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This nine part series covers the universal elements
of safety management programs that deliver measurable results.
Key 1: Visible, Active Senior Management
Involvement
Download Key 1
PDF
If senior management never attends safety training, can safety be
claimed as an organizational value? Not to a frontline associate
required to attend. When senior managers begin to attend safety events
or take five minutes a week to conduct a safety walkthrough, opinions
and behaviors do change.
Senior managers know that a safe workplace is good for business. Their
challenge is making the time and ensuring that resources are used
efficiently. Here are a few suggestions.
Understanding the restraints on time, one safety manager increased
senior management involvement by listing a few important safety rules
specific to the department on the back of their security cards. Since
management looked at the cards every day, they were reminded of the
rules. They were not required to complete an audit checklist or conduct
the walkthroughs at a certain time but were asked to simply help enforce
the rules in their departments. After a brief meeting about the impact
of injuries on the bottom line, the senior managers participated and
improvements were quickly.
Another effective and efficient way of increasing senior manager
involvement is to conduct brief injury reviews with injured workers. A
one-on-one session with the injured employee can take ten minutes. It
sends the message that safety is valuable to the organization and gives
the associate a voice. Such sessions can provide eye-opening
information.
To ensure that resources are used efficiently, run the numbers. The
return on an investment in safety is well known, but seldom quantified.
When this return is measured or forecasted accurately, senior managers
can justify the time and expense of a safety intervention. Consultants
or third party administrators can easily assist with calculating the
return on investment.
Below are additional ideas to establish visible, active senior
management involvement in safety.
o Issue a signed policy adopting safety as a key organizational value
o Create a budget for safety
o Establish benchmarks for safety activities
o Discuss safety during staff or employee meetings
o Publicly recognize associates contributing to the safety program
o Conduct annual surveys, personal interviews and/or behavior sampling
Key 2: Employee
Involvement and Recognition
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PDF
Organizations with high incident rates or
increasing insurance premiums often identify the primary cause to be
employee risk taking. Employers often express, “We have a good safety
program. We just want our employees to be more careful!” So how do we
get an employee to be more careful? One way to limit risk taking is
through an employee involvement and recognition program combined with
classic positive and negative behavioral conditioning.
To begin, the organization must first
understand when and why employees take risks. This is where employee
involvement is essential. Employees, for the most part, know when they
are taking a risk. If employees can trust that the information will not
be used against them, they may be more likely to express to their
employer when and why risks are taken. For example, if a machine guard
makes a particular task take longer and production is behind, there
would be considerable temptation to remove the guard to meet the
production quota. Without employee input an employer may not know
exactly when and more importantly why employees take such risks. But
once the risks are identified, safe written work practices, new hire
orientation, and ongoing training can be designed with content specific
to the workplace. This will let the workforce know what in particular is
safe versus unsafe behavior.
Once the risks have been identified and the
proper techniques for risk avoidance are communicated to the workforce,
the employer should then focus on the workforce’s tolerance for risk
taking. Positive experiences can be used to reinforce risk avoidance and
negative consequences used to combat unsafe behavior.
One example of positive reinforcement is to
catch them doing it right. When auditing the workplace for compliance
with safe work practices, take pictures of employees wearing their
protective equipment or driving their forklifts with their seatbelts on.
Safety is a good thing and should be promoted in an optimistic way. Post
the pictures in the break room or in the company newsletter with a thank
you message. Public recognition is always a good motivator and cost very
little.
When developing negative consequences for
those caught not wearing their protective equipment or removing a
machine guard, consider consequences that foster peer pressure rather
than starting out with a heavy hand. One example is to make the violator
lead a training session or toolbox talk detailing to the other workers
why the violator decided to take the risk. The reason why may be
surprising. Public speaking can be a very negative consequence for most
people and make them think twice the next time they confront the risk.
Another example is the use of markers (stickers or a hole punch) on an
employees’ identification badge or on the bulletin board showing how
many violations each employee has incurred. Once a certain number is
reached, re-training or another more severe consequence may be utilized.
By making the number of violations known to everyone at the workplace,
everyone becomes involved and aware of the focus on risk taking.
Key 3:
Medical Treatment and Return to Work Practices
Download Key 3 PDF
How do you know if your injury reporting
process is beneficial to the performance of your company? Do you ever
struggle with whether or not to accommodate work restrictions for a work
injury? These are very typical issues that a company can face when
dealing with claims. The good news is that there are simple solutions
that will work for everyone, no matter what the industry may be.
To begin, take a look at your current active
claims. How much do you know about the treatment that is occurring in
that claim? It is always best to know what treatment is taking place and
how often. If the frequency of the treatment is not decreasing then that
means the injured worker is not improving. It’s also a good idea to
monitor the injured worker’s compliance with the prescribed treatment.
Typically, non-compliance is the reason an injury can regress. This can
only prolong the healing process.
Second, make sure to make every effort to
bring someone back to work light duty. Statistics show that the longer
an injured worker is off work, the less likely they are to ever return.
If you cannot accommodate the restrictions with the employee’s regular
job, look at an alternative job within the company while the employee is
recovering. If you do not have anything that the employee can do based
on the given restrictions, take a look at offsite employment such as
with a non profit agency. This program can be coordinated through
vocational rehabilitation and has many benefits for both the employer
and the employee.
Another good return to work practice is to
have job analyses for every position in the company. This is a great
tool to submit to the physician so that he or she can make an accurate
decision before releasing the injured worker to return to their regular
job. It’s important to understand that the physicians only know what
their patients tell them. A job analysis will detail every aspect of
that particular job and assist the physician in understanding exactly
what is expected of the injured worker in order to safely perform his or
her job. It’s also a good idea to develop a relationship with a
particular office in your area and invite the physicians to get to know
your company so that they have a clear understanding of your day-to-day
operations. In exchange, they earn the privilege of becoming your
company preferred provider.
There is yet another benefit for bringing an
injured worker back to work. When an injury occurs, it disrupts the
normalcy of an injured worker’s daily life. Returning back to work has
proven to give the employee back their sense of self worth. Once the
injured worker has restored their self worth, motivation typically comes
along with it.
The combination of self worth and motivation
in addition to the proper medical treatment and return to work practices
are just the recipe for injury resolution. This becomes a winning
situation for the employer and the employee in more ways than one.
Key 4: Communication Download
Key 4 PDF
¡Cuidado!¡Voltaje Alto! Would you know what to do if you saw
this posted in your workplace? This is actually a warning sign stating "Caution!
High Voltage!" Chances are that if you saw the sign but couldn’t understand it,
you would ignore it.
Regular safety and health communication keeps employees informed
and solicits feedback and suggestions. To help ensure an effective safety
program, regular verbal and written communication on matters affecting employee
safety and health are vital. This can include a safety suggestion box, memos,
bulletin boards, posters, performance reviews and staff meetings.
The most common communication error is implementing programs
that emphasize top-down communication. Employees need to have confidence that
they can identify and report safety obstacles without fear of reprisal.
Encouraging employees to share their ideas and concerns on safety and health
matters, and asking them for their input in decision-making and problem solving,
will not only help them feel part of the process, but actually contributing to
successful outcomes. High morale and productivity also result.
Another commonly overlooked means of communication is to tailor
the communication to your employees needs. As mentioned in the first paragraph,
make sure the communication can be understood by all employees. If there are
languages other than English spoken in your facility, communicate in the
language the employee will understand. In addition, some employees may not read,
requiring verbal communication. It’s important that all employees have a clear
understanding of the organization’s safety and health program.
Communication is always a two-way process and should be received
with an open ear. By adopting these simple tips into your program, you can help
evolve the safety culture for your company.
Key 5: Orientation and
Training
Download Key 5 PDF
How much do your employees know about the job hazards and
processes associated with their job functions? According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, studies have found that 48 percent of all injured workers have been
on the job for less than one year. Therefore, you should assume that new
employees know little or nothing about the job hazards they will face doing
their day-to-day job functions. No matter how safe a work environment you
provide, the success of your safety and health system depends upon the managers,
supervisors, team leaders and employee buy-in of safe work practices.
Start out by identifying and responding to the specific training
needs of your employees, including supervisors, managers and team leaders. There
can be hazards that are not identified until someone is in the position doing
the job everyday. Changes made to the job process can create new hazards. It’s
important to stay open to constant changes, as identifying the hazards will be
an ongoing effort.
Develop a written safety and health training plan that documents
specific training objectives and instruction procedures. The safety and health
training plan should include a company safety and health policy statement that
explains employee responsibilities. The training can include, but not limited
to, hazard communication, specific job/task safe work practices and hazard
recognition and bloodborne pathogens, if applicable. This training can also
cover procedures for the safe and efficient use of tools and machinery,
ergonomic risk factors, chemical hazards, and if appropriate, lockout-tagout,
hot work permits and confined space entry.
It is also important to document all training and include the
date, topics covered, name of instructor, and the names of the employees that
attended. Have each attending employee sign the documentation form as they enter
the room for the training. Keep all training records on file should you ever
need to access them in the future.
Lastly, apply the above concepts to all new hire training and orientation.
It’s important that all new employees receive proper training before allowing
them to enter the work area. Once the new hire training and orientation has been
completed, have their supervisor work one-on-one with them to provide job
specific safety and health training. It is recommended that at least three days
be given to this to ensure the training is understood and proper procedures are
being followed. Extra effort in safety and health training can go a long way in
preventing future injuries in your workplace.
Key 6: Published
Safe Work Practices
Download Key 6 PDF
New employee orientation can be overwhelming and can leave new
hires with questions about what their training included. Everyone absorbs
information differently. How can an employer be certain that a new employee was
able to retain all the information they were given in the initial days of
employment? Since there is no way of knowing how much the employee retained, it
is important to have published safe work practices for your employees. Safe work
practices in the form of written material will serve as a guide that can be
referenced by any employee at any time. It is important to make sure your
employees have a clear understanding of their job requirements and
responsibilities. For this reason, the published safe work practices are an
effective tool to ensure you have made this information readily available for
referencing.
Begin by identifying both general and job specific safe work
practices. Analyze and determine the safest way to perform each job duty.
General safe work practices can consist of, but are not limited to, practicing
good housekeeping, wearing personal protective equipment, first-aid, using good
ergonomic principles, wearing respiratory protection, using and following
lockout/tagout procedures, using and following confined space entry, using
hazard communication and avoiding bloodborne pathogens. Next, document your
findings. Ensure that the documentation is very specific and easy to understand.
Lastly, publicize your documentation. A good way to do this is by providing all
employees with a copy of the safe work practices and have each employee sign a
statement indicating that they have received the safe work practices and also
that they intend to follow them. Retain this statement in their personnel file.
In addition, have each department manager, team leader, etc. review the safe
work practices with his or her employees on a regular basis. Also, post this
information in the work area. This will keep the safe work practices and the
general idea of safety as a whole, fresh in the minds of your employees.
Safe work practices are essential for any organization because they prescribe
the accepted behavior and practices the employer expects of employees. They also
help let your employees know that, as an organization, you take safety very
seriously and care about the well being of your employees.
Key 7: Assigning an Individual the Role of Coordinating Safety Efforts
Download Key 7 PDF
Last month’s installment focused on publishing safe work
practices in your facilities. Your next step would be to designate an individual
to coordinate safety efforts for your company to ensure safe work practices are
followed. A small business owner may assume the duties or have a manager do them
in addition to his or her normal duties. Geographically dispersed companies
usually name a local employee as the accident prevention coordinator. You will
want someone that is there every day and can observe the daily operations for
your company. You may choose to delegate the accident prevention coordinator’s
functions to more than one person.
Larger companies often employ a full time accident prevention
coordinator. When determining the need for a full time position, consider the
accident history, expenses associated with accidents and the degree of hazards
inherent to the operations. Listed below are some responsibilities that can be
assigned to your accident prevention coordinator:
-
Establish and oversee the operations of a formalized safety
team
-
Coordinate management and employee efforts in identifying
process improvements in areas such as accident prevention and safety
training
-
Assist in developing strategies to effectively implement
changes to current safe work practices
-
Assure supervisors have necessary resources to accomplish
established safety team goals
-
Effectively communicate new safety requirements to the
organization
-
Maintain accurate injury/illness records which will be used
for injury trending and analysis
-
Track and report to upper management progress on safety
related projects
It’s also a great idea to have your accident prevention
coordinator facilitate regular safety meetings. This will show your employees
that safety is taken seriously at your organization and that you care about
their well being. Constant communication helps to keep everyone on track for
identifying hazards and preventing them.
Please note that the accident prevention coordinator does not
assume operational responsibility for safety and health, but instead supports
line management, supervision and employees to develop safety systems and
processes. The accident prevention coordinator is designed to be the
communication link between employees and upper management in your company.
Key 8: Early Return-to-Work Strategies to Help Injured or Ill Workers
Download Key 8 PDF
The length
of time an injured worker is off work plays a significant role in the likelihood
of whether or not the injured worker will ever return to work. Statistics show
the longer an injured employee is off work, the chances of getting them back on
the job decrease. The good news is that there are methods available to assist
you should you find yourself in this situation.
Only a
portion of Ohio’s injured workers that are released to light duty actually get
to return to work in that capacity. The reason for this is many employers will
say that they simply do not have any “light duty” available. This can have a
tremendous impact on the cost of the claim as well as on the progress of the
injured worker’s recovery. The ideal scenario is to construct a modified duty
program that allows employees to return to work in a productive capacity during
their recuperation. Accomplishing this is not always easy, but can be done with
some pre-injury planning. Gathering input from all employees will aid in
determining what employment functions exist that will accommodate your injured
workers’ restrictions.
Another
strategy is to build a relationship with a local physician and make that
physician your company preferred vendor for workplace injuries. Guiding the
injured worker to your preferred provider may increase the chance of
coordinating a quicker return-to-work. However, it is ultimately the injured
worker’s choice which physician they decide to seek treatment. The key is to
build a relationship with the physician so that he or she is very familiar with
your company’s work processes and job analyses. Make detailed job descriptions
for each position available to the physician. This will help the physician
immensely when trying to determine a modified or full-duty return-to-work.
Lastly,
keep open lines of communication with your injured worker. This will enable you
to remain informed of the injured worker’s progress as well the most updated
work release information. Once you have brought your injured employee back to
work on modified duty, check in regularly with him or her to ensure that your
transitional program is the benefit you established it to be. If there is any
difficulty performing the modified task, you will want to take immediate actions
to remedy the situation.
Your
employees are your company’s most valuable asset. Let them know that you care
about them and that you care about their safety. This will aid in keeping
positive morale in your business and help maintain great working relationships.
Key 9: Internal
Program Verification
Download Key 9 PDF
Checks and balances are an important part of almost everything
we do. It’s important to monitor company efforts and determine what is
working versus what is not working. As the company develops, you may find
that what worked well at one point in time, is no longer effective. Implementing
verification processes, which are utilized on a regular basis, can help identify
gaps that are the results in unfavorable outcomes.
Using recordkeeping to measure the frequency and severity of
incidents and accidents and gauging current year activity to prior year’s
histories can offer insight to areas that are experiencing issues. While this
method is essential for identifying areas in workplace safety that may need
review, there are additional ways that you can make improvements as well.
Start by forming a safety committee that has a goal to meet
several times throughout the year. This committee should be responsible for
monitoring current safe work practices as well as implementing future practices.
The committee could also be responsible for conducting safety audits in various
areas of your business. The audits should be conducted several times throughout
the year and will help identify areas that are not compliant with your company’s
safe work practices. Preventing injuries before they happen is just one of many
long term benefits in conducting regular safety audits in your organization.
Employee involvement in your company’s safety program is an
absolute necessity. If your workforce is not committed with senior management’s
safety efforts, your safety program will not be as effective. Conducting
employee surveys is one way to gauge the workforce’s involvement. One benefit of
the survey is getting insight to your employees’ opinions as to what is missing
from your safety program, what motivates your employees and what it might take
to get them to participate with your plan. Any changes made should be revisited
with another survey to measure if you have successfully reached the employees
and determine if employee awareness has increased. After a time, this will
become a standard practice and more employees will begin to respond to the
surveys.
Establishing safety goals is a key component to any safety
program. Annually reviewing expected performance in reaching those goals will
assist both management and employees in understanding their roles in a
successful safety program. Often times with implemented improvements comes an
increase in employee morale within an organization. This will have a trickle
down effect resulting in a safer, well oriented organization with safety
conscious employees enjoying a workplace with decreased injuries.
The 9 Key Safety Program Parameters are a great tool to assist with the
implementation of safety in your organization. Keep in mind that there is
constant change and even the best safety policy is always in need of being
reviewed and updated. Contact RiskControl360° at 1-877-360-3608 if you would
like assistance in updating or implementing your safety program. You may also
visit our website at
www.riskcontrol360.com.
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