. . . because it is a powerful key to getting employees involved in your safety program. It's a shame that safety programs, particularly the training and communication elements are notoriously boring. There's no need for it, because humans have a deep and powerful drive to remain safe. They will [...]
From safety and quality, to production and turnover- supervisors face a variety of challenges and responsibilities in their roles. Supervisors are key to an organization’s ability to develop personnel and establish expectations for the implementation of a proactive safety culture. They are the hidden heroes! Are you arming them with [...]
Rigging. It’s a common work practice in construction, but many in general industry also have a need for lifting loads. If done incorrectly, rigging can be incredibly dangerous. Not only can a dropped load cause property damage, but it can lead to a serious injury or fatality should the load [...]
When an emergency strikes, will you and your employees be ready to respond? Do you have an emergency action plan in place? Even if you have a written plan in place, will everyone react according to the plan? Having a plan is critical, especially in an emergency, but it won’t [...]
Workers’ compensation claims can be costly. You know that. As a safety professional, you often have the daunting task of analyzing how workers’ compensation claims are impacting the company. It doesn’t take magical weapons from another universe to tackle, but if you don’t have the right tools and information, you [...]
On December 15, 2016 the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the statistics for the leading causes of the 4836 work related deaths in 2016. Once again falls are the second leading cause of fatal accidents with 800 workers dying as the result of a fall with 648 falling from one [...]
How we think about incident causation is beginning to change. Though it seems to have taking decades to progress, safety professionals are beginning to understand and pay more attention to the impact workplace design and operating systems on worker behavior and safety performance. Referred to as the “context of [...]
What do fires, earthquakes and sand piles tell us about achieving and sustaining high performance in our organizations? In looking carefully at systems under stress we can learn a lot. In the fire at my plant, the people in our normally dysfunctional organization suddenly changed into a high-performance team and [...]
Office workers plug space heaters into power strips under their desks. Hospitals have kitchens that are busier than most restaurants. Hotels have large laundry facilities. Factory workers handle hot materials and use flammable gases during their typical "day at the office." Thanks to noncombustible building designs and well-trained workers, large [...]
Mass shootings in the United States have drawn an enormous amount of attention in the past few years. In 2015 there were 372 mass shootings (incident where four or more are killed or wounded) in the United States, killing 475 and wounding 1,870. Here in 2016 we've reached 366 mass [...]