Category: Special Topics in Safety Management

Safety is a process, and as such, needs to be managed. This section offers resources to create a viable safety program, sell it to senior management, train supervisors and employees in using it, and then track and report your progress. Look also for ways to advance your own skills in these areas, both for your current job, and those that follow.

Free Special Report: 50 Tips for More Effective Safety Training

Spreading the Word About Safety Yields Powerful Results

Read about a geographically diverse company that’s surmounted the challenge of maintaining a consistent, effective safety and health program. Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, NC, operates coal and gas facilities, plus nuclear, fossil, and hydroelectric plants in geographically dispersed areas. This diversity presents challenges to the company’s safety and health program, says Executive Director of […]

Follow the Pathway to Continuous Safety Improvement

Here’s a company that’s achieved a 21 percent reduction in OSHA recordables and historic improvements in safety performance with a top-down commitment to a safety and a broad-based safety campaign that hits all the right notes. At Covanta Energy, headquartered in Morristown, NJ, safety initiatives are all part of a "pathway for continuous safety Improvement," […]

Job Stress By the Numbers

With employee stress levels reportedly rising across the nation, isn’t it time you found out exactly how stressed your workers really are? Try this easy-to-use survey. Dr. Paul Rosch, president of the American Institute of Stress (AIS), warns employers to be wary of studies claiming to objectively measure workplace stress. Many, he notes, are highly […]

Workplace Stress: Costs, Consequences, and What You Can Do About It

There’s nothing new about workplace stress. But recession, cutbacks, and job uncertainty have made things worse, according to many experts. Here are some ideas for reducing stress in your workplace. Statistics about workplace stress are enough to cause stress for employers who need to manage and pay for it. Several sources estimate the annual price […]

How Much Are Accidents Really Costing You? Find Out

Want to estimate the costs of workplace accidents? OSHA has a tool for doing just that. In addition to the costs in pain and suffering to workers and their families, workplace accidents have a major impact on your bottom line. The Liberty Mutual  Workplace Safety Index for 2010 estimates that employers nationwide pay over $1 […]

Bottom Line Ammunition to Support Safety Investments

Selling upper management on increased budgets (or even just budgets that hold the line) for safety and health programs can be tough—especially in difficult economic times. Here’s some ammunition. It’s a documented fact: Employers that implement effective safety and health management systems can expect to significantly reduce work-related injuries and illnesses and the associated costs, […]

At Sunoco, Driving Policy Is Driven from the Top

Yesterday, we told you about a company that got tough on distracted driving and experienced great results. Today, we relate another success story. About 6 years ago, a senior vice president at Sunoco, Inc., was watching a weekend television news magazine. According to Senior Safety Specialist Bill Sanicky, the subject was distracted driving, and the […]

Fleet Drivers Driven to Distraction? Take Action

What are you doing to protect your fleet and your drivers from distracted driving accidents? Read about one employer that’s experiencing significant success with a strict driving policy. In 2009, 5,500 people were killed as a result of distracted driving accidents. Twenty percent of injury crashes involved reports of distracted driving, resulting in half a […]

8 Core Elements of a Safety Culture

A safety culture is an essential element of an safe and productive workplace. A successful safety culture is based on 8 core elements. The term “safety culture” reflects the commitment of personnel to safety at all levels of the organization. Safety culture has been defined in a variety of ways, such as: “The way we […]

9 Steps to a Successful Safety Culture

What is a safety culture? It’s the set of values that management and the workforce use to determine how they act at work. Safety should not be viewed or stated simply as a priority, says James Roughton, Safety Professional with a MS in Safety, a CSP, CRSP, CHMM, CIT, CET, and Six Sigma Black Belt. […]