I recently came across an article on the risks associated with fatigue in the transport industry and it got me thinking about how prevalent this hazard was on construction sites and whether or not it was a contributor to workplace injuries in the sector.
According to statistics construction is amongst the most high risk industries in Australia and it is also one of the most strenuous, with most of the work being conducted on work sites involving manual labour. It is this nature of construction work, coupled with the pressures associated with safety and the stress linked to productivity demands that makes the construction industry one of the most demanding and most tiring.
Ultimately fatigue can affect anyone, in any industry or profession but when it affects a person whose job depends on their alertness, such as those in high risk industries including construction, the risks and need to avoid fatigue is even more crucial because it becomes not just a matter of making mistakes which cost financially but a matter of life and death mistakes.
Fatigue can affect a worker’s health and according to statistics, can drastically increase their chances of workplace injuries. Fatigue also reduces a person’s performance and productivity.
The issues that can induce fatigue in workers include a mentally and physically demanding job, work schedules and planning or lack thereof, working shifts, environmental conditions and other individual factors such as eating, sleeping and living habits.
Employers should identify whether the working conditions and environment may promote fatigue among workers, for example is working night shifts part of the job? If fatigue is a factor, it needs to be addressed by employers before it results in an incident.
Experts warn that fatigue can be caused by work-related factors, factors outside work and/or a combination of both, and may accumulate over time, employers should be aware of this. Scheduling patterns, length of shifts, proof work scheduling and planning, time worked and timing of shifts all affect a person and can cause fatigue. Another factor is a lack of rest and recovery time between shifts of long periods of time awake.
Employers are wise to manage fatigue because so doing includes a number of benefits including
Lowering the rate of accidents and human errors
Increasing productivity
Decreasing general maintenance costs with respect to human resources
Lowering the levels of absenteeism and staff turnover
Ultimately by helping an employee improve their ability to concentrate on the task at hand, employers contribute to the organisation’s growth and development – this can be done by identifying and managing fatigue among workers.
The Importance of Sleep
Getting enough, quality sleep is vital to avoiding fatigue. Difficulty sleeping and insomnia is a major problem for many people and can have severe consequences on a worker’s health and safety by contributing to fatigue. Some of the recommended tips for sleeping include:
Draw the blinds or curtains and use sound insulation to reduce light levels and noise within the room or sleeping cabin
Make sure the people in your life know of the hours that you will be sleeping so as to avoid disruptions from friends and family.
Try to develop ways of unwinding after an afternoon or night shift such as taking a walk or watching television till you fall asleep
Have a shower or a relaxing bath before going to bed, this will soothe and relax you making it easier to fall asleep.
I recently came across an article on the risks associated with fatigue in the transport industry and it got me thinking about how prevalent this hazard was on construction sites and whether or not it was a contributor to workplace injuries in the sector.
According to statistics construction is amongst the most high risk industries in Australia and it is also one of the most strenuous, with most of the work being conducted on work sites involving manual labour. It is this nature of construction work, coupled with the pressures associated with safety and the stress linked to productivity demands that makes the construction industry one of the most demanding and most tiring.
Ultimately fatigue can affect anyone, in any industry or profession but when it affects a person whose job depends on their alertness, such as those in high risk industries including construction, the risks and need to avoid fatigue is even more crucial because it becomes not just a matter of making mistakes which cost financially but a matter of life and death mistakes.
Fatigue can affect a worker’s health and according to statistics, can drastically increase their chances of workplace injuries. Fatigue also reduces a person’s performance and productivity.
The issues that can induce fatigue in workers include a mentally and physically demanding job, work schedules and planning or lack thereof, working shifts, environmental conditions and other individual factors such as eating, sleeping and living habits.
Employers should identify whether the working conditions and environment may promote fatigue among workers, for example is working night shifts part of the job? If fatigue is a factor, it needs to be addressed by employers before it results in an incident.
Experts warn that fatigue can be caused by work-related factors, factors outside work and/or a combination of both, and may accumulate over time, employers should be aware of this. Scheduling patterns, length of shifts, proof work scheduling and planning, time worked and timing of shifts all affect a person and can cause fatigue. Another factor is a lack of rest and recovery time between shifts of long periods of time awake.
Employers are wise to manage fatigue because so doing includes a number of benefits including
Lowering the rate of accidents and human errors
Increasing productivity
Decreasing general maintenance costs with respect to human resources
Lowering the levels of absenteeism and staff turnover
Ultimately by helping an employee improve their ability to concentrate on the task at hand, employers contribute to the organisation’s growth and development – this can be done by identifying and managing fatigue among workers.
The Importance of Sleep
Getting enough, quality sleep is vital to avoiding fatigue. Difficulty sleeping and insomnia is a major problem for many people and can have severe consequences on a worker’s health and safety by contributing to fatigue. Some of the recommended tips for sleeping include:
Draw the blinds or curtains and use sound insulation to reduce light levels and noise within the room or sleeping cabin
Make sure the people in your life know of the hours that you will be sleeping so as to avoid disruptions from friends and family.
Try to develop ways of unwinding after an afternoon or night shift such as taking a walk or watching television till you fall asleep
Have a shower or a relaxing bath before going to bed, this will soothe and relax you making it easier to fall asleep
One thing you should be familiar with is the acronym SKATE (Skill, Knowledge, Attitude, Training and Experience). It is usually used when discussing a person’s or organization’s competency and is relevant whether you are recruiting a new employee, promoting an existing one, offering tenders to contractors or even benchmarking your organization in the marketplace.
Competence hinges on attitude within SKATE and this attitude can be one of corporate responsibility or an individual’s responsibility at any level from sitting on the board to being a junior in the warehouse.
The ‘right’ attitude
When I write about `job attitude, the technical meaning is a set of evaluations that constitute a person’s feelings towards, beliefs about, and attachments to their job. An overall job attitude can be conceptualized in two ways – as job satisfaction that constitutes a general or global subjective feeling about a job, or as a composite of objective cognitive assessments of specific job facets, such as pay, conditions and opportunities.
We can measure an employee’s attitude without trying to reinvent the wheel. Tools that can be used are freely available online and include anonymous questionnaires, such as the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) climate safety tool, or an attitude survey. Once you know these attitudes, you can then do something about influencing them.
The benefits of behavioural safety training
One way to influence an employee’s attitude is through behavioral safety training. This tends to come into play for employees at lower levels in an organization, but we must not forget those on the board of directors, who hold between them a corporate attitude to safety. There is excellent information available through the Institute of Directors (IOD) for board members and senior managers, which gives very useful guidance in many areas.
However, to get the best out of your most expensive asset, you need to understand how they can benefit from behavioral safety training. Therefore, when planning this training, it is worth the time and effort to assess which employees would benefit the most and plan your training matrix appropriately. My remit of heading a team of consultants and trainers highlights just how many organizations are taking this area very seriously indeed. Many blue chip companies, SMEs and the self employed have made in-roads in this area and have benefited accordingly.
There are many health and safety organizations promoting behavioral training in a variety of forms, and looking at many of the health and safety blogs and forums out there, it is clear that many are talking about these issues. All we have to do as health and safety professionals is to keep pushing and promoting the great importance of having the correct attitude at work. After all, it is recognized in our profession as one of the most difficult things to change.
Exceptions to the rule
There is one exception, however, to what I see on these forums and that is how we should be targeting new recruits. Let us aim to persuade human resources departments to make it part of induction training instead of waiting weeks, months or even years before we make a difference.
Reading a forum comment the other day, there was one very good question. Why are there so many organizations using “health and safety traffic wardens”? These wardens are tasked with looking for near-misses and incidents and this is indeed important information if it is gathered in the right atmosphere (real inspections, safety tours and so on).
Where this information is shared and communicated in the right way, it can help to mould a positive health and safety culture and gain commitment from all levels of the organization. By including all employees and making them feel a respected part of the organization, you will see the results in a very positive attitude, which continues to feed a glowing health and safety culture.
Memorial Day, an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, at least, it marks the beginning of summer.
The Civil War claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history, requiring the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries. By the late 1860s Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers. Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time. It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. Decoration Day On May 5, 1862, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month.
“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.
Many Northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Many Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor their dead on separate days until after World War I. Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. However, during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.
For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.
Cities and towns across the United States host Memorial Day parades each year, often incorporating military personnel and members of veterans’ organizations. Some of the largest parades take place in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. Americans also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials.
Veterans who survived the war or wars in which they served, deserve to be taken care of. They should be at the top of any list, whether it’s healthcare, physical therapy, or other needs. Any way that you can help a veteran by finding him/her a job, or any assistance they may need would be a big help in showing your appreciation for their service to our country. Hire a Vet if you are a business person.
We all need to say “Thank you for your service” when we see anyone in the military. I recently told a young man I had met that I appreciated his six years of Army service, both in Iraq and Afghanistan. He responded “Thank you for your support.” It made me feel ashamed that I haven’t done more to support our troops. Let’s all show our gratitude for our warriors.
Whenever starting a new job, it can be difficult to figure out exactly what you should be doing, and how it needs to be done. When I started working at a new facility as a safety manager, I began my first day with a meeting with the facility manager. The meeting was set up so he could tell me what was expected of me in my new role, and provide other details of the job. I was quite surprised when the meeting took less than two minutes, and the only objective I was given was to ‘reduce risks and hazards in the workplace.’
I asked for some clarification or guidance in what exactly he was looking for, but he simply said that I was hired to improve safety, and he was leaving the task of finding out how to do it in my hands. He gave me a sheet of paper with some information about what resources I had available, including my annual safety budget and told me to get to work right away. I should point out there that I had several years experience as a safety manager at a large company, which is why I was brought in to this new facility.
The facility had recently been cited by OSHA for a variety of safety hazards, and there were even some fairly severe injuries that occurred in the previous months. The facility owners made it clear that safety was a priority for them, and they were willing to do whatever it took to pass inspections, and keep the employees safe.
Planning My Safety Program
While that initial meeting was unique, to say the least, I was also quite excited about the opportunity. It is quite rare that a safety manager is given such flexibility, and I wanted to make sure the manager wouldn’t regret that decision. I got to work right away planning my safety improvement program.
I wanted to make some quick changes to help improve safety in the short term, and then also plan out ways to create a culture change within the facility so everyone would be more safety focused. I knew this would be difficult, but with the support of the facility management, I knew it could be done.
Creating a Top 5 List
The first thing I wanted to do was identify the top five risks and hazards in the facility, and get them fixed right away. Even if I couldn’t entirely eliminate a particular hazard, I wanted to make changes that would dramatically reduce the safety concerns in the following five areas:
Reduce Slip and Fall Hazards – The facility had several areas which were well known for being slippery when it was wet outside.
Replace Safety Signage – Most of the safety signs in the facility were either missing, broken or so dirty that they couldn’t be seen.
Update Personal Protection Equipment – Two injuries over the past year were due to the fact that employees were not using personal protection equipment. I found that much of this PPE was either broken or missing.
Label Hazardous Liquid Containers – One of the major areas where the facility got penalized by OSHA was for not having clear labeling on the containers used to store hazardous liquids.
Add Safety Tape to Indoor Driving Lanes – The facility had several forklifts and other vehicles which were used indoors. While the general areas where they were driven was known, there wasn’t a clear lane that they were required to stay within.
I chose these five items not only because they represented significant risks to the facility, but also because I could implement the improvements very quickly. Once I had settled on these items, I ordered all the necessary materials, including an industrial label printer (like this one), safety tape (which you can find here), a variety of different types of personal protection equipment, and several floor coverings to help minimize the risks of falling near the entrances and exits of the facility.
Within three weeks of starting in my job, I had checked off each of these five items from my list of safety improvement goals. I was able to print off custom safety signs, and labels to identify hazardous liquid containers. In addition, I provided the personal protection equipment to the employees and, of course, laid out the floor mats. None of these things were very difficult to do, but they were very important. In these first three weeks, I learned the valuable lesson that if a facility doesn’t pay attention to the little things, it will cause major problems very quickly.
Construction zones are known as areas that are full of potential hazards. Common construction zone hazards include falling objects, electrocution, excavation accidents, asbestos, general machine hazards, automobile accidents, etc. The list literally goes on and on. The job of construction involves a lot of equipment, tools, and motorized vehicles, and the risk for injury increases with the expanded usage of such materials. A common and effective method for helping deter adverse events in construction includes the utilization of signage. Construction signs often feature pictograms to help make the message meaningful to everyone. One of the benefits of using of pictograms is that it allows employees and other people to quickly glance and understand the potential hazard without having to actually “read” the sign.
Common Construction Signs
There are many different signs that can be used in construction to convey different safety messages. It depends upon the type of construction and the materials and tools that are in use that help to decide which signs would be most appropriate. Construction signs may be used in road construction, home construction, commercial building construction, and basically any other type of construction situation. Most construction signs feature the color combination of an orange background with black lettering or a yellow background with black lettering. Let’s review a few of the common signs used in construction.
· This type of construction sign is often used when there is a risk for falls. This sign could be applicable in any type of construction situation, especially when employees are working on or around scaffolding, ledges, or on uneven surfaces.
· When this type of construction sign is used, it often means that there are general construction-related activities in process. It basically means that there people are working and building and to use caution.
· This is a caution sign that requires employees as well as any visitors to wear a hard hat to protect their heads from injury. When this sign is seen, there may be hazards such as falling objects in the area.
· This sign means just what it says, “Road work ahead.” This type of construction sign is commonly seen exclusively with road-related construction, and warns drivers to use caution as they will soon be entering a road construction zone ahead.
· This type of construction sign is often utilized in roadways when there is either road construction or building construction that impedes the general usage of a road. This sign features a pictograph of a person holding a sign or flag and warns drivers that there is a flagger ahead and to slow down and drive with extra caution.
Construction Signs Make a Difference!
Work zones and construction areas that feature the use of construction safety signage enjoy a higher level of safety for employees, visitors, drivers, and for the general public as a whole. However, it is important to choose the right sign for the message and to be as specific as possible. For example, it wouldn’t make sense to simply use a general construction sign (the sign with the person digging) to convey the risk of a fall hazard. If a fall hazard is present, the correct sign should be used to indicate that specific hazard. Safety signs can really make a difference between a safe and unsafe construction zone.
When the cold temperatures of winter fade away, and the heat of the summer approaches, it is important to look at how workplace safety can be affected. Each season brings with it a different set of safety concerns, and if not properly addressed, it can lead to accidents, injuries or illness that could have otherwise been prevented. Taking the time to look at workplace summer hazards, and how to respond to them, can help keep a facility running smoothly.
Types of Summer Hazards
There are many types of summer safety hazards that need to be taken into account when making a facility safety plan in the hot summer months. The following are some of the most significant risks that may be present in a facility:
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Heat Stress – Many facilities can get quite warm due to the heavy machinery, even in the winter. In the summer, the temperatures of a facility can top 110 very easily. Heat stress is very dangerous, and needs to be taken seriously.
Sun Exposure – When working outside, direct exposure to the hot sun can be cause a variety of problems. Sun burn, for example, can be very painful and even lead to serious skin problems. The direct sun can also contribute to heat stress, and dehydration. Sun exposure builds up over time, so while some people might not recognize the risk, it is certainly a danger that can cause major problems.
Dehydration – When working in high temperatures people can become dehydrated very quickly. In dryer climates, people will sweat a lot, but it will evaporate quickly so they don’t notice it. This can lead to severe dehydration much more quickly than most people expect.
Dangerous Bugs – In many parts of the world there are poisonous bugs that come out during the summer. These bugs can bite or sting people, causing a variety of illnesses or injuries that need to be addressed quickly. Bugs that aren’t poisonous can also be very dangerous. Bees and other stinging bugs, as well as mosquitoes can be very painful, and can even spread diseases.
Animals – In the hot summer months, some animals will try to enter buildings to get into the shade. These animals can become frightened and dangerous if they feel trapped. Even outside, animals like snakes can be very dangerous. Animals may also be looking for food, and many of them have gotten used to being around humans. If they feel threatened, however, they can still attack.
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It is easy to see how the changing seasons can bring about many different hazards to a workplace. By acknowledging these risks, and taking steps to minimize them, it is possible to keep everyone healthy and productive throughout the summer.
Keeping Facilities Safe during the summer
Once the risks of working during the summer are identified, it is time to take steps to help limit or eliminate them. Each facility will have to come up with an effective strategy for each hazard that they are facing. Example of this would be training your employees on Heat Stress Causes using a training DVD (similar to this one). In addition to effective strategies, the solutions must be feasible. In many cases, the solution won’t be as obvious as most people would like.
For example, when a facility reaches temperatures of 120+ degrees, it is clearly unsafe to work in the area. The obvious solution is to reduce the temperature, but that may not always be possible. When the temperature on the outside is 90-100 degrees, and there are machines producing heat inside, it can be very difficult to regulate temperature. Air conditioners often can’t keep up with the cooling requirements, and ventilation is ineffective due to the high temperatures outside. Finding alternative solutions may take more time, but it is often the only option.
How to Fight the Heat
According to OSHA, here are the top factors that put workers at risk of heat related injuries:
[sws_grey_box box_size=”630″]Environmental
High temperature and humidity
Radiant heat sources
Contact with hot objects
Direct sun exposure (with no shade)
Limited air movement (no breeze, wind or ventilation)
Job-Specific
Physical exertion
Use of bulky or non-breathable protective clothing and equipment
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In many cases, the biggest problem associated with working in the summer is the heat from the sun. When this is the case, facilities need to come up with ways to keep everyone safe, despite the high temperatures. There are many options to choose from, and in many cases it will take a combined effort to accomplish. Some effective strategies include:
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Frequent Breaks – Offer employees frequent, short breaks to bring down their body temperature. Depending on the type of work being done, a few minutes each hour is often enough.
Cool Rooms – Provide small rooms with air conditioning that are kept at a low temperature. This can be a place where employees can go to recover, and rest during their breaks. It is much easier to cool a small room than an entire facility.
Lots of Liquids – Provide employees with lots of water and other liquids to help their bodies regulate temperature. Encourage them to drink as often as possible to remain hydrated.
Ice or Popsicles – Offer ice and popsicles to the employees to help cool them off. These are great ways to not only lower the body temperature, but also rehydrate and provide energy.
Air Circulation – Keep the air circulating as much as possible by using fans or other methods. Even if it is warm air being circulated, it is still better than allowing it to become stagnant.
Sun Protection – When working outside, it is important to keep employees protected from the sun. This can be done by providing shade wherever possible, and offering sunscreen for those who are working in direct sunlight. In addition, wearing long sleeves and a hat is also a good idea to prevent sunburn and other similar issues.
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Protection from Insects & Animals
In addition to the heat, the summer also brings with it a number of different types of potentially dangerous insects and animals. In most cases, these creatures don’t pose much threat to people, because they can either be avoided, or the animals are able to run away without any conflict. On many worksites, however, animals are trapped or hiding in some type of equipment.
When employees enter the area, they can cause the animals to attack, which can be very dangerous or even life threatening for both the people and the animals. Whether it is something small like a hive of bees, or something larger like a sleeping bear, wild animals can be a major threat, especially in the summer months.
In order to keep everyone safe while at work, it is a good idea to provide training to the employees on how to minimize the risk. This training can start by instructing people to make extra noise while traveling through an area. Whether talking, whistling, singing or humming, the noise will alert larger animals to their approach, giving them the chance to run away.
For poisonous bugs, insects, lizards and other small animals, it is most important to be alert and watch out for signs of these dangerous creatures. If you see bees, wasps or other flying insects in the area, it likely means there is a nest of hive around. Avoiding the area until it can be properly checked out will help prevent injury. For other small animals, it is best to use caution when moving equipment or supplies where they might be hiding beneath.
If there are known problems with bugs or other animals, employers are responsible for taking action to have them removed. This can include setting traps or even hiring professionals to take care of the problem. Animals can be a significant risk not only to the safety of the employees, but to the entire facility. Some animals can chew through electrical wires, and others can damage products or equipment. During the summer months, animals are often very active, and must be seen as a serious threat.
Reducing workplace injuries should be an important goal of every company in every industry. Millions of people are injured, sometimes severely, every year while at work. These types of injuries not only hurt the individual, however, but they cause a lot of damage to the employer as well. Injuries cause downtime in production, expenses related to the injury, and may even result in legal costs. With this in mind, reducing workplace injuries is an essential part of keeping any facility running smoothly, and profitably.
While workplace safety has improved dramatically over the past 50 years, there is still much that can be done. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 3.6 million work-related injuries treated in emergency rooms each year. The majority of these injuries are non-life threatening, but they can have serious, long lasting impacts on the lives of employees. By taking the time and resources necessary to identify and reduce the risks in a workplace, it is possible to bring the total number of injuries down significantly.
Identifying Likely Risks
There are many different types of injuries which occur in the workplace, and depending on the type of facility you work in, you’ll be more likely to be injured in specific ways. If, for example, you work on construction sites, you’ll be far more likely to be injured by a falling object than someone who works in most other environments. Knowing that types of injuries are the most likely to occur in facilities like yours is a very good way to help reduce the risks.
By identifying the most common types of workplace injury in a particular industry, it is possible to take proactive steps to reduce the chances of those hazards from happening. Of course, improving workplace safety requires far more than just an understanding of the most common types of injuries in a given industry. You need to take a well-rounded approach to improving the overall safety in the workplace.
How to Reduce Workplace Injuries
There are many different things that can be done to help reduce the number, and severity, of workplace injuries. Some strategies that employers use include:
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Staying OSHA Compliant – One of the first things employers need to do when it comes to workplace safety is remain OSHA compliant. OSHA requirements are in place to help keep everyone safe, so staying compliant will naturally improve safety. Of course, staying compliant will also prevent any fines or penalties from OSHA.
Safety Signs – Identifying areas where there is a particular safety concern and alerting people to the risk is extremely effective. Using floor signs, wall signs or other safety signs it is easy and affordable to improve people’s risk awareness.
Proper Safety Gear – Supplying employees with the right safety gear for the facility, and requiring them to wear it is an effective way to prevent injuries, and reduce the overall severity of them too.
Predicting Injuries – One of the latest strategies employers are using is predicting and preventing workplace injuries. Using advanced systems, it is possible to predict when and where injuries are likely to occur. With this information, it is possible to dramatically reduce the overall number of injuries in many facilities.
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Predicting Injuries Effectively
While all injury prevention strategies work on the concept of predicting injuries, and taking steps to prevent them, there are really two ways of doing this. The first way has been used for generations, and works by identifying specific risks, and attempting to do something to eliminate or reduce the hazard. For example, if there is a machine that has a moving arm which could cause injury, a facility may place a gate around the area. This will keep people away from the risk, and prevent injuries.
The other method of predicting and preventing injuries uses modern technologies to help find patterns which would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Computer software can use predictive analytics, tools and models to help identify potential hazards that otherwise would have been unseen. While this is a much newer workplace safety tool, it has helped many facilities reduce the number and severity of accidents significantly.
Predictive Solutions
Predictive Solutions is a leader in the accident prevention software industry, and they have successfully helped many companies in a variety of industries reduce the number of accidents they experience. They use predictive models to draw real-time conclusions about each customers’ future risks. This is done by inputting a wide range of data from the workplace, including information about past accidents. Once entered, the Predictive Solutions service can identify what types of hazards are present in an area.
This can be done based on specific projects, work groups, physical sites, or other categories, which gives safety managers a lot of options to choose from. When an area exhibits the characteristics of heightened risk, the program will alert the facility of the problem.
In addition to just relying on the specific information from one facility, however, the system actually references their internal dataset, which includes more than 100 Million observations from over 15,000 worksites.
Customers who have used the Predictive Solutions product have reduced the number of accidents quite significantly. The following example shows just how beneficial this type of accident prevention system can be:
Industrial Scientific Corp – This Atlanta-based energy utility company began using Predictive Solutions to improve overall safety. Since using the system, their construction division has reduced the injury rate by 65% over the course of four years. This shows just how effective the system can be, and over time as it ‘learns’ about a business, it can provide even better results. Read more about these results HERE.
[sws_blockquote_endquote align=”” cite=”Creative Safety Publishing Podcast – Griffin Schultz” quotestyle=”style02″]There’s a big challenge for us in safety, and that’s why we’re focused on what we’re doing to find some new ways to address workplace fatalities. Within our portfolio of businesses what we do around predicting and helping our customers prevent injuries is just one aspect of that. But, I would say we still have a lot of work to do to end workplace fatalities.[/sws_blockquote_endquote]
This is just one example of how well this type of workplace safety improvement system can work. As more and more companies adopt this type of service, not only will the effectiveness improve, but the numbers of injuries will go down.
Improving Workplace Safety Makes Sense
More and more companies are beginning to realize that improving workplace safety isn’t just something that they need to do for their employees. It is actually an excellent investment into the long term profitability of their company. According to one report from OSHA, for every one dollar invested into safety programs, employers are able to save between $4 and $6.
This is a huge return on investment for employers, who will also enjoy the benefits of safer, happier employees. Of course, there is a limit to the amount employers can spend on workplace safety while still getting the great return. This is why it is so important to focus the money where it can have the biggest impact. Whether that means improving the safety of a particular area of a facility, or investing in a program like Predictive Solutions, it is critical to take workplace safety seriously.
Working Together
One final thing to keep in mind when attempting to reduce workplace injuries is that this is something that everyone from the CEO down to the newest front line employee need to be concerned about. By working together, employees and management can identify all sorts of potential hazards, and take steps to reduce or even eliminate them. Employees need to follow safety procedures, and employers need to provide the facility with the right equipment and information to know how to stay safe. When everyone works together, workplace safety will become a reality. Make sure to check out Creative Safety Supply for all your workplace safety needs.
A safety professional may read the title of this article and feel it’s child’s play. How could somebody not know how to look for risk? That same safety professional may even be tempted to use a phrase that I cannot stand: common sense. I once heard a speaker explain that common sense is a learned phenomenon. We cull the experiences of our life and, from them, develop our so-called common sense. This is very true. If I spent my entire career reaching into a machine that wasn’t locked-out and nothing happened to me, I may believe that doing so was safe. This is the experience that develops my common sense.
Can You Rely on Common Sense?
That same scenario may seem like a lack of common sense to somebody who knows better, but we’re assuming that I have no other education or experience to help me come to a better conclusion. Of course, this example is extreme; it would also require that I had no experience or knowledge to let me know that rollers, gears, or blades were dangerous. The point of the matter is this: common sense is different for everybody, and therefore cannot be relied upon.
It’s important for safety professionals to realize that what seems like second-nature to us now, didn’t always. The fact that we can walk onto a construction site or a manufacturing floor and immediately begin pointing out unsafe conditions and practices stems from years of education and experience. When I first began in the industry, I could barely tell one piece of heavy equipment from another, let alone start pointing out problems. It took time to develop that particular skill set.
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes
To understand where a non-safety professional may be coming from, we need to put ourselves back in their shoes. Maybe you can’t remember what it was like before you knew safety so well, so instead, think of a time more recently when you had to visit a new facility or, worse yet, a new industry with which you were not used to dealing. Sure, there are things that carry over from facility to facility, from industry to industry, but most likely there were things there you had yet to understand – new machines, new procedures, new tasks. The first thing you needed to do was learn what those machines, procedures and tasks were. You needed to find out where the exposures were and how those exposures should be controlled.
The Importance of Risk Assessment
Yes, that’s right, you did a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) or whatever preferred acronym you use for a risk assessment. Whether you stopped and did this on paper or you ran through it in your head, you went through a very methodical process. The problem is that you went through this process because it is a part of your training and background. Not so for your line employees, your laborers, or even members of management. Their inherent focus may be, “How do I properly operate this equipment?”, “What is the most efficient way to operate this?” or even “This is a piece of cake, so I guess I no longer need to pay attention,” not necessarily, “Where and why is this dangerous?”
Don’t Fish for Them, Teach a Them to Fish
It is important to instruct your employees that assessing risk is an important part of their job, not just something that is done for them . Train them on the proper way to perform a JHA. This should include running through some practice assessments and reviewing the existing assessments for your facility. When you see workers on the floor or jobsite, ask them what hazards are presented by their job and what they – or the company – have done to reduce their exposure. This is no time to be protective of your job and skills. You want everybody thinking like you do when you walk into a work area because you cannot be everywhere at once. If the employees can’t tell you what hazards their job presents and what controls are in place, then how can they possibly be aware if those controls or the precautions that they are supposed to be taking are effective?
What’s Wrong with This Picture?
Do you remember – as a child – doing those “What’s wrong with this picture?” puzzles? That’s how I approach every site or facility I enter. Consider the original picture – your frame of reference – to be the OSHA regulations, your company procedures, and your general knowledge of what is safe or unsafe. This original picture is how everything should be, in a perfect world. Next, you have the altered picture – the one with things missing, backwards, changed, whatever. This is reality. This is the facility or jobsite you’ve walked into. Having the first page in hand makes it easy to spot the problems, but what if you didn’t have that first page? What if you hadn’t known exactly how it should be, or had only gotten a quick glance? Now it becomes harder to see the problems. Our jobs must include giving our supervisors and workforce that first page – that frame of reference from which to work.
Do You Have the Right Picture?
To achieve this, they must understand the OSHA regulations that apply to their work, but just citing them chapter and verse helps only a little bit. They need to know how those regulations apply to what they do and be able to use them to help identify hazards. This is what the goal of a good OSHA 10 or 30 hour Outreach course should be – hazard identification. If you’re sitting through a class with an instructor that is just trying to cram as much of the CFR text down your throat as he or she can do in 10 or 30 hours, then your instructor has not been trained well and you have wasted your money. A good course teaches you the regulations and how to recognize if things are not right.
Now Do a Gut Check!
Finally, tell your people to trust their gut. No, common sense isn’t always good, but if something feels wrong to someone, most likely it is wrong, even if they’re not sure why. Tell them to take the time to find out why they feel this way or to get somebody with more experience or knowledge who can review it for them. In order for this to be successful, your company must be receptive to workers doing this. If every time a worker approaches a supervisor with a concern they hear “Just get back to work,” they will quickly stop trying to raise issues. Yet, if your company encourages this, eventually those same employees will begin to know why they feel something is wrong and, most likely, begin to be able to fix problems themselves, where possible.
Experience, knowledge, and good training, with good coaching along the way will help your employees get to a point where spotting risks is child’s play. It won’t happen overnight, but every day that passes is another day they’ve gotten better at it and another day they’ve stayed alive.
Researchers at Stony Brook University (study published in Gait & Posture) confirmed what many think is common sense in a study of young people walking while texting or talking on mobile phones. The study showed that “cell phone use among pedestrians leads to increased cognitive distraction, reduced situation awareness and increases in unsafe behavior.” In short, it’s dangerous to walk and text!
As a baseline, the study participants were shown a target on the floor 25 feet away. Then with their vision obstructed, participants were instructed to walk at a comfortable pace to the target and stop. The researchers recorded time and accuracy observations of each of the 3 walks each participant completed.
A week later, one-third of the group completed the same task with obstructed vision focusing them on a mobile phone, one-third while talking on a mobile phone, and one-third while texting. Eric M. Lamberg, PT, Ed. D., co-author of the study, remarked, “We were surprised to find that talking and texting on a cell phone were so disruptive to one’s gait and memory recall of the target location.”
The study concluded texting or talking while walking phone slow task completion significantly with 33% and 16% respective reductions in speed. Additionally, texting participants veered off course demonstrating a 6% increase in lateral deviation and 13% increase in distance traveled. Another study by Jack Nasar, an Ohio State University professor, reports emergency room visits due to pedestrians injured while walking with cell phones have soared in recent years.
Mobile Devices on the Construction Site
Mobile device usage on a construction site places your workers in danger and reduces productivity. Construction sites are inherently fraught with more danger than streets and sidewalks. So the dangers pointed out in these studies are miniscule compared to what mobile device users face in a construction zone.
You may not have a policy against working blindfolded, but you probably do have a health and safety policy against operating machinery, driving, or even being present on a job site while intoxicated. Texting has the same effects as intoxication when it comes to multi-tasking. It is the safety professional’s duty to Increase safety and productivity by establishing and enforcing a written mobile device usage policy.
Developing a Mobile Device Usage Policy
Tips to develop your mobile device usage policy:
Prohibit mobile device use including talking, texting, emailing, browsing, gaming, or use of any other feature while engines are running on any kind of motor vehicle or machinery. Note that this includes company-provided and personal devices.
Require any mobile device usage to be done outside the work zone. This may require additional signage at work sites.
Provide tips for safe mobile device usage and etiquette anywhere. Examples include to pick your spot carefully when you stop walking to text.
Distributed a written policy to all employees
Require each employee to sign off on the policy.
Enforce the policy.
Continue the discussion: How do you balance mobile device safety with the productive use of mobile devices on the job site?
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vehicles, and the risk for injury increases with the expanded usage of such materials. A common and effective method for helping deter adverse events in construction includes the utilization of signage. 
hinery, even in the winter. In the summer, the temperatures of a facility can top 110 very easily. Heat stress is very dangerous, and needs to be taken seriously.
use downtime in production, expenses related to the injury, and may even result in legal costs. With this in mind, reducing workplace injuries is an essential part of keeping any facility running smoothly, and profitably.