February 2015 newsletter

• Don’t just rely on OSHA’s advice to build a safety program
• Help front-line supervisors manage their safety responsibilities in the workplace

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Don’t just rely on OSHA’s advice to build a safety program

By Jim Stanley
President, FDRsafety

Companies that want to provide the safest workplaces for their employees shouldn’t be solely following OSHA’s advice for how to create a safety program.

OSHA recommends what amounts to a cookie-cutter approach to safety programs – generic enough to fit a wide variety of workplaces (many private sector entities recommend the same approach). The truth is that workplaces are not the same – the potential hazards in a steel mill differ significantly from those in a warehouse or a fast food restaurant.

To be effective, safety programs must identify potential hazards actually present in a workplace and then prescribe engineering controls, administrative controls and/or personal protective equipment and other processes that address those potential hazards.

Here are some tips for creating that kind of world-class safety program:

• Companies should start the process by identifying the areas of greatest risk in their workplaces. (Task-based risk assessments are a great tool for this process.)
• The critical building blocks of a safety program are Job Safety Analyses (JSAs). A JSA starts by describing a task step by step, along with any potential hazards present at each step. Then for each potential hazard, the JSA outlines the appropriate PPE and other controls needed to address the hazard. Companies may also wish to use the JSA process to assign a rating to the risk involved and to identify the employee/manager responsible for insuring that the proper steps are taken to address the risk.
• JSAs should be compiled with substantial input from the workers doing the job and front-line supervisors. Too often JSAs are written, without appropriate input, by managers in offices far from where the work is actually being performed.
• JSA’s should be reviewed annually by the appropriate manager responsible for the job. Whoever does the review must go back to the workers and front-line supervisors to ask if anything has changed that would impact the JSA.

The sum total of JSAs for critical jobs becomes the core of the safety program and if well-done, that program will inspire more confidence than a plan pulled from an off-the-shelf template.

Jim Stanley is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. Contact him at jstanley@fdrsafety.com or 513-517-5644.

Help front-line supervisors manage their safety responsibilities in the workplace

Effective front-line supervisors can mean all the difference for a company’s safety program and making sure they are properly trained to be strong safety leaders is a key to that effectiveness.

FDRsafety offers an excellent three-day program that assists supervisors in evaluating worker safety habits and educating employees on proper safety procedures. The course includes a video introduction to safety, and instruction on conducting observations, safety meetings and hazard communications.

The program also includes instructor-led discussions on specific safety procedures and safety management, and customized topics, such as: safety meetings, safety committees, workers compensation, toolbox talks, using the OSHA standards effectively and industry-specific issues.

Contact us for more information.