Is it possible to focus too much on one part of our worker safety efforts and put less emphasis on other elements of keeping our workers safe? For example, with all of the focus on the recently released OSHA ETS for COVID-19 and the subsequent court filings and stays issued, we can lose focus on […]

In the August 09, 2021, edition of Plastics News, there was a Special Report: Workplace Safety titled “A Look Into Workplace Deaths and the Aftermath” discussing the number of deaths in plastics processing factories based upon a review of OSHA records from 2011 through 2020 that showed, at least, 60 people died in industrial accidents […]

West Virginia University Safety & Health Extension, through an OSHA Susan Harwood Training Grant has developed another outstanding training course titled “Fundamentals of Safety Leadership for the Oil & Gas Industry”. This training is a 3-hour course. Safety leadership is everyone on the team, crew, site. There is a distinct difference between leadership and management. […]

The next step is to change the “informal” management system to remove the rewards for risky behaviors and encourage safe behaviors. As was reviewed in the January blog titled “Management System Rewards Risky Behaviors”, the “informal” management system where the Manager, Supervisor, and workers interact to conduct business operations is evident in the company culture […]

Many companies have had to complete and post their OSHA 300A Annual Summary for 2021. While it is an exercise required by OSHA, it also gives good indications as to how a company is doing more so as a lagging indicator. OSHA considers a Recordable Injury as being severe enough to require medical attention beyond […]

As was mentioned in the December 2021 blog titled “Risk Vs. Reward”, workers think of the reward first then they may or may not consider the risk. I contend that many worker behaviors and decisions, some resulting in unsafe behaviors or injuries or fatalities, are based upon the management system in which they work, the […]

What is the difference between risk versus reward and reward versus risk? Traditionally, Safety Professionals determine if the risk presented by a hazard/activity is tolerable or intolerable and worth the reward. Workers, generally, think of the reward first then they may or may not consider the risk. One way to understand risk versus reward is […]