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SAFETY SAFETY COMMUNICATIONSCOMMUNICATIONS

How to Use Safety Communications thatHow to Use Safety Communications that

Your People can Use and Benefit FromYour People can Use and Benefit From

Steve Wise - July 2010Steve Wise - July 2010

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Should always be issued with the intent of benefitting your People from a Safety

Standpoint.

If done correctly - it can be used to not only inspire your People to work Safely,

but to reach out and get them engaged in your organizational Safety Process.

SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS

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Safety Communications -- My Goal --

❖ Coming from an Accounting background, coupled with the fact that I like to write - I use to issue lengthy Safety Communications to my People.

❖ When I asked my folks what they thought of such Safety Communications - most told be that they did not have time to read it.

❖ This fact taught me quickly that I had to learn how to maximize the “Safety Time” that was available to my Supervisors and my Workforce.

❖ From this, I learned to issue condensed Safety Communications that could be read in passing or covered in a pre-shift Safety Meeting.

❖ In addition, such communications included Safety Items or Actions that pertained to my folk’s everyday Work Life - with the ultimate goal of giving them a “Safety Takeaway” that they could benefit from.

❖ The goal of this Safety Training Presentation - is to give you something to use and takeaway - that could benefit your Safety Communications.

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Safety Communications--- What I Can Offer ---

❖ Know Your Audience

❖ Know How / Where to Communicate Safety

❖ Maximize Your Safety Time

❖ Use Safety Pictures

❖ Tailor to the Specific Aspects and Jobs of Your Workforce

❖ Share What You Can from Others

❖ Use what You Learn from Your People

❖ Keep Your Safety Communications - Fresh

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KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE❖ From a Safety Communications standpoint - it is essential that

you know your audience / the Employees that you are directing such communications to.

✦ Production Workers - Their main job is production. They want / need to focus their attention on what they are producing. They often will have no to limited time for Safety.

✦ Office Workers - Most OW’s think that they cannot be injured on the Job since they work in an Office. Therefore, they do not have a need for Safety.

✦ Field Employees - Since most FE’s are removed from the organization’s main Safety Efforts, they will need a leader that effectively passes on Safety Communications.

❖ Your Safety Communications must be tailored to fit your situation. Don’t assume that what you think will suffice. Find out what your People need and adjust your Safety Communications accordingly.

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Know How / Where to Communicate Safety

❖ In addition to knowing your Audience, you must know how to properly reach them.

❖ Such actions can include what you do personally as the Safety Leader - or through others such as through your Supervisors.

❖ There are various avenues for you to Communicate Safety including -

❖ Once you have found the avenues for your Safety Communications - know how and use them to their full potential.

Pre-Shift Meetings Safety BoardsManagement &

Workforce Meetings

Ad Hoc - during your Safety Walks

Dedicated Safety Meetings

Safety Training

E-mailsSafety Audits & Investigations

Organizational Announcements

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MAXIMIZE YOUR SAFETY TIME❖ The Time that organizations devote to Safety - can range

from basically no time - to whatever time you feel is needed.

❖ As with determining your Audience - you must also determine your Available Safety Time - or the time that is consistently devoted to Safety.

✦ Various Safety Time components include - Start / End of Shift, Weekly / Monthly, As Needed / Available, Special Safety Training Sessions, 5 Minutes to 1 Hour, and NO Time.

❖ Knowing what Safety Time is available to you, will allow you to tailor your Safety Communications to best make use of this time - as well as not waste your People’s time.

❖ Whatever time that is given to Safety - use it wisely / maximize your Safety efforts / maximize your People’s Safety Time.

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USE SAFETY PICTURES❖ SAFETY PICTURES are a

great way to send a Safety Message to your People.

❖ They can include pictures of Safety Incidents from your workplace - or external to your organization.

❖ Such can easily be used as simple and quick - “Live and Learn” Safety examples.

❖ If done correctly, they can simply be posted for your folks to read & learn from.

How can You use this Picture to affect or benefit your People from a Safety perspective?

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Safety Mishap - What Can You Do to Prevent?

❖ Inspect your Tools & Equipment daily.

❖ Do not use T&E that are found to be unsafe and in poor condition.

❖ Be prepared for the unexpected.

❖ Don’t take chances / risks / shortcuts.

❖ Make sure that you wear the appropriate PPE - Personal Protective Equipment for the job that you are performing.

❖ Always expect your T&E to fail - and position your body accordingly.

❖ Always follow the Safety Rules that pertain to the task at hand.

This is a “Lessons to be Learned” example -

applied to current Work Practices.

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Tailor Your Safety Communications to What Your

People Do❖ One way not to reach your Audience - is to give them Safety Communications that do not pertain to their specific jobs.

❖ We all are strapped for time - therefore we weed out and disregard those things that do not matter to us. This often and easily applies to Safety Communications.

❖ In order for your Safety Communications to relate to your People and be worthy of their attention - they must pertain to what they do.

❖ Produce and distribute “Job or Organizational Specific” - Safety Communications.

❖ This can include the following Safety Items that can pertain to them -

ProceduresJob Hazard Analyses

Accident Investigation

ResultsSafety Statistics

Safety TrainingProduction

Schedule ChangesFacility Updates

Tools & Equipment Issues

Organizational Outlook

Safety Committee Happenings

Employee Safety Recommendations

Safety Concern Actions

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Tailored Safety Communication - Example

In Response to a Pinch Point Injury on our Shear - I went around the Shop and asked various People - what they did to prevent Pinch Point Injuries. Below is a summation of a Safety Communication

that I distributed to my People -

SHEAR OPERATION

❖“Never place your Fingers / Hands under the Machine Guard.”

❖“Be aware of any Metal Plate raising up and snapping down when it it sheared. Place your Hands accordingly.”

❖“Whenever possible, use Tooling Fixtures to advance Material into the Shear.”

❖“Know the Operational Rules of the Shear and follow them. If you have any questions regarding - then ask!”

❖“When making adjustments to the Shear - make sure to Lock Out first in order to prevent any accidental startup.”

FABRICATORS QUESTION - How do you eliminate Pinch Point Injuries

when using the Shear.

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SHARE WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM OTHERS

❖ There are numerous and various public websites that are great sources of Safety Information that you and your people can Learn from.

❖ One in particular is OSHA - www.osha.gov. They have two links that discuss Workplace Fatalities -

✦ Weekly Report of Fatalities, Catastrophe, and Other Events - http://www.osha.gov/dep/fatcat/dep_fatcat.html

✦ Fatal Facts - Accident Report - http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/toc_FatalFacts.html

❖ In addition, you should make a point to circulate Safety Incidents and Near Misses from all Locations within your organization.

Safety Incidents from whatever source - if they relate to your organization and what your People do - should be

used whenever possible as Safety Learning Tools.

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Ways to Share External Safety Info❖ There are various ways to share external Safety Information with

your People in ways that will benefit them -

✦ One simple way is to either review a report, document, whatever - with your People or post it for them to read when they are able.

✦ One of my favorite ways, is to review a Safety Incident with my People, then ask them -

• How could the Safety Incident have happened?

• Which of our Safety Rules would have applied to this Incident?

• What would You have done to prevent it?

✦ Chances are, the offerings that you receive from your People - will be worthy to share with others within your organization - so pass it on and continue to benefit the People in your organization.

❖ The goal with Safety Communications - is to maximize the exposure to and impact on your People - that will improve their Safety on and off the job.

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External Safety Info - My ExampleOSHA - Weekly Fatality / Catastrophe

Report

Date Preliminary Description of

IncidentSafety Actions to Prevent - from Safety Leader or People

4/29/10Worker was performing a repair on a hydraulic jack plate when the dock plate fell on the worker.

* Never work under a suspended load without properly jacking. * Never work on equipment without applying proper LOTO.

4/27/10

Worker had cut the last band of strapping that was holding a bundle of pipe together. As Worker did so, the bundle of pipe shifted, crushing the Worker.

* Always be prepared for the unexpected. * When handling material under tension, position your Body away from the direction the Material can move / fall.

4/26/10

Worker was fatally injured while overseeing a track maintenance group, when he came into contact with a high voltage rail.

* Always know and be aware of the hazards in your workarea, and guard against them.* LOTO equipment and facilities, prior to working on them.* Never work on live Electrical sources and ensure they are disabled or protected against.

4/19/10Worker fell when attempting to access a ladder after climbing on a rack, falling to the concrete below.

* Always use approved T&E for climbing. * Always maintain 3-point contact when climbing or descending.

There are countless Safety Examples available to Learn from.

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Use what You Learn from Your People

❖ As a Safety Leader - you must establish a working Safety relationship with your People -

✦ You provide them with Safety actions and communications of various forms that they can benefit from - and they will go to great lengths to meet organizational Safety Goals and be part of the organizational Safety process.

❖ One action that can quickly derail your Safety Efforts - is for your to ignore or not act on Safety Items from your people.

✦ Such items can include - their personal Safety Concerns, Suggestions and Recommendations, Safety Questions, and even their Safety Participation and Efforts.

❖ As a Safety Leader - Learn from Others.....and Your People.

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Learn from Your People - My Examples of Safety Communications

❖ EMPLOYEE SAFETY SPOTLIGHTS: Our frontline People often come up with ways to improve the daily functions that they perform for their organization.

✦ We took action to recognize such improvements - which can be referred to as “Best Practices” - which should be shared within the organization.

✦ One way of sharing such is issuing “Employee Safety Spotlights” that not only describe their idea that others might benefit from - but gives them individual Safety Recognition too.

❖ SAFETY HAZARD ABATEMENT LISTING: This listing was maintained at my organization and included all Safety Concerns that were raised to the Safety Leaders by our Workforce.

✦ Such concerns were logged in an Excel worksheet that noted the following information - Employee Name, Date, Department, Safety Concern, Action Needed, Assigned To, Tentative Completion Date, Action Taken to Complete, and Completion Date.

✦ This mechanism helped us to keep track of all Employee Safety Concerns raised and was our control to monitor their status for completion.

✦ Listing Updates were also posted on Safety Boards - and covered with our People during their Monthly Safety Training.

✦ With this action, we showed our People that we cared and listened to their Safety Concerns.

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EMPLOYEE SAFETY SPOTLIGHTLifting Magnet - Hammer Lock Mod

❖ One of the critical and everyday operations in the Fab Shop is the movement of Raw Steel type items from outside to inside the Fab Shop.

❖ This is often done via an overhead bridge crane many times throughout the day, often by several different Fabricators.

❖ Over the last few months and due to its high use, the Hammer Lock started to bind in the Lifting Hook pocket of the Lifting Magnet, which either hindered or prevented the Fabricators from using this Lifting Magnet properly.

❖ Initial discussions on what to do centered on sending this Lifting Magnet out to be repaired and modified. The problem with sending it out was that the Fab Shop did not have a Backup to this Lifting Magnet, and therefore would negatively impact the safety and efficiency of lifting raw steel operations.

❖ Once we started discussions on, Arturo Rico and Xavier Wynn started talking about what they could do to correct this situation. Through their efforts, they came up with an idea to “plug” the Lifting Hole that would keep the Hammer Lock firmly in place.

❖ Their efforts of plugging the Lifting Hole corrected the situation, improved the Safety of those in the Fab Shop that use this Lifting Magnet, as well as saved Calpro money by not having to send out the Lifting Magnet for repair.

Through their brainstorming efforts, they both helped out their fellow Fabricators as well. Calpro wishes to Thank both Arturo

and Xavier for not only improving the safety and efficiency of the Fab Shop, but Calpro as well.

This is an Example of how a “Safety Spotlight” can be used.

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Keep Your Safety Communications

-- Fresh --❖ Another essential way to keep your Safety Communications

meaningful and useable with and for your People is to -

✦ KEEP THEM FRESH!

✦ Like any organizational communication - if you do not keep it up-to-date - it will lose its meaning and become wall paper to your People - which they will not pay attention to.

❖ Safety Postings = should be changed out at least every other week.

❖ Safety Training = should include new content each month.

❖ Pre-Shift Meetings = should have a new message each shift.

❖ Workgroup Safety Meetings = should cover the most recent Safety Statistics and Operating Performance Measures.

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Suggested Internet Sources for Safety Info

❖ http://www.osha.gov/

❖ http://www.osha.gov/dep/fatcat/dep_fatcat.html

❖ http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/toc_FatalFacts.html

❖ http://www.ccohs.ca/

❖ http://www.ansi.org/

❖ http://www.safetyphoto.co.uk/

❖ http://www.safeconllc.com/whatswrong.html

❖ http://www.osh.net/directory/safety/safety_01.htm

❖ http://www.safetynewsalert.com/

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Questions or Comments?Send them to me via “Linked in”

I hope that this offering on Safety Communications

- has givenYou something to take away - that you can use

to benefit the Safety of Your People.

Steve Wise