January 13th, 2015

Millennials- Can you reach them with your current processes?

No Comments, Blended Learning, intratrain Library, Leadership, Training, by admin.

Over 1 million baby boomers are retiring each year.  New talent is entering the workforce and employee development is becoming more critical, but the question remains “What is the best way to reach new talent?”

The millennials are the biggest group entering the workforce and they are used to being able to access and learn online or with technology.  intRAtrain by Russell Associates has been an industry leader of online eLearning development for over 35 years.  We understood the importance of developing training with technology before technology was even the norm.  If you are looking to convert or develop eLearning for your organization, give us a call today.  Don’t be left behind any longer.

January 5th, 2015

What impact does safety culture have on your organization?

No Comments, incentives, inspectiTRAC, Safety, by admin.

In a recent issue of EHS magazine online, there was an article that outlined a presentation by Jim Spigener at the 2014 Safety Leadership conference.  The article begins by outlining the three universal truths that Spigener has found during his research.

  1. Culture is the ultimate predictor of safety performance.
  2. Senior leaders make or break the culture of the company.
  3. “Very few leaders are born great leaders. They make themselves great leaders.”

Spigener has done extensive research about safety and the most telling aspect that impacted safety was the culture of the organization.  At the end of the day the leaders create the biggest impact.  His model for the impact is below.

  • If a leader behaves differently, it affects the climate.
  • The climate affects follower behavior.
  • Follower behavior affects follower beliefs.
  • Follower beliefs create the culture.

Behavior-based safety with the leader taking charge and impacting the safety climate is becoming more and more critical as roles, responsibilities, and expectations of organizations, management, government regulators and the public shift.

intRAtrain and inspectiTRAC by Russell Associates have partnered with an industry expert to bring his Keys of Safety to our customers. The keys of safety in conjunction with inspectiTRAC for observations and inspections and intRAtrain Safety for training help create a complete system that helps CheapEssayWritingServices model an effective and impactful safety culture.

The core values of this program are:

  1. Nothing we do is worth getting hurt
  2. Safety & Health can be managed
  3. Every injury could & should have been prevented
  4. Safety & Health is everyone’s responsibility
  5. Safety is a management accountability

At the end of the day, your employees just want to safe and be able to leave work without an injury or accident.  An investment in developing a safety culture and climate that encourages that behavior is a minimal cost to ensure their safety and happiness.  If you are interested in more information about the Keys to Safety, give us a call today.

December 29th, 2014

Does productivity affect safety?

No Comments, Leadership, Safety, by admin.

Day after day, employees are asked to be safe while also continuing to produce at a set pace or meet a quota set by management. Doing both things well is often difficult, with one often being ignored at the benefit of the other.

One way some companies are working to achieve a balance is offer incentive programs for employees.  When developing programs it is critical that a proactive approach be taken that encourage production and safety while not focusing only on injury rates/etc.  Programs that focus on recordable injury numbers can mean that employees fear reporting injuries, a critical aspect of safety compliance.

In addition to motivation another contributor to the safety and productivity connection is behavior-based safety training.  It is critical that employees are trained throughout the year to continue to reinforce good safety behaviors.  Safety training that is completed on a one time and done basis with limited employee engagement, no measurement of comprehension and verification of safety behaviors, often results in higher safety incident rates and reduced productivity due to lost time incidents.

If you are interested in how interactive behavior-based safety training and proactive safety incentives programs can help increase your productivity, reduce the Total Incident Rate (TIR) and improve your bottom line, please give Russell Associates a call.  We have been working with companies for over 35 years develop and design solutions to some of their stickiest problems.

December 23rd, 2014

Are your leaders ready to lead?

No Comments, Blended Learning, Leadership, by admin.

Forbes recently had an article about a study done by Monster.com.  The study asked a simple question to over 4,800 respondents-  “If you current or most recent job, do you think you could do a better job than your manager?”    Their responses shouldn’t come as a shock, but over 84% felt that “Yes” they could do a better job.

The article goes on to discuss some of the reasons “bad” bosses are promoted to leadership positions.  These include promoting the highest performer, the most experience, the best credentials, etc.

Leadership development and choosing who is going to be a great leader isn’t always crystal clear, as indicated in the article  the top characteristics of leadership are generally integrity, motivation, passion, knowledge, and experience.

Your top leaders can come from any level of your organization.  It is critical to examine the entire organization and allow employee development for all employees who wish to grow and become great.  intRAtrain Blended Learning Solutions offers many development opportunities including opportunities for leadership development.  The knowledge and skills learned during the blended learning sessions are applicable to all levels and organizations.  If you are interested in learning more, visit our website or give us a call.

We are also offering a session in conjunction with the MWFPA, view their site to register.

December 22nd, 2014

Is your organization ready for FSMA?

No Comments, Food Safety, Safety, by admin.

The FSMA has been an ever-changing topic since it was announced.  Over time, the process has changed and new features, rules, qualifications and standards have been added or removed.  Each time something changes critical time must be taken to understand and comply with the new standards.  Food Safety News released a listing of critical dates related to food issues.  I invite you to view this article to check for any issues concerning your business.

 

Additionally, as time passes, it may be a wise decision to keep up to date on these issues.  The White House/ U.S. General Services Administration keeps a website that helps provide up-to-date information about Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Activities.

Check is out at : http://reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain

November 22nd, 2014

Is your leader moving your organization in the right direction?

No Comments, incentives, Safety, by admin.

Effective leaders are important to all industries.  Good leaders can have various qualities that make each leader unique. The best safety leaders are those that model safe work behaviors and actively encourage employees to be engaged and active in the company safety culture.

There are two types of leaders: transactional, meaning the interests of the team are aligned with the organization and transformational which encourages workers to move toward a unified goal.  Both types of leaders can be effective in accomplishing the safety objectives and improving the safety culture in the organization.

Read more about how the two types of leaders can affect change in an organization.

According the article, studies have shown that incentive programs that reward achieving goals for recordable accidents and incidents can discourage reports of injuries.  This may be true in a passive and reactive type incentive program, but there are incentive programs available that reward employees for being proactive and finding and reporting accidents and concerns that could be prevented.  This type of proactive program helps transform the incentive program from transactional to transformative.

If you have any questions about how you can implement a proactive safety rewards program at your company, contact intRAtrain by Russell Associates at 507.665.6266.

September 29th, 2014

Are you throwing money away?

No Comments, Uncategorized, by admin.

Did you know that the chemical manufacturing industry had more than 5,300 lost time injuries that cost the industry over $401 million in 2012.  This is in addition to the number of lost work days and other untracked costs and productivity lost.  $401 million in one industry, image the total cost of lost time injuries nationwide?  Worldwide?  The dollars lost are staggering.

The dollars lost to injuries are very hard to recoup for any industry.  The best way to save the money is to not lose the money in the first place.  This is done by finding way to mitigate the risks.  We recently read an article that outlines some of ways.

intratrain and inspectiTRAC by Russell Associates can help you with many of the mitigation tasks outlined including.

  • Identify hazards through a good Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)
  • Take corrective action.
  • Follow up to verify improvement.
  • Avoid “top-down” approaches where only managers observe and report.
  • Ensure there is no retaliation for reporting
  • Ask everyone on the team to step up

We offer a number of solution designed to help organizations.  Our intRAtrain Safety System components can help.  They include:

  1. Safety Knowledge Assessment/ Study- The assessment will review the current safety program components to determine areas for improvement.
  2. Employee Safety Training- Training provides the basic knowledge of the safety issues and concerns making employees more risk aware.  Training is available is a variety of methods including online, classroom or blended.
  3. Training Documentation- Results of employee training/development are all managed in an online system designed for ease-of-access to results and data.
  4. Behavior-Based Safety Observation Management Software- Behavior observations help engage the employee in the process and provide a level of ownership in the safety program. This software allows for easy management of the process from start to finish.
  5. Safety Hazard Inspection and Audit Management Software- This software manages and tracks the completion of audits and inspections designed to ensure a safe work environment exists.
  6. Corrective Action Management Tool- Response and resolutions of failures discovered during observations, inspections and audits is critical.  This tool allows for easy monitoring and assignment of corrective actions resulting in reduced risk exposure.
  7. Safety Rewards- Employees are encouraged to develop safe work practices and behaviors through proactive safety rewards programs.

Each company and plant has specific risks requiring a customize solution to mitigate the risk. If you are interested in learning more about how we can help you stop throwing money away, visit our websites (www.intratrain.com / www.inspectiTRAC.com), then give us a call.

September 23rd, 2014

Can accidents be eliminated?

No Comments, Safety, Training, by admin.

There has always been a goal to eliminate accidents in manufacturing and in business workplace in general.  Numerous initiatives and strategies have been implemented, but the fact is accidents continue to occur.  We recently read an interesting article about General Electric’s new approach to workplace safety and found it very interesting.  I invite you to read more about it.

http://ehstoday.com/safety/vpppa-2014-general-electric-future-safety-spelled-h-o-p?eid=forward

It is interesting to note that they used a form of observation and data tracking to determine the critical points in their facility that needed attention.  Observation has long been used to attempt to change individual behaviors, but is now being used as a method of organization / procedural change.  GE identified the risks through the use of observations and inspections, used root cause analysis to solve the problem, then made changes to help solve the issue.  The ability to solve or reduce the problem area could have been a physical, mechanical, or training issue, but regardless of how the problem is solved the important fact is they found a way to make difference.

One of our products, inspectiTRAC, assists organizations with observations, inspections and audits.  The results of the observations are available immediately for easy data access and response.  If trending data is important, data can also be monitored over a period of time to track and monitor concern areas.   Quicker response time means corrective actions can be implemented sooner, which is better for you, your employees, and your customers.

September 17th, 2014

Is the thought of an OSHA inspection keeping you up at night?

No Comments, Safety, Training, by admin.

If you work in safety then the rules and regulations of OSHA are never far from your mind.  Each year OSHA issues thousands of citations.  Being prepared and aware of potential issues that you might face is one way to be prepared.  Another is knowing the areas that OSHA most often issues citations.  EHS magazine has posted a list of the Top 10 most issued citations.   Click here to view them.

Another way to be prepared and prevent OSHA citations is by ensuring employees are properly trained.  There is safety training available for many topics including almost all of the top 10 citation areas.  If you are looking for safety training that is based on OSHA standards visit our website to learn more, http://www.intratrain.com/products/safety.  intRAtrain safety training is both information, interesting and a good value.

September 11th, 2014

Are you committed to your employees?

No Comments, Blended Learning, Leadership, Training, by admin.

Every employee is different.  Each individual person has their own beliefs, ideals, and motivations for both work and life beyond work.  Because of the individuality of workers, it is often difficult to find methods and procedures that work for everyone.  Employees need to remember that they need to be flexible and adaptable and do the best they can. Employers need to remember that what works for one employee won’t work for all.  Employee training is one area where it is important to find a training solution that optimizes learning for everyone.

If employees don’t feel like their employer is committed to develop their knowledge and job skills, they often can become unmotivated. We recently read an interesting article about how to motivate an under performing employee.  Click here to read the article.

One way to help with under performance is to make sure that the employee is being trained in both the skill and knowledge areas they need to succeed at their job.  Because each employee is unique it is important to offer a variety of way to gain this knowledge. One solution is using a blended learning approach.  intRAtrain blended learning uses a blend of performance contracting, pre and post assessments, eLearning, classroom learning, practice and application and coaching.  Coaching feedback is important as it can be targeted directly to the employees unique set of needs.  To learn more about intRAtrain BLS and how it might help your organization get the most out of your employees visit http://www.intratrain.com/products/intratrain-lms.