I welcome questions and comments on work place safety
<p>I have been a safety practitioner in one position or
another for over 35 years.<span>
</span>I have qualified as a Construction Safety Specialist
and a Canadian Registered Safety
Professional.<span> </span>I am currently
studying towards a NEBOSH International Safety Management
qualification. </p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:center;"
align="center">I have been a consultant to failing projects and
brought them into compliance with regulations as well as help them
be completed on time and under
budget.<span> </span>I have been
the lead HSE Manager on projects of various sizes and complexities
from les than 50 million to over 5 billion US dollars in value. I
have been a corporate HSE Manager in Canada for a medium sized
engineering and construction company.<span>
</span>I have worked internationally as a consultant to
Petro-China and BOTAS in Turkey .<span>
</span>I have provided specialist HSE Management services in
Yemen , Iran , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , Italy , Kazakhstan and Oman ,
where I am completing an assignment to bring a one and a half
billion dollar project into alignment with ISO 14000 and OHSAS
18000.<br>THE EFFECTS OF THE ECONOMY ON WORKPLACE
SAFETY</p> <br> <p>This sudden economic crisis
affecting most of the industrialized world will have many effects
on workplace safety, mostly negative.</p> <br>
<p>I hate to bring more doom and gloom to an over analyzed
situation but, let’s face it, we should be prepared to deal
with the impacts of how the economy is affecting our
workplaces.</p> <br> <p>Over the past number of
years, the strong economy has given us such a strong a sense of
security that there will always be well paid work with lots of soft
benefits that we assumed we would always have a safe place to
work.<span> </span>This is and will continue
to change as the economy bottoms out and companies find there
way.</p> <br> <p>When companies have been strong
financially they have been able to invest in new machinery, new
parts, shorter work days, Friday casual days, lengthy safety
meetings that extend to being general chat sessions, etc.</p>
<br> <p>A tighter economy means that companies have to
restructure their culture to a leaner, meaner and more competitive
culture.<span> </span>Those companies that
can succeed at extending the life of their machinery, re-tooling
parts, while maintaining or increasing production rates, quality
specifications and low accident rates will survive, if not thrive,
in this new economic environment.<span>
</span>Companies can no longer walk into their bank and get a
demand loan on a promise and a signature.<span>
</span>Companies may not be able to afford a higher rent
location and have to move to smaller premises. </p>
<br> <p><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">With the world economic community restructuring how to
do business, if business wants to continue, it has to anticipate
what the banks will do in response to ever changing demands on a
foundering financial system and create strategies to work with
their bank if they are to continue doing business at
all.<span> </span></span></p>
<br> <p>As a safety professional you have to do your
own look ahead to see what the company is likely to do and create
strategies in advance for these potential events.</p>
<br> <p>What I can see happening to workplace safety in
this challenging time has many impacts to work and how people do
their work.</p> <ol type="1"> <li>Accidents will
not get reported to keep insurance premiums down. <li>Workers
will not report safety infractions minor injuries or near misses
because they don’t want to be seen as a trouble maker and
risk their job. <li>Companies will use equipment or critical
parts long past their change out date to save money, increasing the
chance of critical breakdowns or catastrophes in the workplace.
<li>The stress level of employees will go up, increasing
associated health risks. <ol type="a"> <li>Workers will
not want to take time off work for illness because they are afraid
that management will realize they are expendable. </li>
</ol> <li>Companies will cut down on break times in
order to increase production.<span>
</span>Thereby increasing work loads. <li>Workers will
not have their minds on work tasks because they are concerned about
home issues. </li> </ol> <br> <p>As a life
long Safety Manager, I (and my counterparts the world over) have
worked towards increasing company awareness of the negative impacts
a lack of safety has on the company; financial, moral, reputation,
quality, etc.<span> </span>These negative
impacts are well documented and have been explained in numerous
books, articles and training sessions and do not have to be
explained here.</p> <br> <p>As a safety
professional, what can we do to help our company maintain its
present positive safe work system, environment and
culture?</p> <br> <p>To begin with we should
re-evaluate cost producing items like;</p> <p><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>a.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Safety equipment
and materials, </span></p>
<p><span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">i.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Can a same quality
piece of equipment be obtained at lower
cost?</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">ii.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Are our alliances
and long time relationships interfering with our ability to see
cost saving opportunities?</span></p> <p><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>b.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Training frequency,
duration and attendance</span></p>
<p><span><span style="FONT:7pt 'TimesNew
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">i.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Does all the
training you provide (from new hire inductions to annual
professional developement conferences) need to be done as often,
last as long or participated in by all those who currently
participate?</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">ii.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Is it even
necessary to continue with any training programs you
present?</span></p> <p><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>c.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Meeting
frequency</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">i.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Can a meeting,
currently held weekly, be changed to bi-weekly or monthly or
quarterly?</span></p> <p><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>d.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Length of
meetings</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">i.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Time is lost when
people are late for meetings or when meetings extend for
non-business related purposes.</span></p>
<p><span><span style="FONT:7pt 'TimesNew
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">ii.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Can you initiate a
meeting quality system that assures the meetings will begin on time
and be restricted to only the issues at
hand?</span></p> <p><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>e.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Office
space</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">i.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Can you or your
staff double up on offices?</span></p>
<p><span><span style="FONT:7pt 'TimesNew
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">ii.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Do you or your
staff even need an office? </span></p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>1.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">What size is
adequate for your needs? </span></p> <p><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>2.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Will a cubicle
do?</span></p> <p><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>f.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span
dir="ltr">Staffing</span></p>
<p><span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">i.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">What dollar value
does each of your staff bring to the company?
</span></p> <p><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times
New Roman;"><span>g.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Use of
consultants</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">i.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr"><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;">Can the use of consultants
such as outside auditors be reduced by using in-house
resources/expertise?<span>
</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span style="FONT:7pt 'TimesNew
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">ii.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Are time restraints
on re-certification audits or other re-certification requirements
extendable?</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'TimesNew
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">iii.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Are there
specialist resources available that would give us the knowledge and
ability to avoid calling in a consultant?</span></p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;"><span>h.</span><span style="FONT:7pt
'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Attendance at
seminars, professional development
conferences</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">i.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">Who goes? How
often? Why?</span></p> <p><span><span
style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">ii.</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New
Roman';">
</span></span><span dir="ltr">What is the dollar
value to the company of attending?</span></p>
<br> <p><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New
Roman;">The above strategies are by no means meant to be a
complete list.<span> </span>I am simply
asking some of the questions that I would put to a subordinate if
his job was under review or if I was intending to restructure a
department.<span> </span>This is part of what
I do whenever I have been called in to assess a company or to take
over a project that has had some
difficulties.<span>
</span></span></p> <br> <p>The single
activity I see as being most effective in preserving safety at your
workplace during this financially stressed time can be summed up by
re-visiting the cost benefit analysis of all aspects of your
department to prove you and your departments’ value as your
company struggles to adjust by taking new approaches to cost
reduction.</p> <br> <p><span
style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;">For the next months or
years, companies will be in a money saving, loss prevention mind
set.<span> </span>We, as safety
practitioners, can take advantage of this opportunity to show the
true value of a well thought out and managed loss prevention
system.<span> </span></span></p>
<br> <p>I have had many successes in my career and all
of them were based on the fact that I was always able to monetarily
justify any new hire, equipment purchase, or system
change.<span> </span>Most of you
know that safety in the workplace is business and business needs
profit to survive.<span> </span>If
your department does not show managers its true value by providing
a detailed analysis/description of actual monetary savings, you are
not doing your job completely.</p> <br> <p>So,
dig out your calculator, put on your accounting visor and start
calculating.<span> </span>In this time of
upheaval, as in any previous time, opportunity
abounds.<span> </span>This is your chance to
really show the value of safety in the workplace; human value,
monetary value and social value.</p>
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