Examples of Good Employee Behavior

What type of failures in safety culture can be identified from oil and gas catastrophes of the last 40 years? Why are positive safety cultures not always created in organisations? How can you begin building a stronger safety culture? GL Noble Denton’s Applied Psychology & Human Factors Group considers these crucial questions.

Over the last 40 years there have been a number of high profile disasters in the oil and gas industry.  Names such as Flixborough, San Juanico, Piper Alpha, Texas City, and more recently Deepwater Horizon, have left an indelible mark on our conscience, especially when we remember the loss to human life, the environment and to the reputation of companies and individuals.  Tragically, these five incidents alone account for over 700 fatalities.

Failings related to Safety Culture.

The factors contributing to each disaster are varied and far reaching; with each issue coming into play at one critical point in time.  However, weaknesses (human and technical) festering in the organisation, reflecting the underlying safety culture, are often also contributory factors.  A high level review of accident reports connected to the disasters highlighted above, indicates weaknesses in safety culture related to:

• Poor management commitment to safety
• Prioritising cost-cutting and production above safety
• Complacency about risks
• Staffing issues and excessive workload
• Inappropriate rewards and incentives for reporting incidents
• Inadequate training for emergencies
• Leaders inconsistently modelling safety behaviours
• Absence of learning from past incidents
• Fear of speaking up by staff
• Poor competency of managers in risk/hazard management
• Safety critical tasks not performed
• Organisational change poorly managed
• Inadequate communication and handover

Understanding Safety Culture

Why has the oil and gas industry been punctuated with major accidents since the 1970’s?  Why do organisations continue to record high levels of injuries?  Why does the HSE continue to issue large numbers of prohibition and enforcement notices?  Ultimately, why is it that many companies have failed to build strong safety cultures? 

One reason is that managers often fail to properly understand safety culture, let alone how to improve upon it.  Some consider it too abstract a concept, tending to concentrate on tangible and operational day-to-day health and safety management.  Others may have advanced their safety approach by comprehensively addressing operational functions, as well as more strategic level issues, but still have an ill-defined understanding of what knits these aspects together: a good safety culture.  This shortcoming will ultimately reduce their overall effectiveness in the battle to improve safety.

In illuminating the concept of safety culture, the first steps are to define and then measure it.  Definitions may differ, but most would agree that safety culture is the collective views of the workforce in relation to their values, attitudes and behaviours towards safety.  In terms of measurement, it is necessary to go beyond piecemeal anecdotal views, or only rely on the views of senior management.  According to the definition, measurement requires canvassing the views of those who live and shape your organisation’s culture – your people.  

Unsurprisingly, a great deal of research has been conducted into the concept of safety culture.  But research in itself is not sufficient to effectively tackle its measurement and development.  Our team of psychologists have combined their academic backgrounds with hands-on experience of running safety culture surveys and used this to devise their own practical model for measuring safety culture.  Our Safety Culture PROFILER Model is based on 10 key factors that represent safety culture (see Figure 1), which can all be directly measured by collecting workforce views.  This is carried out by using our specially developed questionnaire, and supplemented by facilitated focus groups. 

Figure 1: GL Noble Denton’s Safety Culture PROFILER Model

Data from the questionnaires and focus groups becomes the evidence base allowing a clear vision of how well an organisation performs on each of the 10 factors.  People’s attitudes towards safety are clearly quantified by a percentage score.  Areas that are weaker can then inform decisions on where attention needs to be focussed to drive forward improvements in safety and ultimately safety culture.  Repeat surveying of the workforce can then show where progress has been made.  In effect, we help to arm companies with the intelligence needed to make safety investment decisions and enhance their safety culture.

Concluding thoughts

It is clear from our work with other high risk industries, that it is not wise to place complete faith in a safety management system without having a good understanding of how an organisation’s culture affects the attitudes and behaviours of employees tasked with managing safety.  Of course, the caveat is that even with a strong safety culture a serious accident can still happen, but what is important to note, is that the chances of it happening are significantly reduced when the culture reflects a true commitment to safe working.  Few can argue that there is a greater goal than protecting the lives of those we work with. 

Source: http://www.gl-nobledenton.com/en/consulting/1492.php

Tackling the safety culture challenge

What type of failures in safety culture can be identified from oil and gas catastrophes of the last 40 years? Why are positive safety cultures not always created in organisations? How can you begin building a stronger safety culture? GL Noble Denton’s Applied Psychology & Human Factors Group considers these crucial questions.

Over the last 40 years there have been a number of high profile disasters in the oil and gas industry.  Names such as Flixborough, San Juanico, Piper Alpha, Texas City, and more recently Deepwater Horizon, have left an indelible mark on our conscience, especially when we remember the loss to human life, the environment and to the reputation of companies and individuals.  Tragically, these five incidents alone account for over 700 fatalities.

Failings related to Safety Culture.

The factors contributing to each disaster are varied and far reaching; with each issue coming into play at one critical point in time.  However, weaknesses (human and technical) festering in the organisation, reflecting the underlying safety culture, are often also contributory factors.  A high level review of accident reports connected to the disasters highlighted above, indicates weaknesses in safety culture related to:

• Poor management commitment to safety
• Prioritising cost-cutting and production above safety
• Complacency about risks
• Staffing issues and excessive workload
• Inappropriate rewards and incentives for reporting incidents
• Inadequate training for emergencies
• Leaders inconsistently modelling safety behaviours
• Absence of learning from past incidents
• Fear of speaking up by staff
• Poor competency of managers in risk/hazard management
• Safety critical tasks not performed
• Organisational change poorly managed
• Inadequate communication and handover

Understanding Safety Culture

Why has the oil and gas industry been punctuated with major accidents since the 1970’s?  Why do organisations continue to record high levels of injuries?  Why does the HSE continue to issue large numbers of prohibition and enforcement notices?  Ultimately, why is it that many companies have failed to build strong safety cultures? 

One reason is that managers often fail to properly understand safety culture, let alone how to improve upon it.  Some consider it too abstract a concept, tending to concentrate on tangible and operational day-to-day health and safety management.  Others may have advanced their safety approach by comprehensively addressing operational functions, as well as more strategic level issues, but still have an ill-defined understanding of what knits these aspects together: a good safety culture.  This shortcoming will ultimately reduce their overall effectiveness in the battle to improve safety.

In illuminating the concept of safety culture, the first steps are to define and then measure it.  Definitions may differ, but most would agree that safety culture is the collective views of the workforce in relation to their values, attitudes and behaviours towards safety.  In terms of measurement, it is necessary to go beyond piecemeal anecdotal views, or only rely on the views of senior management.  According to the definition, measurement requires canvassing the views of those who live and shape your organisation’s culture – your people.  

Unsurprisingly, a great deal of research has been conducted into the concept of safety culture.  But research in itself is not sufficient to effectively tackle its measurement and development.  Our team of psychologists have combined their academic backgrounds with hands-on experience of running safety culture surveys and used this to devise their own practical model for measuring safety culture.  Our Safety Culture PROFILER Model is based on 10 key factors that represent safety culture (see Figure 1), which can all be directly measured by collecting workforce views.  This is carried out by using our specially developed questionnaire, and supplemented by facilitated focus groups. 

Figure 1: GL Noble Denton’s Safety Culture PROFILER Model

Data from the questionnaires and focus groups becomes the evidence base allowing a clear vision of how well an organisation performs on each of the 10 factors.  People’s attitudes towards safety are clearly quantified by a percentage score.  Areas that are weaker can then inform decisions on where attention needs to be focussed to drive forward improvements in safety and ultimately safety culture.  Repeat surveying of the workforce can then show where progress has been made.  In effect, we help to arm companies with the intelligence needed to make safety investment decisions and enhance their safety culture.

Concluding thoughts

It is clear from our work with other high risk industries, that it is not wise to place complete faith in a safety management system without having a good understanding of how an organisation’s culture affects the attitudes and behaviours of employees tasked with managing safety.  Of course, the caveat is that even with a strong safety culture a serious accident can still happen, but what is important to note, is that the chances of it happening are significantly reduced when the culture reflects a true commitment to safe working.  Few can argue that there is a greater goal than protecting the lives of those we work with. 

Source: http://www.gl-nobledenton.com/en/consulting/1492.php

Enforcing a Security Policy

It's easy enough to write a security policy, but the devil's in the details when you start talking about enforcement. By Anonymous November 01, 2003 — CSO — Don't know about where you work, but in most places policy is a four-letter word. Management, especially, tends to bristle at the notion. "That's not the way we do things around here," they'll say. Or, "We don't need a policy. We've got bright people who will automatically want to do the right thing." Or how about, "I hired you to influence and to lead. If you have to rely on a piece of paper to get things done, maybe I've hired the wrong guy." Nevertheless, I'm someone who's bullish on security policy for, I think, all the right reasons. Because, for one, it frames our work as CSOs. And because it also provides a hook to the resources we CSOs require. I've worked long and hard over the years to develop a solid security policy at my organization, and I've had some luck getting senior management buy-in. I even gave a presentation on security policy at a security conference a year or so ago. As I prepared my pitch, I couldn't help but wonder what the sponsors were hoping for. I mean, it was about boring, bureaucratic B.S. (and that's not a college degree, by the way). Well, as it turned out, it topped the hit parade in the participant evaluations, and I still get requests for copies of the presentation today. I'm quite sure that it wasn't my phenomenal charisma that made such an impression, so I've circled back more than a few times to learn why people care about policy. One CSO in particular was interested in learning how I had approached the enforcement part of policy. And as I started to dig in to what I thought was familiar land, I hit a rock. While it's easy to spout off about the way things ought to work, it's another thing altogether to try to tell someone how to enforce the rules. Policy policing, it turns out, is not as easy as it sounds. Many chief information officers and others at the top pay only lip service to supporting infosec policies. Nimdaand a few other wake-up callshas changed that for some because multiple-attack vectors whacked enough critical business processes to bring new meaning to the concept of "intense displeasure" to business managers. "Hmmm," says the CEO, finally. "If we have a policy on this, maybe we need to be more forceful in enforcing it." Eureka. History LessonMy dictionary defines policy as "a plan or course of action as of a government, political party or business designed to influence and determine decisions, actions and other matters." Now, believe me, I'm all about influence. But determining decisions and actions? That's another matter. In fact, it's one hell of a stretch.

Think about the evolution of corporate security policy. Several decades ago, it was pretty straightforward, although it wasn't very visible from a business process perspective. We had the basic framework aimed primarily at managing a baseline security program such as physical access, notification protocols, safety and perhaps some directives that emerged from an incident or event of note.

And then Al Gore invented the Internet. Do you suppose he had imagined the potential for doing business on such a highway? Did any of us imagine how insecure it would be? How about we put this incredible facility on our desktops? Who would've thunk some idiot would send uninvited trash to colleagues? It's clear that we most certainly need some business rules and other safeguards around this channel.

The past dozen or so years have been manna from heaven for policy partisans everywhere, what with the (continuing) influence of the lawyers and insurance carriers and employment laws. There was an explosive integration of technology in core business processes and the resulting risks to intellectual property and business continuity. Add to that the Corporate Sentencing Guidelines, a plethora of industry-specific regulations, privacy, the Patriot Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, anthrax, Sars, terrorism threats....

We've got to have an envelope of policies and procedures with all that potential for disaster, don't we? You bet.Details, DetailsThere are four parts to governance from my perspective:

• Identifying and communicating riskWhat's the problem?
• Creating an accepted policy and guidance infrastructureWhat do we expect accountable parties to do?
• Developing processes to monitor conformance with policyHow do we know we are successful?
• Preparing, when the controls fail, response capabilitiesIf it hits the fan, who will do what to mitigate it?

Assessing compliance is not the problem. Not surprising, policy compliance in the information security realm is automated. A number of products can be deployed to monitor and report on rule infractions. Both logical and physical access and intrusion detection are highly sophisticated and online. A variety of business process anomalies are identified with smart-transaction monitoring. Internal and external audits will assess and confirm compliance, and our investigations will reveal where policies were not followed. In short, a huge portion of the policy landscape isor can betested in real-time for conformance. Unfortunately, we aren't so easily able to do that with infractions of business and professional conduct policy, which is a huge element in your company's reputational risk.

So here we are with a comprehensive set of governance and asset protection policies and options for measuring compliance. But what about enforcement and sanctions? The devil, of course, is in the details

. Policies set expectations and assign accountability. They establish a legal framework, spelling out what is and isn't permitted. They define how management will govern. They provide direction to our security strategy and architecture. But when do you stop selling and start punishing? And who authorizes you to do so? Which brings us to the first of five lessons for my CSO friends. Lesson One. The enforcement of policy should be directly connected to the consequences of inaction. In other words, you need to create consequences for not actively following the company's policy. You need to punish the yahoos who don't follow the rules. Lesson Two. Unattended risk is unacceptable. The concept of corporate governance is morphing. Events have moved insurers, shareholders, regulators, legislators and directors to a much lower tolerance for risk-takingboth from a personal and corporate perspective. Consequences are shifting to officers, directors and audit committee members who are now held accountable when bad things happen. Lesson Three. An uncommunicated policy does not exist. The more that policies are clearly tied to well-communicated, higher likelihood risks, the more our constituents will understand and comply. Are you surprised that a policy on testing business continuity plans or building evacuations might have sold shortly after 9/11 to the same people who put up a fight when we called an annual drill a few months prior? Lesson Four. The masses know when policies are hollow or inequitably enforced. It's the idea of enforcement that causes the kinds of reactions we often get from our customers. With pressure from insurers, regulators and boards, frequency of cyberattacks and a raised bar on risk management, I think we're beyond having to justify an inventory of security policies. The rub is around what you intend to do about noncompliance. That is where your success at selling the policy to top management and then communicating expectations to employees is key to effectiveness. Lesson Five. Do your homework and frame the business case for a policy. Isn't it amazing that when we catch an hourly employee doing something wrong we have to hold management back from sending him to the gallows? But what happens when it's one of their own? "Do you realize how valuable this guy is?" they'll ask incredulously. I've had more than my share of time in the hot seat on issues such as that, and my best ally has always been our employment law counsel. (I've not had the same luck with HR types.) The lawyers know that uneven application of sanctions is an invitation to a lawsuit. General counsel should be in the loop on all policies that carry the potential for employee sanctions. You should be playing out "what if" scenarios and driving mutual stakes in the ground on how infractions will be pursuedregardless of rank. If you think there is an elitist culture working overtime at your company, you'd also do well to think hard on how you approach the investigation of white-collar wrongdoing. Findings need to be bulletproof. Meaningful sanctions are at work when someone at the accountable management level (on his watch) gets his bonus croaked or gets fired. I heard a story about one executive who was so careless with his laptop that, two weeks after his first one was stolen, his replacement was also taken. Both had highly proprietary data on them. He was sacked. You better believe that message was not lost on the survivors. So let it be written. So let it be done.

Effective Safety & Health Committee: How to Get the Most Out of Your Safety and Health Committee Meetings

What is a safety and health committee and what is its purpose?

The committee should be a panel of individual employees from all aspects and levels of the agency that are interested in ensuring a safe and healthy workplace. The membership’s main purpose and goal is to assist management in promoting safety throughout the agency while striving to reduce accidents through hazard identification, elimination, and control as well as maintaining employee safety knowledge and awareness.

Frequently, committees do not focus their attention on risks that are causing or are likely to cause work-related injuries and illnesses, instead spending too much time discussing minor problems and regulatory programs, such as what is required by Occupational Safety and Health Administration/Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA/VOSH) standards. The typical result of this inaction is that the source of most injuries - hazards and unsafe work practices - goes unresolved.

Why are safety and health committee meetings so important?

The focal point of all safety and health committees is the periodic committee meeting. The members of an effective safety and health committee should exercise their responsibilities at all times. However, it is the committee meeting where the members are able to combine their individual efforts with the group, resulting in achievement of the committee’s primary goal of providing a safe, healthy, and productive workplace.

When assessing the dynamics of a safety committee, there are three main questions to ask:

1. Are the right people serving on the committee?
2. Do the members look forward to the meetings?
3. Would most members think the meetings are productive or a waste of time?

The most effective safety and health committees are made up of management and staff employees, and, more importantly, of people interested in actively participating and contributing to the committee’s success. However, enthusiasm will eventually fade if top management commitment and support are not apparent and meetings are not productive or seen as a waste of time away from regular duties. To be effective, members should see the meetings as an important tool for improving and maintaining a productive, safe work environment. Participation on the committee should not be viewed as a chore, but as an important contribution to the well-being of friends, coworkers and the agency.

 

The balance between management and staff employees has two main advantages - authority and communication. 

Participation of managers and supervisors on the committee provides the authority necessary to get things done. The staff employees usually have a better understanding of the day-to-day activities and related hazards, and can relay their insight to the other members. Some employees in the agency may be reluctant to share their thoughts and ideas with a manager, so this provides an avenue of communication to the committee. However, it is critical that, except for the chairman, all members of the committee are considered equals, especially during committee meetings. Honest and open discussion is a key characteristic of effective meetings.

When forming a committee it is important to determine goals, objectives and committee structure. Select a chairperson and secretary and assign individual duties to the various members. Careful consideration should be given to the frequency, length, and location of meetings. Committees that meet too infrequently will not accomplish much. At a minimum, a monthly meeting is preferable, especially for larger agencies and new committees. As goals and objectives are achieved, less frequent meetings may be sufficient, but not less than quarterly. To help with member planning and attendance, meetings should be scheduled in advance. One suggestion is to have the meetings at the same time on the same day of the month, such as every third Thursday.

For agencies with only one worksite, the location of the meetings is usually not an issue. However, agencies with multiple locations may want to consider a central location or rotate meeting sites. The latter option allows committee members the opportunity to personally visit the various sites, which is an additional benefit of the committee’s work.

Length of meetings will vary by agency, but sufficient time must be allotted to thoroughly cover all of the items on the agenda. Since time is usually limited, firm start and stop times are necessary. To ensure the best use of the time allowed, meeting ground rules should be established.

Promptness and attendance should be required of all members. If a member will not be able to attend most meetings, they may not be the best choice to serve. Being prepared for the meeting and actively participating in discussions are essential. Each member has something to contribute, based on knowledge and experience and committee assignments. If a member does not attend or interact, that value will be lost. The primary job of the chairperson is to keep the meeting moving. Since every minute is important, interruptions should be minimal, and if possible, limited only to emergencies.

Pre-meeting preparation

Thorough preparation for safety and health committee meetings can make the difference between a “gripe session” and an organized and productive meeting. The most important tool for keeping the meeting on track is the agenda, which should be prepared by the chairperson and distributed to members well in advance of the meeting. The agenda lays out the format of the meeting and topics to be covered, making non-safety and health related discussions more unlikely. It gives the meeting focus and direction.

A typical agenda will include, but is not limited to the following:

• Brief review of the minutes of the last meeting
• Follow-up to any pending activities or unfinished business from the previous meeting
• Summaries of status/progress reports from any task groups or sub-committees
• Discuss the results of any safety inspections and resulting corrective actions
• Review any injury-related information (including near-misses and trends)
• Review and discuss the accident reports for any incidents that occurred since the previous meeting, focusing on fundamental causes
• Report progress on any pending action plans and training programs
• Solicit new business discussion from committee members
• Safety training program presentation by assigned committee member or guest speaker.
• Other business or comments from the committee members
• Meeting recap and future meeting assignments, agenda items, date and location
• Adjournment

Assigned reports should be prepared sufficiently ahead of the meeting date to allow for distribution to committee members. Committee members should receive these reports at least two days before the meeting to allow time to review, research and formulate questions, responses, or recommended actions. Meeting time should be reserved for discussion and planning. Short summaries of these reports can be presented to facilitate discussion.

 

As part of pre-meeting preparation, members should encourage comments and ideas from employees in their areas. The employees can be a good resource for identifying potential problems and can often offer some valuable ideas for solutions. This solicitation can range from face-to-face questioning to a suggestion box. A reward plan may help generate ideas. A sub-committee is a good way to evaluate suggestions, with only the best presented to the full committee.

During the meetings

Any time a group of people gets together, there is a tendency to divert attention to something other than the business of the meeting or discussion drifting away from the subject matter at hand. It is the committee chairperson’s job to keep the meeting on track to make the best use of meeting time. The agenda is the plan for the meeting and it is important to stick to it. Matters that may deviate from the established agenda should be held over to the next meeting or deferred to the part of the agenda that allows for new business to be introduced. Non-safety and health topics should be discouraged, such as staffing levels and maintenance issues, unless directly related to safety and health.

Discussion should be organized, with focus on the issue or problem being brought to the table. Members should be recognized by the chairperson in order to speak, but if kept under control, an open, round table discussion can also generate some productive brainstorming. The result of discussions should be some plan of action.

Meetings are for finding solutions, not placing fault or blame. When working directly on an issue, following these steps will help to reach a feasible, long-lasting solution:

• Identify and agree on the nature of the problem
• Map out the events to identify the fundamental or "root" cause
• Look for and rank potential solutions
• Select the best solution for the problem and develop an action plan (including implementation and follow-up evaluation)

All members of the committee should be encouraged to provide some input during the meeting. The chairperson can help facilitate this. If members frequently do not contribute to discussions then replacement may need to be considered. Since they should already have the agenda and supporting information before the meeting, members should come with some ideas or input from other employees. Members with assignments should come prepared to present a summary and discuss the material.

To add value to the meetings, a short safety-training program can be part of the agenda. Programs can be presented by a designated member of the committee, someone from within the agency, or from the outside, such as a loss control consultant. Such programs could be a valuable venue for a demonstration of new or proposed safety equipment or device by a vendor’s representative. Safety videos are available for a variety of topics and can provide good quality safety and health education, including visual imagery of the material covered. Some of the subjects that would be beneficial for the role of safety and health committee members include:

• Accident investigation and analysis
• Hazard identification
• Job safety analysis
• How to conduct effective safety inspections
• Injury prevention and control
• Regulatory issues, such as OSHA/VOSH standards

At the conclusion of the meeting, the chairperson and the secretary should recap the meeting discussion, as well as any action plans and assignments. Everyone should leave knowing what will be expected from him or her before the next meeting. The chairperson should then ask for any additional comments and then make any closing notes and express appreciation to all that attended.

 

Following the meeting

A written summary of the meeting should be prepared by the committee secretary and distributed to the members for review. Members should review the summary for accuracy and return any comments or corrections in a timely manner. The official meeting minutes can be developed from this information for approval at the next meeting.

If recommended actions must be presented to appropriate management, these proposals should be developed by committee designee(s) and if mandated by committee procedures, distributed to members for informal comments and approval. Management response and progress toward implementation can then be communicated to committee members before and during the next meeting.

It is a good idea to periodically acknowledge the actions and accomplishments of the committee. Not only will this keep employees informed of the committee’s efforts, but will likely motivate members to continue moving forward with their efforts. Remember, an effective safety and health committee consists of people interested in working to protect the health and well-being of their friends and co-workers, as well as the agency.

References:

Army Center for Health Promotion & Preventive Medicine. (March 31, 2003). The Safety Committee: Ten Ways to Make Your Meetings More Successful. Retrieved July 12, 2006, from http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/IHMSM/ms/documents/Safety Committee.ppt.

Centers for Disease Control-National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The Seven-Up Safety and Health Plan. (November 8, 2001). Retrieved July 12, 2006, from http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/sbw/national_state/pdfs/nesbitdoc.pdf.

Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company. (2003). Leading an Effective Safety Committee. Retrieved July 12, 2006, from

http://12.11.133.210/publications_library/documents/SafetyCommitteeGuide.pdf.

Montana Department of Labor and Industry-Occupational Safety and Health Bureau. (n.d.). Guidelines for Effective Safety Meetings. Retrieved July 12, 2006, from

http://erd.dli.mt.gov/safetyhealth/brochures/safetycommitteeoutline.pdf.

Sherman, Larry CSP, CPCU, ALCM. (December 1997). Tips For an Effective Safety and Health Committee. Retrieved July 12, 2006, from

http://www.shermansafety.com/tips.html.

State of Wisconsin. (August 1998). Guidelines for Developing an Effective Health and Safety Committee. Retrieved July 12, 2006, from

http://www.doa.state.wi.us/docs_view2.asp?docid=665.

Source: http://www.covwc.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=48008&PG=resources&CID=30433

Near Misses: Identify and Eliminate Hazardous Workplace Conditions with Proper Training

Seventy-five percent of all accidents are preceded by one or more near misses, according to the National Safety Council.

In other words, close calls should be wake-up calls for employees and employers to realize that something is wrong and needs to be corrected. 

Employees may not realize they are expected to report near misses—no matter how trivial they may seem. Although there may not have been a serious outcome, these incidents could result in future accidents. By recognizing near misses and taking action to correct the underlying problems, employees will not only reduce the number of near misses, but more importantly, they will reduce the number of actual accidents in the future. 

Defining "Near Misses"

"Near misses" can be defined as minor accidents or close calls that have the potential for property loss or injury. A near miss will prevent a task from being completed as planned. Most accidents can be predicted by close calls. These are accidents that almost happened or possibly did happen but simply didn't result in an injury this time around. Here are some examples of near misses in the workplace:

• An employee trips over an extension cord that lies across the floor but avoids a fall by grabbing the corner of a desk.
• An outward-opening door nearly hits a worker who jumps back just in time to avoid a mishap.
• Instead of using a ladder, an employee puts a box on top of a drum, loses balance and stumbles to the ground. Although the employee is shaken, there is no injury.

When incidents like these happen, most workers are simply relieved they were not injured and then forget about what happened moments later. However, when employees narrowly avoid an accident or injury, everyone should assume they are at risk of that same avoidance. Another person, possibly the employee with the close call, is very likely to be injured by that very same hazard on a future date. In fact, the difference between a near miss and a serious injury is often a fraction of an inch or a split second of time. They are red flags waving at employees to let them know something is very wrong or unsafe and requires immediate attention.

Dealing with "Near Misses"

Here is a list of questions for employers and employees to ask themselves when a near miss occurs:

• How do you handle these incidents in your workplace?
• What’s your attitude toward a near miss?
• Do you feel momentarily relieved that what happened wasn’t any worse?
• Do you just return to your routine after the near miss occurrs?
• Do you simply tell yourself that you should be more careful next time?
• Do you have a plan for preventing a repeat performance?

A close call is a call to action. What a person does about these warnings can make all the difference between future injuries and a zero-accidents safety record. Employees need to seize the moment and use the close call as a training opportunity to prevent the imminent accident.

Remove Hazards

Hazards should be removed as soon as possible, but they still should be reported to supervisors so they can make note of it—even after the hazard has been removed. By discussing these near misses and hazards, it can raise awareness for employees to look out for other hazards that should be reported to a supervisor. 

Damaged equipment and property should also immediately be reported to a supervisor. Examples of damaged equipment might include fractured hand tools, power tools that give a shock, machine guards that don’t fit or work properly, forklifts with damaged parking brakes, ladders with broken rungs and worn PPE. Examples of damaged property might include crumbling stairs, loose handrails, loose plates in the floor, holes in the floor, loose hinges on the door and broken sidewalks. While some of these examples may not seem important or particularly hazardous, it’s important to note that employers and employees need to be aware of these hazards, as well.

Conduct "Near Miss" Training Sessions

When an unfortunate near miss occurs, call a safety meeting to discuss what actually happened, what could have happened, and ways to ensure it doesn't happen again. This may be the perfect opportunity to conduct a full-scale training session on near misses in general and what employees should be looking out for in a particular environment. It is also a chance for an employer to hear firsthand from an employee what he or she thinks are safety hazards within the workplace. Opening up a discussion with the topic of safety at the center is a chance for employees and employers to share ideas, tips and concerns. It’s only an advantage for an employer to develop a preventative—not reactive—safety program. The warning signs of near misses should never be neglected or ignored; employees and employers understanding what happened will reduce or control any future hazards.

The near miss session could begin with the trainer sharing his or her own experiences with close calls, which could prompt the trainees to give close call examples of their own, as well as examples on how to prevent near misses. This will heighten awareness of the safety hazards illustrated by the near misses and will encourage employees to take action to correct those underlying problems. Trainees will begin to understand and learn that they will not be lucky enough to avoid these accidents every time. It’s important for employees to discuss examples of near misses to really grasp the importance of the issue. The discussion should then turn to the causes of near misses and then end with corrective action. It’s important for these meetings to end with a discussion of proactive measures that need to be taken against near misses. 

Here is a list of questions for employers and employees to discuss when talking about near misses that actually occurred in the workplace:

• Was the worker using unsafe practices?
• Was the worker careless because the tasks were too repetitious?
• Was the work violating safety practices?
• Were conditions unsafe? 
• DID:
•  
• the worker have proper lighting?
• Was the worker taking shortcuts?
• Is the worker accident-prone?
• Was the "near" victim authorized to be in that work area?

Encourage All Employees to Identify and Report "Near Misses"

The problem with near misses is that employees often do not know they happened, which makes it very difficult to fix them or prevent future ones. Similarly, one employee may report a near miss to a supervisor, but the rest of the staff will not be made aware of the situation. All too often, these incidents are not reported at all. Many employees simply say, "Whew! That was a close one!" and move on to their next task. They go back to work without mentioning the incident to their supervisor, as if the incident was a one-time occurrence and not worth mentioning or reporting. Employees sometimes decide if nobody gets hurt and there is no damage, then it’s not really an accident, but this is a part of the problem. All near misses need to be reported and discussed with a supervisor. 

Unfortunately, there are countless work environments where this mentality can be found on a daily basis. If this sounds all too familiar, then this is the first thing that needs to change in the workplace. Even before near misses occur, employers should discuss the importance of reporting near misses to create the best—and safest—work environment. Open discussion between employees and employers is an important aspect of near misses. Encouraging employees to treat close calls exactly the way they treat accidents, which includes reporting them right away, is the crucial first step to finding causes, taking corrective action and training employees to avoid the real accident waiting to happen. 

Source: http://www.constructionbusinessowner.com/topics/safety/construction-safety/near-misses-identify-and-eliminate-hazardous-workplace-conditions/page/0/1

Forklift Safety Is No Laughing Matter

The editor-in-chief of EHS Today’s sister publication Material Handling & Logistics (MH&L) has a bone to pick with OSHA for citing forklift safety hazards as “other-than-serious” violations:

Forklifts are such an integral tool to warehouses that they’re almost like the air workers breathe – taken for granted. But forgetting to ventilate a warehouse’s work area for operators on LP trucks can prove suffocating – even in the summertime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yx67JVIc2Gw

It was September when four workers at a food distribution center, including a forklift driver, suffered nausea and almost passed out while unloading an idling diesel truck. The forklift happened to be LPG-powered [liquid petroleum gas powered], so that contributed to the seriousness of this incident.

The warehouse had some natural ventilation, but no mechanical ventilation. Idling vehicles, no CO alarms and poor employee training all contributed to the danger. This story was recounted in a publication from the Washington State Dept. of Labor and Industries. Washington State is heavily agricultural, with a lot of heavy lifting needed both outdoors and indoors. This explains why carbon monoxide poisoning is a common occurrence there.

So never mind the fact it’s cold outside. Forgetting about carbon monoxide is a year-round hazard – as common as inadequate forklift operator training. Many times those two go hand-in-hand. The consequences can be as fatal to a business as they are to its people.

Here’s a case in point courtesy of an OSHA press release: Fritz Aluminum Services Inc. OSHA came down hard on this company last year, citing it for 37 violations, including combustible dust accumulations, at the company's Eustis, Fla., facility. Three willful violations proved to be the most damning in OSHA’s eyes: failing to provide workers with an abrasive blasting suit or apron during sandblasting operations, not replacing missing and clogged filters in the powder coating booth, and not implementing a housekeeping program or providing proper ventilation to keep combustible dust accumulations at a minimal level. Fritz got socked with $139,800 in proposed penalties and eventually went out of business.

But something about this announcement made me a bit nauseous. The company was also cited for six “other-than-serious” violations, including failure to have forklift operators complete a refresher training course in the last three years; failure to certify the training of forklift drivers; and failure to remove defective or unsafe powered industrial trucks from service. The OSHA press release about this incident describes an other-than-serious violation as one that “has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.”

Huh? First of all, the release doesn’t say whether these lift trucks were electric or propane powered, but being that LP trucks are common in aluminum plants, it’s logical to think that these operators were exposed to carbon monoxide as well as to potentially explosive combustible dust. Even if these lift trucks were electric, were they rated ExplosionProof (EX-rated) for use in hazardous and explosive environments? The OSHA press release doesn’t say anything about that either.

But never mind any of that. Working in this kind of environment, just having untrained forklift operators is dangerous enough to be fatal. I wouldn’t classify the possibility of suffocation or being blown up “other-than-serious.” Apparently someone at OSHA could use a refresher on powered industrial truck appreciation.

Source: http://ehstoday.com/blog/forklift-safety-no-laughing-matter

Top 9 Warehouse Safety Violations

Working in a warehouse can be a deadly job if you do not follow all the safety guidelines that are set out for you. There are at least 9 warehouse safety violations that are the most common. Knowing what this violations are and what you can do to prevent them will help keep everyone safe. While working in a warehouse you need to be aware of all the dangers that are around you. There are so many things that can and will go wrong if everyone is not working safely. Below is a list of the top warehouse safety violation. Use this list as a guide for what not to do in the warehouse.

 Workplace Safety Violations In A Warehouse.

• The most common safety violations in a warehouse occur while operating the forklift. The only people that use the forklift must be trained and certified to do so. You cannot operate any heavy machinery such as a forklift without being certified. An inexperienced driver can cause all sirts of problems. They will not know how to properly work the forklift and also may get into an accident. Many injuries occur from forklifts in a warehouse. Whether it was loaded incorrectly and the materials fell off or the person driving was not paying attention and hit someone or something. If you run into a shelf you run the risk of bring down the entire thing and everything on it.
• Loading dock violations can be anything from minor injuries to death in some cases. Volations on the loading dock include lifting incorrectly. When you are loading or unloading a truck you must be sure to use proper lifting safety techniques to reduce your chances of injury. All employees should be taught the correct way to lift objects before they even begin woking. Another violation is clutter on the floors. Dirty floors with papers, trash or wet spots are a sure way to insure an accident will happen. You have to keep to loading dock floors swept ans dry at all times.
• Personal Protective equipment is often the least used safety product in the workplace. Many people think that personal protection is unnecessary since they have never been hurt on the job before. This is simple not true. Accidents can happen at anytime for any reason which is why they are called accidents. If you are not prepared for one than you could be risking your health or life. When working in a warehouse you should always wear sturdy slip proof work boots. If they have steel toes that is even better. The leather and steel will help keep your feet safe. You should also wear a back brace anytime you are going to be lifting. A brace will help relieve some of the pressure on your back muscles. Other safety gear that may be used in a wasrehouse are gloves, goggles and hard hats. Depending on the task you have been assigned that day.
• Storage violations are another major problem in warehouses. If you do not properly stack and store the boxes a number of accidents could occur. First the boxes could fall and possible land on a person working below. Second too much weight in one area of the storage racks and little or none in the others couls stress out the metals and cause a break. Finally if the storage racks are not properly installed they could collapse when pushed or even on their own under the stress.
• Emergency exit volations usually include fire exits that have been blocked and can not be accessed if needed in an emergency. It is important to make sure that all fire exits are clearly marked with lit exit signs. They must also be easily accessible to everyone. If there is somthing blocking the exit you must remove it immediately. Keep all exit hallways and stairwells clean and free of clutter at all times.
• Lockout/tagout violations can be deadly. The lockout tagout system is in place to make sure no one is injuried during general maintenance of machinery. It requires that two or more different people with separate keys lock a machine before it can be fixed or cleaned. This is to prevent the machine from accidentally being turned back on while it is being worked on. Often times people think the cleaning or repair will be quick and easy so there is no reason to go through the long process of locking the machine. That is not the case, you must lock the machine to prevent any injuries from occuring.
• Communication violations are when there are no signs warning employees of the dangers that are present in the area. If there is a chance of hearing loss due to loud noises you must post a sign that states earplugs are required in the area. You should post signs any place in the warehouse were a danger may be present. If there are chemicals used in the warehouse they must also be correctly labeled and stored in a clearly marked storage area. All companies are required by OSHA to have a material data safety sheet that is hung in an area where all employees have access to read it.
• The handling of Hazardous materials is a huge problem. If they are handled incorrectly at anytime it can cause devesating effect to everyone in the warehouse. All employees are required to be trained in handling hazardous materials. They should know how to properly dispose of them once they are finished with them. Incorrectly disposing of hazmats can be dangers to the health and well being of all employees. Hazardous materials are classified as flammable, toxic, corrosive or biohazardous.
• fire safety violations include not having or none operational fire extinguishers in the warehouse. Each area of the warehouse should have at least on extinguisher in case of an emergency. All employees should be trained how to properly use them if needed. You should also have a fire exit plan. This will be helpful if an emergency should ever occur. It will give everyone in the building a guide for what to do during any emergency where you are required to leave the warehouse.

 
Source: http://workplacesafetyexperts.com/workplace-safety-tips/top-9-warehouse-safety-violations/