MEMIC Safety Blog

Does Your Business Have An Effective Injury Management System?

 Posted by Hartley Webb

Operating a business is never easy, but is especially challenging in a difficult economy.  This should lead management to identify cost control methods.  Workplace injuries are extremely expensive when both the direct and indirect costs are considered.  An injury management system can help limit these costs while assisting injured employees return to the workforce.   I’ve worked as a MEMIC safety management consultant since 1993, and I still see businesses that do not have effective injury management systems. 

An effective Injury Management System consists of the following:

1. Knowledge of loss experience (injury cause, injury type, body part).
2. Identify and meet with a local preferred medical provider who can treat occupational injuries and illnesses; establish a working relationship with a shared return-to-work philosophy.
3. Detailed job descriptions (that include physical tasks required) that can be used to communicate job requirements to the medical provider.
4. A written plan that identifies the employer and employee responsibilities regarding injury reporting, claim filing, preferred medical provider use, return-to-work guidelines, and communication with injured employees during treatment and restricted duty. 
5. Identify alternate duty job activities available in the event an injury occurs.
6. Documented injury management system training to include specific employee responsibilities.

OSHA has developed a “$afety Pays Program” that includes an injury cost estimator.  This tool can provide convincing evidence of the importance of an effective Injury Management System. 

Got Occupational Safety and Health Specialists?

 Posted by John Dodge

Where is the new generation of Occupational Safety and Health Specialists? Employers may be asking this question soon.

A report from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) informs us that demand for safety, health and environmental professionals is strong.  A recent NIOSH study indicates that employers plan to hire at least 25,000 SH&E professionals over the next 5 years, and only about 12,000 new graduates are expected to be available. Clearly the rest will come from non-traditional students and people seeking a career change.

Let's find and mentor these people!  Please recommend the MEMIC Center for Workplace Safety at Central Maine Community College. CMCC's Occupational Health and Safety credit courses and workshops are waiting for aspiring safety professionals or current safety & health practitioners seeking to improve their skills. Please contact the MEMIC Center for Workplace Safety’s Bryan Wallace at 207.755.5282 or at bwallace@cmcc.edu.

Hang Up and Drive

 _{^{Posted by Randy Klatt}}

On Tuesday December 13, 2011, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended a nationwide ban on all portable electronic devices (PED’s) for all motorists.  The NTSB came to its recommendation after investigating a multi-vehicle crash in Gray Summit, MO that involved a driver who was texting. The crash, which occurred on Aug. 5, 2010, killed two people and injured 38 including children in two school buses.  The National Safety Council (NSC) made this recommendation many months ago and was quick to endorse this NTSB vote.

It is clear that drivers are frequently distracted by electronic devices.  Naturally this creates a safety concern not just for the distracted driver, but for everyone else on the road, in cross walks, and in construction work zones.  The NSC estimates 1.3 million crashes, or 23 percent of all crashes, involve distracted drivers using cell phones. “Quantifying crashes and fatalities involving cell phone use while driving is challenging due to several factors such as a driver’s unwillingness to admit the behavior and lack of witnesses. Additionally, cell phone use currently is not consistently captured on police reports. We are able to develop an estimate of crashes based on risk and exposure, but the problem could be much larger than we estimate,” says Janet Froetscher, NSC President and CEO. 

The links below offer the latest information concerning this topic.  If your employees drive as part of their work routine, then it is time to review your fleet plan and consider eliminating this risk.   

National Safety Council

National Transportation Safety Board Fact Sheet

Cellphone Driving Ban: Good Idea?

If you lead safely, I’ll follow

 Posted by John Dodge

Last month I was speaking to a group of supervisors and middle managers about the role of the front-line supervisor in workplace safety. We discussed that in some organizations, workplace safety and health responsibilities are assigned to a safety committee or a safety coordinator. And in many cases, injury prevention efforts fall short due to the fact that safety committees and safety coordinators are limited in their authority and aren't always available to ensure safe work practices.

However, the front-line supervisor does have the necessary authority and availability to ensure safe work practices. Who better to evaluate work conditions, safe behaviors, and employee skill levels?

Unfortunately, some organizations do not assign safety related activities to their supervisors, or educate them on leadership skills - they are expected to already have these skills or to learn on the job. As a result, many supervisors rely on their technical skills rather than the all-important human and conceptual skills necessary to lead.

Technical skills-- knowing how to do a job--are critical for teaching and coaching employees while human skills such as honesty, communication, sincerity, motivation, respect, and ensuring safe work, are essential for effective leadership. Conceptual workplace skills such as organization, job preparation, and evaluating employee skill are equally essential.  Effective use of technical, human, and conceptual skills will help the supervisor foster a safe, high performance workplace.  

Want proof that you should work on your human skills? Ask your employees and fellow supervisors to name some traits of the best supervisor that they have ever worked for. Write them down and note how many fall into the human skills category-you may be surprised!

Want to know more about leadership in safety? Join MEMIC for a one hour webinar on January 19, 2011 at 11 a.m.

Does my company need a written safety and health program?

 
Posted by John Dodge

This week a business owner asked me if he needed a formal safety program. His business employed 10 people and has been successful in preventing workplace injuries for several years. However, he felt some level of uncertainty about his informal safety and health efforts.

Following a brief discussion and a work site tour, it was evident that his organization had elements of a formal safety and health program: An organized workplace, well maintained tools and equipment, elimination of hazardous tasks, and availability of personal protective equipment.

I suspect that many business owners find themselves in a similar situation. They feel that they are doing enough to provide a safe workplace and if they have few injuries, why have a formal program?

I also suspect that some businesses owners feel as if their luck has changed- the informal safety efforts that have worked in the past are no longer working.

If you wonder why you need a formal safety and health program, start by asking these questions:

1. How do my employees know that I expect them to work safely?
2. How do I address unsafe work conditions before an accident or near miss?
3. Does management understand that they are accountable for safe work conditions?
4. How are employees trained to perform their job?
5. Do my employees participate in the safety and health process?
6. Am I compliant with regulatory safety and health requirements?

If you don’t have answers to these questions, a written safety and health policy will provide a definite course of action and a schedule of activities. There are various guidance documents available, but most will have these basic program elements:

1. Management commitment and employee involvement
2. Worksite analysis
3. Hazard identification and control
4. Employee training

To get started, I recommend MEMIC’s Seven Steps to a Safer Workplace guide. This document and other safety support materials are available on MEMIC’s Safety Director website.  You will quickly build a formal safety and health program and will eliminate any uncertainty about the effectiveness and consistency of your future safety efforts.   

Choices, choices

  Submitted by Peter Koch

 

“The history of men is never really written by chance but by choice.”  ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

That second it takes to make a choice, right or wrong, can be the difference between success and a loss.  That choice is yours and your employee’s to make.  Whether you like it or not, as a supervisor, once clocked in, the choices they make are your responsibility. 

In the event of an injury, consider what drove the choice(s) that caused the event.  What changed to cause the injury?  Could it have been production volume, environmental or working conditions, fatigue?  Or, just staff becoming more comfortable, perhaps too comfortable, with their job and working conditions? Though these reasons may be uncovered in the accident analysis, they are all normal evolutions of our work climate, which can be anticipated and controlled.  How can you influence the choices that caused the event?  Here are some questions to assess:  

• What did you do early on in their employment to affect the choices made by your staff?
• Have you continued repeating the message(s)? Are they still listening?
• How ingrained is the safety message/culture you want to have?
• Have you observed the behavior of the staff in the field compared to the expectations?
• Have you thoroughly discussed and analyzed the targeted losses from your company with your staff?
• Have you been able to focus the discussion on the choice that caused the event, or the conditions that drove the choice?

Influencing choices and changing behavior starts with developing policies and procedures that address expected job performance while prohibiting behaviors that are not essential for the job, or are excessively hazardous.  This is a necessary – and critical – part of managing work-related risk.  

Take a minute to review what you do to affect the daily choices of your staff.  Start with the policies and procedures, then move on to how you communicate the expectations of the job.  Can you be more effective at influencing the choices your staff members make once they punch the clock?

Difficult times? Be an Inspirational Leader

 Posted by John Dodge

 

It seems that economic uncertainty is everywhere and is not likely to improve overnight. As a result, your employees are worried about many things and their jobs may be at the top of their worry list.  

 

During one of MEMIC’s recent Integrating Safety into Sound Business Practices workshops for front-line supervisors, the participants were reviewing their observer scores from an assessment tool called the Leadership Practices Inventory. The LPI asks the participant’s co-workers to consider their supervisor’s performance on leadership practices such as encouraging others, modeling the way, and inspiring a vision of the future. When one participant named Sheryl noticed that she scored high on all of the practices with the exception of “inspiring a shared vision of the future”, she commented that as a front-line supervisor she has little knowledge about the future direction of her company.

 

Others agreed that they were in similar positions. After some discussion about what Sheryl didn’t know about the future of her company, I asked her what she did know, or “What would help an individual at your organization be successful in uncertain times?" Sheryl stated that an employee in her organization would enjoy future success if they had the following characteristics:

 

• Flexibililty
• Adaptability
• Willingness to go the extra mile

Sheryl agreed to introduce these characteristics to her team and during our next session, she was happy to report that this approach was already working. The individuals concerned about their future roles were beginning to be able to focus their energy on the traits listed above. And, as a bonus, Sheryl found that managing change became a little easier.

 

Consider your employees. How will you inspire them with a vision of the future? They are ready to listen.

A Clear Observation of Organizational Culture

 Posted by Donna Clendenning

 

Recently, I had the opportunity to provide back safety and core awareness training at two locations of the same healthcare organization.

 

The two locations were operated by two individual administrators and directors of nursing. The administrator of the first location has led her workforce for more than a decade. She is pleasant, open, positive, and an easy-going person.  Sixteen staff attended the training. They participated, and were generally vocal and engaged, and they had a lot of fun with the back safety quiz.  Team competition and a return demonstration of core muscle awareness and strengthening ended in a vivacious finale.  A basket of candies was passed around for the "winners" numerous times and everyone ended up with lots of positive reinforcement. The room was filled with cajoling, laughter, fun, and most importantly, learning. 

 

The second location had a similar number of staff attendees. This administrator is also a veteran of the organization whose leadership style is more business-like. While providing the same training content and style, the second group was quiet and more difficult to draw out.

 

What struck me most were the vast differences in communication and attitude between the locations, despite being one organization.  Among other things, in MEMIC's four-part leadership series workshop, we learn of the value of communication as it relates to performance.

 

Leadership is an activity, not a person.  Leadership comes not from titles, nor even necessarily from expertise, but from the relationships between those who choose to exercise leadership and those who choose to follow. These relationships may result from trust, shared visions or goals, sometimes shared pain, or mutual gifts of significance where leader and followers help each other feel an important part of something larger than them. Leadership draws its power from issues of the heart.

 

What I witnessed was the personal aspect of being a positive leader. The staff of the first location was clearly ready, willing, and able to do whatever it takes for the good of a common goal. The paycheck, or a reward, or a raise was not what learning was about for this group!

 

What culture are you growing in your business? Are you a leader of authority or a leader who draws their power from issues of the heart?

 

Time to Set a SMART Goal

As we approach the end of yet another year, it's time to get prepared for the next one.  One thing most safety-conscious companies do is set employee health and safety goals.  By doing so, companies are forced to review their current situation and increase awareness. Just doing this can greatly improve the possibility of reducing the frequency and severity of injuries. 

How you set your goals can vary by the number of people involved in the process.  While it can be cumbersome to include everyone, the truth is you have a better chance of succeeding if everyone is pulling on the rope.  The more owners, managers and especially front-line supervisors participating in any goal-setting process, the better the buy-in and the better chance you’ll succeed as an organization.  Let's face it, if owners, managers and front-line supervisors aren’t buying in, you are not going to meet the goal.

Some companies are small enough so that the decision-makers can knock out a set of goals in about an hour.  Larger businesses may need to get more creative and/or invest more time.  In either case, there are some basic things you should consider about setting a goal. We call them SMART goals.  Here is what comprises such a goal:

SMART Goal:
    Specific
    Measurable/Verifiable
    Agreed Upon
    Realistic
    Time-Framed

This approach is not new. MEMIC has been using SMART Goals for many years in our Leadership Training classes.  By touching on all five of these items you will be improving on the accuracy and overall ability to hit your target.  Incidentally, this same process can be used in the areas of productivity and quality as well. And with 2009 fast approaching, now is the time to set your goals.

Make sure you communicate the goals to everyone in the organization- not just at the beginning of the year, but repeatedly throughout the year.