken if a driver accumulates a certain number of violations or preventable crashes in any pre-defined period. Step 8: Reward/incentive program Develop and implement a driver reward/incentive program to make safe driving an integral part of your business culture. Safe driving behaviors contribute directly to the bottom line and should be recognized as such. Incorporate driving performance into the overall evaluation of job performance. Reward and incentive programs typically involve recognition, monetary rewards, special privileges, or other incentives to motivate positive behaviors. Step 9: Driver training/communication Provide continuous driver safety training and communication. Even experienced drivers benefit from periodic training and reminders of safe driving practices and skills. It is easy to become complacent and not think about the consequences of poor driving habits. Step 10: Regulatory compliance Ensure adherence to highway safety regulations. It is essential to establish which, if any, local, state, and/or Federal Regulations govern your vehicles and/or drivers. These regulations may involve, but may not necessarily be limited to the:  Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Transportation Safety Administration Federal Highway Administration Employment Standards Administration  Promote safe driving practices The safety issues described below should be addressed in an employee awareness and training program. Secure materials for transport: Tools or equipment should be secured while being transported to prevent unsafe movement. During a crash or when making sudden maneuvers, loose objects can slide around or become airborne, injuring the driver or passengers. Objects that could become a hazard should be secured or stored outside the passenger compartment. Seat belt use: Seat belts are the single most effective means of reducing deaths and severe injuries in traffic crashes. Alcohol and drug-impaired driving: It is estimated that three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an impaired driving-related crash sometime in their life. Alcohol, certain prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and illegal drugs can all affect a person’s ability to drive safely due to decreased alertness, concentration, coordination, and reaction time. Fatigued driving: Fatigued or drowsy driving may be involved in more than 100,000 crashes each year, resulting in 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths. Employees should be well-rested, alert, and sober on the road, so they are in a position to defend themselves from drivers who do not make the same choice. Train employees to make smart decisions when they’re behind the wheel, on and off the job. Aggressive driving: Employees commuting to and from work or traveling for work often get caught up in bottlenecks and traffic delays, wasting their time, and reducing their productivity. These situations create frustration that can spark aggressive driving behavior. Aggressive driving acts include excessive speed, tailgating, failure to signal a lane change, running a red light, and passing on the right. The best advice is to avoid engaging in conflict with other drivers and to allow others to merge. Young drivers: Under Federal law, 16-year-old workers are prohibited from driving as part of their job, and 17-year-olds may drive for work only under strictly limited circumstances. Some state laws may be more restrictive than federal laws. For more information on child labor laws, visit, www.youthrules.dol.gov or www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/youth/. Be sure to check out the National Safety Council and get their FREE online Safe Driving Kit HERE. 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<a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a> Mentioned in this episode: <a href="https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/fatality-estimates" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The National Safety Council</a> <a href="http://safety.nsc.org/safe-driving-kit" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The NSC Safe Driving Kit</a> Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths dipped slightly – 1% – in 2017, <a href="https://www.nsc.org/Portals/0/Documents/NewsDocuments/2018/December_2017.pdf" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">claiming 40,100 lives</a> versus the 2016 total of 40,327. The small decline is not necessarily an indication of progress, as much as a leveling off of the steepest two-year increase in more than 50 years.  The 2017 assessment is 6% higher than the number of deaths in 2015. If the estimate holds, it will be the second consecutive year that motor vehicle deaths topped 40,000. About 4.57 million people were injured severely enough to require medical attention in motor vehicle crashes in 2017, and costs to society totaled $413.8 billion. Both figures are about 1% lower than 2016 calculations. So what can we do about all of this? A driver safety program should keep the driver safe, as well as others who share the road. If necessary, the program must work to change driver attitudes, improve behavior, and increase skills to build a “be safe” culture. By instructing your employees in basic safe driving practices and then rewarding safety-conscious behavior, you can help your employees, and their families avoid tragedy. Do current prevention efforts address the problem?  • Nearly all legislation focuses on banning only handheld phones or only texting while driving.  • All state laws and many employer policies allow hands-free cell phone use.  • Public opinion polls show people recognize the risks of talking on handheld phones and texting more than they realize the risks of hands-free phones. • Many drivers mistakenly believe talking on a hands-free cell phone is safer than handheld. A hands-free device most often is a headset that communicates via wired or wireless with a phone, or a factory-installed or aftermarket feature built into vehicles that often includes voice recognition. Many hands-free devices allow voice-activated dialing and operation.  Hands-free devices often are seen as a solution to the risks of driver distraction because they help eliminate two obvious risks – visual, looking away from the road and manual, removing your hands off of the steering wheel. However, the third type of distraction can occur when using cell phones while driving – cognitive, taking your mind off the road.  Hands-free devices do not eliminate cognitive distraction.  The amount of exposure to each risk is vital. Crashes are a function of the severity of each risk and how often the risk occurs. Most people can recognize when they are visually or mechanically distracted and seek to disengage from these activities as quickly as possible. However, people typically do not realize when they are cognitively distracted, such as taking part in a phone conversation; therefore, the risk lasts much, much longer. This likely explains why researchers have not been able to find a safety benefit to hands-free phone conversations.  The National Safety Council has compiled more than 30 research studies and reports by scientists around the world that used a variety of research methods, to compare driver performance with handheld and hands-free phones. All of these studies show hands-free phones offer no safety benefit when driving. Conversation occurs on both handheld and hands-free phones. The cognitive distraction from paying attention to a conversation – from listening and responding to a disembodied voice – contributes to numerous driving impairments. Specific driving risks are discussed in detail later in this paper. First, let us look at why hands-free and handheld cell phone conversations can impair your driving ability.  Multitasking is a myth. Human brains do not perform two tasks at the same time. Instead, the brain handles tasks sequentially, switching between one task and another. Brains can juggle tasks very rapidly, which leads us to erroneously believe we are doing two tasks at the same time. In reality, the brain is switching attention between tasks – performing only one task at a time. The brain not only juggles tasks, but it also juggles focus and attention. When people attempt to perform two cognitively complex tasks such as driving and talking on a phone, the brain shifts its focus (people develop “inattention blindness”). Important information falls out of view and is not processed by the brain. For example, drivers may not see a red light. Because this is a process people are not aware of, people can't realize they are mentally taking on too much.  Brain researchers have identified “reaction-time switching costs,” which is a measurable time when the brain is switching its attention and focus from one task to another. Research studying the impact of talking on cell phones while driving has identified slowed reaction time to potential hazards are tangible, measurable, and risky. Longer reaction time is an outcome of the brain switching focus, which impacts driving performance.  The cost of switching could be a few tenths of a second per switch. When the brain repeatedly switches between tasks, these costs add up.  Even small amounts of time spent switching can lead to significant risks from delayed reaction and braking time. For example, if a vehicle is traveling 40 mph, it goes 120 feet before stopping, which equals eight car lengths (an average car length is 15 feet). A fraction-of-a-second delay would make the car travel several additional car lengths. When a driver needs to react immediately, there is no margin for error.  Brains may face a “bottleneck” in which different regions of the brain must pull from a shared and limited resource for seemingly unrelated tasks, constraining the mental resources available for the tasks. Research has identified that even when different cognitive tasks draw on two different regions of the brain, we still can have performance problems when trying to do dual tasks at the same time, which may help explain why talking on cell phones could affect what a driver sees: two usually unrelated activities become interrelated when a person is behind the wheel. These tasks compete for our brain’s information processing resources. There are limits to our mental workload. The workload of information processing can bring risks when unexpected driving hazards arise.31 Under most driving conditions, drivers are performing well-practiced, automatic driving tasks. For example, without thinking about it much, drivers slow down when they see yellow or red lights and activate turn signals when intending to make a turn or lane change. These are automatic tasks for experienced drivers. Staying within a lane, noting the speed limit and navigation signs, and checking rear- and side-view mirrors also are automated tasks for most experienced drivers. People can do these driving tasks safely with an average cognitive workload. During the vast majority of road trips, nothing terrible happens, as it should be. But that also can lead people to feel a false sense of security or competency when driving. Drivers may believe they can safely multitask; however, a driver always must be prepared to respond to the unexpected. The industrial ergonomics field has been able to identify physical workload limits and, in the same way, the workload limits of our brains now are being defined. The challenge to the general public is the bottlenecks and limits of the brain are more difficult to feel and see than physical limits.  Multitasking Impairs Performance  We can safely walk while chewing gum in a city crowded with motor vehicles and other hazards. That is because one of those tasks – chewing gum – is not a cognitively demanding task.  When chewing gum and talking, people still can visually scan the environment for potential hazards. People do not perform as well when trying to perform two attention-demanding tasks at the same time. 32 Research shows that even pedestrians don’t effectively monitor their environment for safety while talking on cell phones. 33-35 The challenge is managing two tasks demanding our cognitive attention.   Indeed, most would agree that driving a vehicle involves a more complex set of tasks than walking.  What are primary and secondary tasks? What happens when people switch attention between them?  When people perform two tasks at the same time, one is a primary task and the other a secondary task. One task gets full focus (primary) and the other moves to a back burner (secondary). People can move back and forth between primary and secondary tasks.  The American National Standards Institute publication ANSI Z15.1, Safe Practices for Motor Vehicle Operations, offers guidelines and best practices for motor vehicle safety programs. Also, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) assisted in developing a 10-step program. NETS 10-step program to minimize crash risk The Program provides guidelines for what an employer can do to improve traffic safety performance and reduce the risk of motor vehicle crashes. Following these steps helps to ensure that you hire capable drivers, only allow eligible drivers to drive on company business, and maintain company vehicles properly. Adherence to these ten steps can also help to keep your motor vehicle insurance costs as low as possible. These steps are from the NETS Traffic Safety Primer: A Guidebook for Employers. Step 1: Senior management commitment and employee involvement Senior management can provide leadership, set policies, and allocate resources (staff and budget) to create a safety culture. Actively encouraging employee participation and involvement at all levels of the organization is a good practice and will help the effort to succeed. Workers and their representatives must be involved in the initial planning phase. Step 2: Written policies and procedures A written statement emphasizing the commitment to reducing traffic-related deaths and injuries is essential to a successful program. Create a clear, comprehensive, and enforceable set of traffic safety policies and communicate them to all employees. Post them throughout the workplace, distribute copies periodically, and discuss the policies at company meetings. Offer incentives for sticking to the rules, and point out the consequences of disregarding them. Step 3: Driver agreements Establish a contract with all employees who drive for work purposes, whether they drive assigned company vehicles or personal vehicles. By signing an agreement, the driver acknowledges awareness and understanding of the organization’s traffic safety policies, procedures, and expectations regarding driver performance, vehicle maintenance, and reporting of moving violations. Step 4: Motor vehicle record (MVR) checks Check the driving records of all employees who drive for work purposes. Screen out drivers who have poor driving records since they are most likely to cause problems in the future. Periodically review the MVR to ensure that the driver maintains a good driving record. Clearly define the number of violations an employee/driver can have before losing the privilege of driving for work, and provide training where indicated. Step 5: Crash reporting and investigation Establish and enforce a crash reporting and investigation process. All crashes, regardless of severity, should be reported to the employee’s supervisor as soon as feasible after the incident. Company policies and procedures should guide drivers through their responsibilities in a crash situation. Review all crashes to determine their cause and whether or not the incidents were preventable. Understanding the root causes of crashes and why they are happening, regardless of fault, forms the basis for eliminating them in the future. Step 6: Vehicle selection, maintenance, and inspection Properly maintaining and routinely inspecting company vehicles is an essential part of preventing crashes and related losses. Review the safety features of all vehicles to be considered for use. Choose vehicles that demonstrate “best in class” status for crashworthiness and overall safety. Regular maintenance preventive maintenance should be done at specific mileage intervals consistent with the manufacturer’s recommendations. A mechanic should do a thorough inspection of each vehicle at least annually with documented results placed in the vehicle’s file. Personal vehicles used for company business are not necessarily subject to the same criteria and are generally the responsibility of the owner. However, personal vehicles used on company business should be maintained in a manner that provides the employee with maximum safety and reflects positively on the company. Step 7: Disciplinary action system Develop a strategy to determine the course of action after a moving violation and/or “preventable” crash. The system should provide for progressive discipline if a driver begins to develop a pattern of repeated traffic violations and/or preventable crashes. The system should describe what specific action(s) will be taken if a driver accumulates a certain number of violations or preventable crashes in any pre-defined period. Step 8: Reward/incentive program Develop and implement a driver reward/incentive program to make safe driving an integral part of your business culture. Safe driving behaviors contribute directly to the bottom line and should be recognized as such. Incorporate driving performance into the overall evaluation of job performance. Reward and incentive programs typically involve recognition, monetary rewards, special privileges, or other incentives to motivate positive behaviors. Step 9: Driver training/communication Provide continuous driver safety training and communication. Even experienced drivers benefit from periodic training and reminders of safe driving practices and skills. It is easy to become complacent and not think about the consequences of poor driving habits. Step 10: Regulatory compliance Ensure adherence to highway safety regulations. It is essential to establish which, if any, local, state, and/or Federal Regulations govern your vehicles and/or drivers. These regulations may involve, but may not necessarily be limited to the: <ul> <li>Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration</li> <li>U.S. Department of Transportation</li> <li>National Highway Transportation Safety Administration</li> <li>Federal Highway Administration</li> <li>Employment Standards Administration</li> </ul> Promote safe driving practices The safety issues described below should be addressed in an employee awareness and training program. Secure materials for transport: Tools or equipment should be secured while being transported to prevent unsafe movement. During a crash or when making sudden maneuvers, loose objects can slide around or become airborne, injuring the driver or passengers. Objects that could become a hazard should be secured or stored outside the passenger compartment. Seat belt use: Seat belts are the single most effective means of reducing deaths and severe injuries in traffic crashes. Alcohol and drug-impaired driving: It is estimated that three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an impaired driving-related crash sometime in their life. Alcohol, certain prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and illegal drugs can all affect a person’s ability to drive safely due to decreased alertness, concentration, coordination, and reaction time. Fatigued driving: Fatigued or drowsy driving may be involved in more than 100,000 crashes each year, resulting in 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths. Employees should be well-rested, alert, and sober on the road, so they are in a position to defend themselves from drivers who do not make the same choice. Train employees to make smart decisions when they’re behind the wheel, on and off the job. Aggressive driving: Employees commuting to and from work or traveling for work often get caught up in bottlenecks and traffic delays, wasting their time, and reducing their productivity. These situations create frustration that can spark aggressive driving behavior. Aggressive driving acts include excessive speed, tailgating, failure to signal a lane change, running a red light, and passing on the right. The best advice is to avoid engaging in conflict with other drivers and to allow others to merge. Young drivers: Under Federal law, 16-year-old workers are prohibited from driving as part of their job, and 17-year-olds may drive for work only under strictly limited circumstances. Some state laws may be more restrictive than federal laws. For more information on child labor laws, visit, <a href="http://www.youthrules.dol.gov" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.youthrules.dol.gov</a> or <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/youth/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/youth/</a>. Be sure to check out the National Safety Council and get their FREE online Safe Driving Kit <a href="http://safety.nsc.org/safe-driving-kit" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Please listen and share this episode with others. If you want to go more in-depth on this and other topics - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SafetyPro Community</a> member (FREE to join). To get access to premium content like bonus materials, downloads, live chats with the Safety Pro (coming soon) - become a <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">PREMIUM member!</a> <a href="https://safetypropodcast.locals.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Join the Community of Safety Pros today!</a>

045: 10 Steps to Improve Driver Safety

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