Each year there are thousands of workplace injuries and accidents. Thousands of accidents and injuries occur that could be prevented with a comprehensive safety plan that starts with making sure all employees are trained properly. Companies often worry about the added costs of employee training and supporting documentation, but if the cost means reduced accidents and injuries then the costs are easily recovered. As we recently read in an article if you take chances with safety eventually the small safety accidents will turn into a larger safety accident that will could cost the companies millions of dollars. How many times do you want to spin the roulette wheel with the safety for your employees and their safety? levitra brand discount A basic off-the-shelf comprehensive safety employee program can cost less than $80 dollars a year. How many years can you spend $80 per employee for their safety training to make up for the cost of one catastrophic accident. The safety program can easily be improved and the risk reduced by including safety and behavior JSA/JHA based observations, paper-based or automated, inspection and audits to ensure and verity safety policies (paper-based or automated), and proactive incentive programs for employees. Each adds an additional cost, but reaps an additional reward as well. Safer Employees. Improved Moral. Improved Safety Culture. Better Bottom line. And a reduced chance of you hitting the unlucky spot on the roulette wheel.
May 5th, 2014
Thousands of accidents…. thousands of ways to prevent….
No Comments, Blended Learning, incentives, inspectiTRAC, Leadership, Safety, Training, by admin.“Safety First” has been the focus of organizations for many years. We recently read an interesting article about how the idea of “Safety First” can cause conflict between the safety and production in many organizations. Being safe and improving safe work practices are not always seen as improvements that improve the bottom line of the organization in the eyes of production, especially organizations that are working to implement lean processes. Lean organizations want to reduce and eliminate unproductive “waste” as much as possible while still maintaining a safety work environment. These organizations want to improve quality and production by ensuring they are using all resources available in the most effective way possible and eliminating resources that are time drains and that are not impacting the bottom line positively. As regulating bodies are requiring more and more inspections and audits of facilities and operations, more human resources times is being shifted from production to ensuring compliance with regulations; thus reducing the ability to be a lean as possible. One way to improve and be lean is by making sure all employees are being used in the most efficient and effective way possible. One way to improve the use of the human resource time available is by implementing an advanced mobile inspection and audit system. An automated system for inspections and audits allows the process to be completed much faster and with more accuracy then a traditional paper-based system. The time saved by automating the task can then be reallocated to the organizations other needs. For organizations…
April 1st, 2014
Is your safety program proactive or reactive?
No Comments, inspectiTRAC, Safety, by admin.Safety is a not a new topic or a topic that will ever disappear from the minds of many professionals in any manufacturing, construction and service industry. What may change is how organizations plan for safety. We recently read an interesting article about how the occupational health and safety of organizations is shifting from a reactive to more proactive approach. The goal of the organization is to spend less time reacting to situations and to spend more time on tactics that will prevent safety issues. These prevention initiatives include spending more time on employee training, assessment of risks and adoption of a management or prevention system. Read more here. The study also indicates that the number one driver of organizations to develop their safety plan is to comply with laws and regulations. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but if the goal is to be more proactive it is critical that organizations find a cost effective method of implementation to manage the regulations that they face on a day to day basis. Many of the regulations and laws require some sort of time and resource consuming audit, observation, or inspection be completed and recorded to ensure that the “rules” are being followed. One way organizations can help manage the regulations and be more proactive to safety needs is to implement a mobile inspection, audit and observation system. A mobile system can help complete and document faster and more efficiently the inspections and audits required to comply with many regulations and laws. It can also…
March 25th, 2014
Is your safety leader transformational or transactional?
No Comments, Blended Learning, Leadership, Safety, by admin.The safety of employees is a very high priority, often the number one priority of many organizations. The safety of the employees can be ensured through many different methods including safety climate, safety training and environmental safety practices such as machine guarding and safety equipment. A recent study done in Australia surveyed pipefitters and plumbers about how leadership affected safety behavior. The results are very interesting and truly demonstrate the importance of strong safety leaders. According to the survey, safety leaders whose workers admired their character, intelligence and skill had a form of “transformational leadership”. When these transformational leaders made safety a top priority the workers often did the same as well. The safety of organizations with this type of leader often has improved and produced better safety results than those with a transactional type leader. Improving the leaders of organizations is often a challenging process, but as shown in this study and many others prior the impact that a leader can have on an organization is remarkable. To all those leaders who are empowering their employees to grow and be the very best they can be through effective, efficient, and influential leadership, we commend you. There are many ways to develop a leader including online training, workshops, mentoring programs and on-the-job learning. At Russell Associates, we have found one of the most effective ways to train leaders is through a blended learning approach. Visit our website to learn more about our innovative approach to leadership training using a blended learning approach.
How is safety perceived at your organization? We recently read an interesting article about the different perception of safety depending on the role of the person. Read more of the article here. Wouldn’t it great if all parts of the organization had the same view of safety. Is there an easy way to accomplish this? No, but the implementation of safety programs that provide a complete approach to safety can make the process easier. A sample safety program could include: Develop Safety goals- Create a target goal(s) for safety. Reduce loss time claims, improve certification results, etc. Safety Training- Training provides the basic knowledge of the issues and makes employees more risk aware Safety Behavior Observations- Behavior observations help engage the employee into the process and provide a level of ownership in the safety process Safety hazard inspections and audits- Completion of audits and inspections helps ensure the knowledge and skills related to safety are being used and that the environment encourages safe behavior Verification- Analysis of the observations, audits, and inspections to measure results and quantify the potential issues and concerns Feedback- “Toolbox” talks with employees about the results increase knowledge and awareness of concerns Reward- Providing an incentive for employees being proactive in completing safety training, safety responsibilities, demonstrating safe work behaviors, remaining safe, and meeting corporate safety program goals. Each safety program will differ based on the organization, but regardless it is important that all parties in the organization feel a connection to building a company-wide safety culture of excellence. intRAtrain™ and…
Behavior-based safety is not a new concept but finding new ways to implement the concept is always evolving. Behavior-based safety can be as simple as giving a small gesture of appreciation when a safe behavior is observed to very complex and detailed plans managed by a team of employees. One type of behavior-based safety is the behavior observation. The general rational behind observing behaviors is to observe the employee, analyze the work practices, provide feedback about the observation and have all parties learn from what has been observed. We recently came across an article in which behavior observations could have assisted in helping prevent unsafe and highly costly behaviors from occurring. In this case the plant was fined $147,000 for a variety of OSHA violations. Russell Associates is working with a client to help them automate and streamline their behavior-based observation program. Our client was completing behavior based observations monthly using paper cards, but was faced with the reality of having to manually enter the observation data into a spreadsheet. As a result corrective-actions were often delayed because the data was not available until a month after the observations were completed. After implementing and using inspectiTRAC, the customer is able to manage the process, develop trend reports, analyze zone safety concerns, and implement corrective actions more efficiently and effectively. The program is saving our client over 25 hours per month that can now be spent on our tasks within the organization. Read more about our client here.
Receiving an OSHA safety violations is no fun regardless of when they happen. OSHA has released it top 10 most frequently cited violations of 2013. Some of these violations occurred over 8,000 times in 2013 or over 20 times a day. Ensuring your employees are safe on the job and return home to their families each day is of great importance. One way to make sure this happens is to properly train your employees so they are prepared for any safety-related hazard they face on the job. If you are looking for a new safety training, visit our website. We would love to help your company not be part of the Top Ten of 2014.