Many organizations are encouraging employees to lose weight and stop smoking in hopes of scoring a win-win-win: the workers get healthier, the organization experiences fewer insurance claims, and less work time is lost to sickness. But FDRsafety CEO Fred Rine writes that fewer organizations are taking advantage of similar savings they could obtain if they took the same approach to employee safety off the job. Read the full article.
FDRsafety was featured in an article about how businesses are using social media, such as blogs, to provide valuable information to their target audiences. Read the article.
For the past year, the focus in occupational safety has been on enforcement, with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proclamation that there is a “new sheriff” in town. But companies should not forget that a good safety program can save them money, writes FDRsafety President Jim Stanley. Read the full article.
This tool will help general industry employers meet OSHA requirements to assess workplaces for hazards that require employees to use personal protective equipment, such as special glasses, gloves, footwear, clothing, etc. The tool also allows employers to make the required certification to OSHA that you have conducted the survey. Access the tool.
OSHA has recently begun issuing many more “egregious” citations, in which the agency proposes a separate penalty for each instance of noncompliance with OSHA recordkeeping regulations, safety and health standards, and with the general duty clause. These can add up to “mega-penalties.” But it may be difficult for OSHA to sustain its burden of proof should these citations be appealed. Read full article.
Employers using contractors are no longer able to require them to retain exclusive responsibility for the safety and health of their employees. FDRsafety President Jim Stanley offers employers tips on creating a specific contractor safety program to address the new environment. Read the full article.
At their most basic level, sustainability and safety are really about the same thing: conserving resources. In the case of sustainability, those resources are typically thought of as environmental. In the case of safety, the resources are human. Despite this common ground, discussions of sustainability are only beginning to give attention to safety, writes FDRsafety Senior Advisor Mike Taubitz in OH&S magazine. Read the full article.
OSHA has ordered its inspectors to issue citations to employers who do not insure that workers are using flame-resistant clothing where there is a potential of flash fires – an enforcement initiative particularly relevant to the oil and gas industry, writesJason LeMasters, Vice President of FDRsafety. Read the full article.
FDRsafety Senior Advisor Mike Taubitz writes that safety professionals should be advocates for blending safety with efforts to make manufacturing processes leaner and to increase sustainability. Integrating lean into business and office processes can be the engine for breaking down the three silos, Taubitz writes in Professional Safety, the magazine of the American Society of Safety Engineers. Read the full article.
OSHA has been stepping up enforcement on a variety of fronts, naturally raising a question for company executives: What do we need to do to be ready? In this article, FDRsafety President Jim Stanley, a former No. 2 official at OSHA, explains five key steps to make sure your company is on good footing. Read the full article.