Monday, November 28, 2011

Effective Workplace Safety Programs

As a Safety Professional, I have two major objectives in mind; injury prevention and compliance. It's possible to have few injuries and poor compliance or a lot of injuries and excellent compliance. It takes a concerted effort to have both. This is an area where a lot of companies have difficulty. A company, no matter how large or small, must have an effective workplace safety program with a vision of greatness, commitment and involvement by all to achieve a high level of injury prevention and compliance with federal and state laws and company policy. From a management perspective, which one is more important?From a personal perspective, injury prevention is more important. A good injury prevention program reduces absenteeism, improves employee morale and ultimately increases the bottom line by increasing production and reducing costs. Employees are the most valuable resource any company has. If an employee gets hurt, it takes valuable time to take care of the injured person, do investigations and complete the paperwork. Production always slows because people come to look or help. If the injured person is disabled, there are workers' compensation costs and reduced production that has a negative impact on profitability.So, the question is; how do you get a good injury reduction and compliance safety program? There's a lot of help available from OSHA, state governments, and most insurance companies that is free or low cost. A lot of consultants are available and companies like JJ Keller and BLR offer assistance in developing a safety program. Few offer help in implementation and follow-up though. The following steps are things I consider to be essential in the building an effective program:1. Do an evaluation of the company processes, procedures and products to determine which safety standards apply. There is a guide to OSHA requirements at ehso.com/safety.php. It's a free site and easy to use.2. Conduct a fact finding tour. An audit must be completed, either by a third party or in-house (using a good audit checklist), to determine where you're at. This audit must identify and record hazards and unsafe conditions and practices that lead to injuries and non-compliance situations. The auditor should make recommendations for eliminating hazards and correcting non-compliance issues. It must also include federal and state record keeping requirements. This audit will help in identifying policies and procedures that can be part of the written safety manual.3. Develop and document a safety vision and establish attainable goals. These steps should involve all stake-holders in the safety process, including upper and lower level manager and supervisor representatives. The vision will provide the direction for the safety program and provide corporate level support for the changes that may occur in the implementation stage of the program. Including managers, supervisors and employee representatives at all levels will help ensure buy in by all employees when the program is implemented and changes are made in the workplace.4. Write a site specific safety manual. The manual should define the safety program and the policies and procedures that will be implemented in the workplace. If there are multiple locations, write a core manual with attachments that define site specific requirements for each location.5. Conduct a peer review of the manual, with managers and employee representatives. Incorporating recommended changes that make sense will help ensure that the program is implemented with as little resistance to change as possible. The finished manual should be a fluid document that responds to changes as new products and procedures are introduced in the workplace.6. Implement the safety program. Provide and document training for all employees on the new policies and procedures. Make sure the employees are aware of the need for changes as well as what the changes in policies and procedures are.7. Provide follow-up activities to ensure that the new safety program is implemented as intended. Use a 90-day evaluation period to make sure that documentation is being provided to the safety department or human resources. After six months, evaluate the safety program to make sure it is in alignment with the vision and that the goals are being reached. Make any adjustments necessary to the program.A successful safety and health program will include the steps listed above. It must have the commitment and support of corporate management and should be directed by a person with vision, enthusiasm and a passion for safety. Buy in at all levels is necessary to ensure that behavioral changes are made in the workforce. Employees will "own" the program, work toward the established goals and the business will have fewer injuries, reduced workers compensation costs and enjoy a corresponding increase in production and profitability.

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