safety vs cost

Safety vs Cost

safety vs cost

With competition increasing, companies must be concerned about cutting costs and trimming expenses. These costs must be reduced not only to save money, but also to compete with other organizations who offer similar services.

Although the importance of safety is obvious, it is often very difficult to balance the reality of costs with the necessity for safety programs. But does safety actually cost money? In the short run implementing safety will likely have some costs. After all, production time must be taken for training, and safe equipment must be purchased.

In the long run however safety does not cost a penny. In fact effective safety programs have been known to actually save companies 4 dollars for every dollar spent. Not only will you reduce compensation and insurance costs, but you will keep trained workers, which makes you more efficient and profitable. In addition your customers will continue to use your services ultimately keeping you, your employees, and your subcontractors employed!

Continue Reading

fleet safety

Fleet Safety: What You Need To Know

Did you know?

fleet safety

  • Between 20-30% of fleet vehicles crash each year
  • Fleet crash costs are equal to 13-15% of fleet spending
  • Drivers of company vehicles have 50% more crashes than private drivers
  • Road crashes is the most common form of work-related death

Companies with active road safety programs have achieved 30-65% reductions in work-related traffic accidents and associated costs.

If you are just beginning to address occupational driving risk consider the following options:

Offer a Defensive Driving Seminar: Our Defensive Driving Seminar combines driver safety education with interactive group problem solving. We have developed a unique approach, combining driver safety education with risk resolution, based on national and local research pointing to the things that have achieved the best results in reducing driver risk. Put simply we provide the latest and most effective program to reduce the risks associated with work-related driving.

More importantly our Defensive Driving Seminar targets specific driver behaviors to improve driving habits and prevent accidents.

We offer this session to Safety Partners for as low as $300 per session.

Use a “How am I Driving” Bumper Sticker reporting system: How many times have you been cut off and wished the other vehicles had a bumper sticker? By using a “How am I Driving” campaign you will begin to experience more cautious drivers and ultimately fewer collisions.

Our How am I Driving? System includes a toll free call center where the public can easily report their observations. After words an observation report will be emailed to you so corrective action can be taken. We offer this monitoring service for Safety Partners with small to medium fleets for as low as $150/ year!

Our fleet safety solutions are the most cost effective and professional solutions available! For more information on our new Fleet Safety Initiative call Randy Free at 407-353-8165 or visit https://safetylinks.net/index.php/fleet-safety

 

Continue Reading

psychological health

Psychological health, safety cited as risks

Below is a great article on psychological health and safety. Because most would disregard psychological health issues in the workplace or classify as unimportant, often they are left untreated. A recent poll of employees from all over the world has shown comparisons of different countries and their levels of work-related mental-health issues. Results have organizations taking more notice and raised efforts to improve the overall well-being of their employees…

Psychological health, safety cited as risks

REUTERS MARCH 17, 2012psychological health

Companies around the globe have work to do to improve worker satisfaction because three in 10 employees say their workplace is not psychologically safe and healthy, according to a new poll.

Whether it is due to stress, inter-personal conflict, frustration, lack of feedback or promotion, 27 per cent of workers in 24 countries said they are not happy with the psychological aspects of their work environment, the survey by research company Ipsos for Reuters showed.

"Employers need to pay attention to their employees' mental health, not just their physical health," said Alexandra Evershed, senior vice-president, Ipsos Public Affairs. "Three in 10 is still a fairly large proportion and that goes up to 44 per cent and 43 per cent in Argentina and Mexico and 42 per cent in Hungary,"

Nearly half, 47 per cent, of the total of 14,618 workers polled agreed that their workplace was 'a psychologically safe and healthy environment to work in' and 26 per cent hovered on the fence and weren't sure.

Although many North Americans have fewer holidays than Europeans and may work longer hours and enjoy fewer social services, Americans and Canadians had the highest marks for positively assessing the mental health of their workplace, followed by workers in India, Australia, Britain and South Africa. Evershed suggested that the improving economies in some countries could have played a part in the positive assessment among employees.

"It's better than it was," she said in an interview. "India, China, Brazil, South Africa, these are countries where the economic picture has been brightening."

To view the article, go to http://www.vancouversun.com/jobs/Psychological+health+safety+cited+risks/6318434/story.html

 

Continue Reading

IOA Risk Services

Determining if an incident is work-related?

Do you know what specific data is needed when reporting an incident at work? By OSHA, each employer is required to keep records of fatalities, injuries, and illnesses. This means anything from an illness to fatality that is work-related meets one or more of the general recording criteria noted in Section 1904.7. But what are the exceptions? There are instances in which an illness/injury doesn’t have to be recorded as work-related:

  • Employee was present in the workplace as member of the public
  • Employee was engaged in a voluntary fitness program at work
  • The common flu, cold, etc.
  • Mental illness—without the opinion of trained healthcare professional—is not automatically deemed work-related
  • Illnesses resulting from the employee’s food brought in from an outside source
  • Illness or injury resulting from personal tasks completed during working hours
  • Illness or injury resulting from self-grooming, self-medication or self-inflicted injuries (i.e., suicide attempts)

So as a rule of thumb, there must be a causal connection between the employment and the illness or injury before the case is recordable.  It’s also very important to know that if you determine whether an injury/illness is work-related wrong, OSHA has the right to cite you, since they delegate the decision-making process of something to the employer. Also important is that the “work event or exposure need only be one of the discernible causes; it need not be the sole or predominant cause”. Nevertheless, you must consider an injury or illness to meet the general recording criteria if it results in any of the following:

  • Death
  • Days away from work
  • Restricted work or transfer to another job
  • Medical treatment beyond first aid
  • Loss of consciousness

To view the original article, go to http://safety.blr.com/workplace-safety-news/safety-administration/safety-recordkeeping/zn-Safety-Records-When-Is-An-Incident-Considered-W/

To learn more about OSHA Recordkeeping training, visit https://safetylinks.net/index.php/training/safety-management-courses/osha-record-keeping

Continue Reading

employee fatigue

Is fatigue interfering with you job performance?

According to a recent study by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine’s Presidential Task Force, employee fatigue in the workplace should be accounted as a major safety concern and prevented and treated properly. An FRMS or Fatigue Risk Management System can be followed to prevent injury or illnesses, increase work productivity, and maintaining a healthy work environment for all employees.

employee fatigue

A number of results from employee fatigue can occur including slowed reaction time, reduced vigilance, reduced decision-making ability, poor judgment, distraction during complex tasks and loss of awareness.

The key components of an FRMS in an organization should include:

  • A fatigue management policy
  • Fatigue risk management including collecting information on fatigue as hazard, analyzing its risk, and instigating controls to mitigate that risk
  • Fatigue reporting system for employees
  • Fatigue incident investigation
  • Fatigue management training and education for employees, management and even families
  • Sleep disorder management
  • A process or the internal and external auditing of the FRMS that delivers corrective actions through a continuous improvement process

According to the same research, one of the biggest reasons for employee fatigue is an increased amount of time at work and tight staffing levels. Instances such as changes in increased workloads, unexpected overtime, or low staffing levels can largely contribute to the problem.

A staffing level can determine:

  • Average amount of overtime per employee;
  • Average time off between shifts;
  • Average time off between consecutive blocks of shifts;
  • Average length of shifts;
  • Average work hours per week;
  • Average number of consecutive days worked;
  • Discrepancy between the published shift schedule and the actual shift schedule worked.
“As a result, the amount of overtime worked by employees is increased, and the additional hours and days worked make the published shift schedule a work of fiction,” claim the members of the task force.

To read the original article, visit http://ehstoday.com/health/wellness/manage-fatigue-risk-workplace-0308/

Continue Reading

Managing Chemicals Safely In Your Workplace Presentation

 

The following presentation was created to educate you on how to properly manage chemicals in the workplace. If you're coming to our seminar this Friday, take a look at one of the topics to be discussed in advance. Get familiar with the proper PEL's, different toxic chemicals that could potentially be in your workplace, newly OSHA-aligned GHS physical hazards, and much more.

To view the presentation, click here:

https://safetylinks.net/media/sl_flashfiles/ManagingChemicalsMarch2012.swf

Continue Reading