Policies, Commitment, and Culture: The Formula for Superior Safety Performance

At Simmons Bedding Company, safety and health policies drive a robust worker-protection process. But it’s the commitment and culture behind those policies that really make things happen, explains Jonathan Dawe. He directs safety, health, wellness, and workers’ compensation at the Atlanta-based business. The company employs about 3,000 in the United States and 750 in Canada.

“We have four key results areas. In priority order they are safety, quality, service, and cost. All business decisions are made through that lens.” Dawe adds that safety is planned, budgeted, and measured, like any other management system at the 139-year-old company. “We believe that accidents don’t just happen—they’re caused by a combination of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions. And because they have these identifiable causes, they can be prevented.”

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Are your safety policies effective? Do they contribute to the protection of all your workers? You’ll find prewritten, ready-to-use safety and health policies for every safety need in BLR’s Essential Safety Policies. Examine it at no cost and with no obligation to purchase. Get details here.

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Safety Audits and Policy Reviews

At Simmons, a companywide, internal safety audit process measures performance. The audit is based on a 55-page document that goes well beyond OSHA requirements. Every Simmons facility is graded “A” to “F” using the same yardstick, says Dawe. A review of policies and procedures and how they’re being implemented is an important part of that process.

Simmons has written OSH policies for accident investigation, hearing conservation, emergency evacuation, safety incentives and recognition, return-to-work, hazard reporting, bloodborne pathogens, forklift operation and training, first aid and CPR, and hot work, among others.

There’s also a policy around the mattress maker’s “safety sign-off” program. This ensures that no new machinery, tool, chemical, or process can be installed in any facility without a sign-off from the corporate safety department.

Says Dawe, “No purchase order gets processed without a full safety review for any new hazard that employees would be exposed to.” Dawe and his colleagues frequently travel to sites where equipment is being manufactured to make sure company and OSHA safety standards are being met.

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Get the safety policies you need without the work. They’re in BLR’s Essential Safety Policies program. Try it at no cost and no risk. Find out how.

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Policies Prewritten and Ready to Use

It is essential that you have effective policies to deal with all the safety and health issues that affect your workplace. The BLR publication Essential Safety Policies has all the policies you need, prewritten and ready to use.

Furthermore, Essential Safety Policies provides you with sample strict, standard, and progressive versions of each policy. That way, you choose the policy approach that best fits your workplace and your safety culture.

You can use these policies “as is” or adapt them to your organization’s particular needs and style. Each policy provides you with comprehensive lists of points to cover if you want to adapt one of the policies or draft your own.

And Essential Safety Policies doesn’t stop there—it gives you a detailed list of other important things to consider when you implement these policies, such as interrelation with other policies, employee education, legal considerations, and more.

Take these kinds of materials and multiply them by more than two dozen key safety topics, and you’ll know why Essential Safety Policies is such a valuable tool for busy safety professionals. These policies provide a ready-to-modify or use-as-is safety handbook for all your workers, with minimal effort on your part.

The policies are backed by a tutorial on policy writing and essential materials such as handbook receipts. A CD version is also available.

If your organization could benefit from supplementing (or perhaps having for the first time) a complete set of ready-to-use safety policies, we highly recommend a 30-day, no-cost, no-obligation look at this program. Go here and we’ll be pleased to send it to you.

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