SafetyIMPACT Forums / SafetyIMPACT Forums / General Interest

Indicators of Safety

Phil La Duke — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:16:41 GMT

When I initiated this discussion thread I was struggling to develop the indicators of a truly safe company (as opposed to a company that is just plain lucky). So many of you asked me to share my conclusions so I submit for your consideration my indicators (in no particular order) of the relative risk of a catastrophic injury I am also providing a first stab at how one would measure these attributes

Leadership Engagement in Safety
Indicators:
o Safety Inspections are conducted by first line supervision (or their managers).
o Incident Investigations are conducted by first line supervision (or their managers).
o Safety data is tracked and analyzed by Operations leadership.
o The efficacy of Incident Investigation is judged by Operations leadership.
o A system for holding operations personnel accountable for safety exists.
o CIW events focused on improving safety are led by Operations.
o Leadership will not jeopardize worker safety in pursuit of production goals
Employee Engagement in Safety.
Indicators:
o Number of safety inspections conducted in an area each week.
Average number of hazards found per inspection.
o Ratio of Hazards Found to Actual Injuries
o Average Continuous Improvement events focused on safety each month.
Compliance
Indicators:
o Government mandated training is delivered and tracked by Operations leadership.
o Progress toward correcting known areas of non-compliance is tracked and managed by Operations .
o Supervisors know when workers in their department are required to take refresher training and the jobs for which an individual is qualified
o Supervisors do not direct workers to complete task for which they are not qualified.
o Safety professionals audit the plant for violations at least annually.
o Disciplinary records for non compliance with PPE track favorably to injuries that would have been prevented had the injured party been wearing PPE.
o Evidence of proactive compliance exists.
Problem Solving
Indicators:
o Ratio of Near Misses to Actual Injuries
o Ratio of Hazards Found to Actual Injuries
o Days to correct Hazards (by risk priority)
o Percentage of workers who have received task-specific safety training
o Safety data is monitored and analyzed instead of just displayed without interpretation
Safety Strategy
Indicators:
o Safety Leading and Trailing Indicators are monitored, trends are reviewed by Operations Leadership
o Zero injuries is the goal.
o Leadership believes that having a safety record that is better than average for its industry is irrelevant
o Leaders believe that having zero injuries is not the same as having zero risk, and that unless they understand why their safety efforts are producing positive results the results themselves are meaningless with respect to predicting future performance

SafetyIMPACT! Goes Wireless

Phil La Duke — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:33:29 GMT

How do you make a good system even better? Well in the case of SafetyIMPACT! O/E has created SafetyIMPACT! Mobile, a wireless application that allows inspectors to quickly and easily input hazards into the Hazard Identification Containment And Tracking Tool. We've added another really slick feature as well. Inspectors can now take pictures of the hazard and store them in the database. I've spent a lot of time testing and piloting the new process and I have to tell you, it's really slick.

Phil La Duke
www.safety-impact.com

What's the best way to market on-line safety training?

Phil La Duke — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:54:16 GMT

When I was Director of Training and Development for ASC Incorporated I always shied away from on-line safety courses. It's not that the courses weren't good (but let's face it, most people are more concerned with compliance than with course effectiveness or content) it's that the courses tended to be expensive, and worst of all the courses needed to be proctored. I mean, the requirement that someone actually WATCH a person complete the class and attest that the person didn't cheat negated any benefits I would have seen by having them take the class on-line.

But with the introduction of SafetyIMPACT! Virtual University we are now able to offer courses that meet OSHA requirements WITHOUT a proctor. The courses are affordably priced and ideal for small companies who are looking to be compliant but don't have a huge training budget and for larger companies that want to save money on travel and instructor time.

So here's my question: How do I effectively market these courses?

I need your help naming the SafetyIMPACT! On-Line University Mascot

Phil La Duke — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:44:01 GMT

As you may or may not know, Monday O/E launched SafetyIMPACT! On-Line University. If you've had a chance to visit the SafetyIMPACT! website (www.safety-impact.com), you know that while we take safety seriously, we also like to have some fun with our business. In keeping with that, we are preparing a college themed ad campaign to promote SIU and I'm trying to come up with a mascot for our University. We're floating some ideas around the office, and I'd love to get your opinions/ideas. Here's some basic background information on O/E and SIU:

* O/E is a pioneer in on-line and technology driven training (it's been a core competency for most of our 25 year history.)
* O/E has also provided safety services to Fortune 500 companies for over 20 years
* Our customer base is diverse, but SafetyIMPACT! has primarily been implemented manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare (so a lot of people in retail, construction, oil & gas, utilities, ect.) may not of heard of it.
* The courses are OSHA certified so several of the courses that ordinarily would require a proctor are exempt from this requirement. (We see this as a huge selling point that we'd like to promote.)
* The courses are inexpensive and can be completed anywhere.
* The school colors are Emerald and Mandarin

I don't know how any of these facts might influence your suggestions, but I figured that the more info I gave you, the better the ideas.

Here are some suggestions that folks have made so far:

* The Fighting Hard Hats
* The Safety Nets
* The Construction Barrels
* The Screaming Pylons
* The Virtual Guard

I'm anxiously awaiting your ideas, and thanks in advance!

Phil La Duke
Director, Performance Improvement
O/E
www.safety-impact.com