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Safety Tips for Sweeping Professionals |
Why a Lot of Safety Programs Fail to Deliver – And How to Make Sure YOURS WORKS!After a lot of years in the business of building safety programs, John Meola thought it would be helpful to share some of the lessons he has learned through the years. These have often been painful, he says, not to mention costly.by John J. Meola, CSP, ARM, who is a practicing safety consultant for Invincia Insurance based in Richmond, VA
1) The part of your Safety Program that matters the most is the part that touches the employee. Ingrain the information into your employees via whatever shapes or forms work. All the paper in the world will not help if your employees are not engaged. This is why 'Safety Meetings' were invented. 2) Management must LEAD, not just direct. While a lot of the actual technical parts can be delegated, the senior honchos need to step up and at least be present in the meeting. No cell phones, no e-mails, no distractions. Your presence is sending the message about the importance of this topic. 3) Safety Meetings are valuable time investments. Prepare an agenda that talks about the actual job requirements. Engage your employees in the discussion. Talking about regulatory stuff in a jobsite meeting can be a turn-off. However, the sharing 'war stories' from more experienced members of your employee team – or those who have had close calls, etc. – are ways to get the messages to sink in. 4) When you need a classroom, find one. Safety TRAINING cannot be done in a meeting setting; this venue is too transient. For a training class to be useful, it also needs a trainer and not a reciter. Safety training also calls for a curriculum that matches your jobsite needs vs. what it "says in the book." Post-high school learning exercises are fairly straightforward. Confirm the learning with a simple written test and a jobsite observation of the applied skill. Issue credentials for the learning achievement. We all want our crews to be the smartest/safest guys in our industry; this does not happen by osmosis. Hire a part-time trainer if you need one. 5) You cannot 'inspect' your way to safety. Yes, your shop, yard and jobsites deserve to have safety inspections, but that's a small part of the overall picture. If you keep finding the same deficiencies, recognize that it's time for an overhaul of responsibilities. Keep in mind that OSHA will conduct free, no penalty inspections of your company. Yes, you'll have to fix the problems they uncover, but you won't get fined when they find them during a requested site visit. 6) PPE is cheap; buy the good stuff. Teach your crews to wear personal protection equipment; also, teach them how to use it, care for it and be conscientious with it. However, there are many levels of quality out there. Let's face it: if YOU had to wear that stuff all day, you'd be reaching for the Carhartt catalog. It's not a fashion show or a beauty contest, but human nature has certain traits. Do your research. Best is usually to find a local vendor and then engage them in your program. Buying your gear out of a catalog or from a web page may save you a few bucks but there's no ongoing support or follow-up. Chances are, a local vendor can provide more insight to your business than you'd think. You buy from them; they work for you. 7) Safety is a lot more than a huge list of "Don't Do This." The best programs will teach, illustrate and exemplify Best Industry Practices. Your orientation program should set the stage for learning. 8) Use a lot of pictures. Even the Feds have switched up on this one: The new GHS training now has illustrations of things that go boom – signage, warnings, decals, handouts, etc. Find the right picture someplace in the clip art gallery or on the Internet and hijack it into your material. 9) Latino bi-lingual safety materials are out there on the Internet, so go get 'em. In fact, this is a good indicator of which source materials are credible and worth your time. If the source took the time and effort to have the information translated, then it's a good bet that it's worth reading. Texas, Florida, British Columbia and a few others are way ahead on bi-lingual. For starters, here's a copy of Virginia's VOSH Backing Up safely requirement: www.doli.virginia.gov/vosh_enforcement/reverse_signal.html
And, here's a bonus tip to accompany the above link: Backing accidents in work zones and construction sites are way high up on the list of stuff you need to plan and train about in order to avoid. 10) When you think you're 'done' with your safety program, it's time to re-read this article. The best programs have active leadership from senior management and are continually evolving, adapting and moving forward. Complacency in the safety business is a highly toxic substance, to which I'm sure most of you would readily attest. We all want our workers back, safe and sound!
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I'll try to be brief; however, the truth is there are a lot of moving parts to a well-designed program and the components all need to mesh. Otherwise, you'll find yourself grinding the gears.
John J. Meola, CSP, ARM, is a practicing safety consultant with Invincia Insurance in Richmond, VA. He uses both construction industry and risk management experience to teach and train. His email address