Accident Prevention, Does Your Company Have An Effective Program?

I have now been in the safety, health and environmental world for the last 40 years and began my career on the factory floor as a machine operator. When OSHA came into existence in 1970, I applied for a job and was hired as an apprentice with a compliance officer number of 60. I worked for OSHA for about 10 years inspecting companies, conducting fatality investigations.

As the story goes on, like many other safety professionals, I progressed up the chain of safety life to work for great companies such as Allied Signal Aerospace, Lockheed Aeronautical Systems and finally retiring from the Boeing Corporation as Corporate Safety Manager of Technical Support.

In every one of these companies, millions of dollars were spent to build a safety program and protect people—but even the safety people fought safety since they did not want to ask management for money to fix the hazards that should not be there to begin with.

The Persistent Problem: Hazards That Never Go Away

Today if I went back to some of these places where I used to work (which I have done), I would see machines still not properly guarded, people still not wearing the proper personal protective equipment, and in some cases employees being seriously injured or killed with the employer not properly training the employees. Large companies? You bet. Safe companies? Probably not.

But if you look at the OSHA website under company statistics (http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.html), you will see that these companies are rarely cited by OSHA. Why? I can tell you that I worked for many of these companies so I know what went on and know why they were not cited—but then I would be in trouble for spilling the beans.

The Missing Piece: Management Commitment

As a consultant today and writing for this magazine, I have been contacted only twice by our readers and asked for advice (which we at the magazine offer to our readers for free). What is wrong with the picture?

One simple word: "Commitment"—from management or people. I have heard so many times from management and safety professionals when I inspect their facilities: "Do you know how much that will cost to get it fixed?" Well, I did not create all of these hazards, but I can tell you this: if your purchasing department ordered the right product, it would have cost nothing.

A Practical Solution: The Safety Warranty

I have offered a safety warranty to everyone for free that can be written into your bid specifications when purchasing new or used machinery. If the machine does not meet the most current American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), STATE OSHA, National Electrical Codes (NEC) and many more standards, the company that sold you that product or machine must come back and repair it for free.

One of my clients saved well over 2 million dollars on some machinery that they purchased that was brand new but did not meet the current OSHA standards—and the machine manufacturer came back and repaired it for free.

Do you have safety professionals working for you? If so, they should be doing their jobs and protecting you (the CEO) and the company’s most valuable asset—the workers—from any type of harm.

The Training Reality: What Employees Are Saying

I now teach for two leading OSHA Training Institutes as a consultant, and I am amazed at what I hear from people coming to these learning environments. Many say their management does not care and will not spend the money to correct the hazards that are found. Is this true? Could people not really care about another worker's safety?

I say "NO"—management does care about their workers when it is brought to the proper level of management's attention (the CEO level). But too many times, other mid-management make these decisions and, in reality, do not fix the problems, and too many times people are injured and the cost of doing business goes up.

Controlling Losses Through Prevention

If you would like to reduce the costs and risks associated with workplace injuries and illnesses, you need to address safety and health right along with production. Setting up an Injury and Illness Prevention Program helps you do this. In developing the program, you identify what has to be done to promote the safety and health of your employees and worksite, and you outline policies and procedures to achieve your safety and health goals.

Why Have a Workplace Injury and Illness Prevention Program?

Taking risks is a part of running a business, particularly for small business owners. You take risks in product development, marketing, and advertising to stay competitive. Some risks are just not worth the gamble. One of these is risking the safety and health of those who work for you.

Accidents Cost Money

Safety organizations, states, small business owners, and major corporations alike now realize that the actual cost of a lost workday injury is substantial. For every dollar you spend on the direct costs of a worker’s injury or illness, you will spend much more to cover the indirect and hidden costs.

Consider what one lost workday injury would cost you in terms of:

• Productive time lost by an injured employee
• Productive time lost by employees and supervisors attending the accident victim
• Clean up and start up of operations interrupted by the accident
• Time to hire or to retrain other individuals to replace the injured worker until his/her return
• Time and cost for repair or replacement of any damaged equipment or materials
• Cost of continuing all or part of the employee’s wages, in addition to compensation
• Reduced morale among your employees, and perhaps lower efficiency
• Increased workers’ compensation insurance rates
• Cost of completing paperwork generated by the incident

The Foundation: Management Commitment and Assignment of Responsibilities

Your commitment to safety and health shows in every decision you make and every action you take. Your employees will respond to that commitment.

The person or persons with the authority and responsibility for your safety and health program must be identified and given management’s full support. You can demonstrate your commitment through your personal concern for employee safety and health and by the priority you place on these issues.

If you want maximum production and quality, you need to control potential workplace hazards and correct hazardous conditions or practices as they occur or are recognized. You must commit yourself and your company by building an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program and integrating it into your entire operation.

This commitment must be backed by strong organizational policies, procedures, incentives, and disciplinary actions as necessary to ensure employee compliance with safe and healthful work practices.

Closing Thoughts

In closing, as the magazine has always stated: if you have questions on safety-related issues, bring them to us and we will try to answer them for you. It is fast approaching the year 2012—don't you think it is time to bring your safety program in line with the safety standards of today?