Maybe you’re approaching the end of the fiscal year. Maybe your company was just acquired, and everything is on hold while things shake out. Maybe your company was affected by floods, wildfires, or some other recent disaster. Whatever the reason, there’s just no money to replace that big piece of process equipment or rolling stock or whatever big capital improvement is highest on your safety wish-list.
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Does that mean your safety program has to come to a grinding halt while you worry about what could go wrong? Of course not. Here are some ways that you can improve worker protections even when those big improvements have to wait.
Low-Cost Safety Improvements
To cope with situations where newer, safer equipment isn’t in the company’s budget, try:
- Protecting workers with administrative controls. If you’re trying to control a hazardous exposure—for example, exposure to noise in a workplace where buying quieter equipment will have to wait, or exposure to dusts in a workplace where more powerful ventilation isn’t in the cards until next fiscal year—you may be able to use job rotation to keep workers’ exposures within regulatory limits. Be sure to check any applicable regulations; some U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules forbid the use of job rotation or other administrative strategies for controlling exposures.
- Upgrading instead of replacing. While new machinery may come with effective guards built right in, or new diesel rigs may come with emissions controls already installed, you may be able to achieve the same results for less with a retrofit or upgrade.
- Looking into grants and loans. There are state, federal, and private programs that provide grant money and loans for economic development, especially for small businesses. It may require recasting the problem—while it may be true that your bucket truck simply isn’t safe to use anymore, you may need to cast its replacement in business rather than safety terms—but you may find money that you can use to get the job done. You can start looking at the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s “funding opportunities” webpage: https://www.eda.gov/funding-opportunities/.
Go Ahead and Spend the Money
Of course, there are some purchases you need to find funds for, even when money is tight. It’s false economy to skimp on:
- Personal protective equipment (PPE). Most PPE has a relatively brief useful life and requires regular replacement. Failing to purchase replacement respirator cartridges, chemical protective gloves, or hearing protection devices is a short-term savings with potential long-term costs.
- Replacement parts. When your fleet vehicles need headlights, windshield wipers, or tires, make sure it gets done. The same goes for safety-critical replacement parts on process equipment. Don’t risk a major hazardous chemical leak for want of an inexpensive replacement valve.
- Maintenance. The good news is that maintenance and replacement parts may not come directly out of your safety budget—and management may see them as more closely related to productivity than safety is, and therefore more critical. So develop a good working relationship with your maintenance department, and make sure that they are staying on top of equipment maintenance. It will improve productivity, prolong the useful life of equipment, and also generally makes the workplace safer. If the machine doesn’t jam or break down, for example, workers will be less likely to put their hands—or their head, or their whole body—into places where they don’t belong.
Tomorrow we’ll look at ways to keep workers’ training up-to-date when funds are tight.