Loading ...January, 2009
Is Management Committed to Safety Culture?
As Hank explains, when it comes to building a safety culture, talk is cheap. Actions represent the true measure of organizational commitment. And as Hank will explain next week, commitment must come at all levels of the organization, including and especially the top. How can you determine if your management is truly committed to and [...]
The Safety Culture, Part 1 of 2
Everywhere we turn today, we hear encouragement to “develop a positive safety culture.” But I’ve come to the realization that many employers don’t have the slightest clue of what a safety culture is or how to move from where they are to where we are telling them they need to be. So let’s get back [...]
What Would You Do
Boy, you’re a generous group of people.
A few weeks ago, I told you about a safety manager whose workplace was experiencing a high rate of injuries as the result of workers tripping over materials in the lumberyard and at building sites hundreds of miles away. Last week, we published four of your suggestions. But wait [...]
PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE – ZERO TOLERANCE
It must be understood that progressive discipline is a last resort for safety management. However, there are circumstances when discipline will be required to reinforce, with some employees, that management is serious about safety. The steps to be followed are:
Stage 1 of Progressive Discipline – Verbal Reminder
The supervisor must ensure that he has sufficient facts [...]
A Prevention Strategy: Part 1 of 3, Acknowledging the Risk
We’re in a recession. Millions of people have or are going to lose their jobs. Even the ones who manage to avoid the layoffs are going to lose sleep worrying. All of this infuses the workplace with an emotional volatility that’s likely to erupt into violence at any moment. The key to preventing violence is [...]
Discipline without Retaliation, Part 2 of 3
OSHA has become not just the enforcer of health and safety regulations but the guardian angel of whistleblowers. It enforces 14 different federal laws that ban companies from retaliating against whistleblowers. Last week, we discussed the anti-retaliation provisions of the OSHA law itself. Now we turn to the number one source of whistleblower complaints: The [...]
Is Discipline Retaliatory or Legitimate?
THE SITUATION
A company suspects that a plant safety director is underreporting injuries to make his numbers look better. It orders him to report certain kinds of injuries that haven’t been reported in the past. The safety director talks to OSHA and confirms that some of the injuries management wants reported aren’t reportable under OSHA standards. [...]
How to Overcome the 7 Biggest Challenges, Part 1 of 2
The numbers are frightening. 593,000 people lost their jobs in November. The December figure, which will be out by the time you read this column, is expected to be even higher. If you’re in this group, are worried about losing your job or are just in the market for a better opportunity, here’s some helpful [...]
January 9, 1956
Ever heard of Pauline Phillips?
No? Well, I’ll bet the name Abigail Van Buren is vaguely familiar. If I told you her nickname was Abby, it might sound even more familiar. And if I told you that she writes an international advice column answering questions from readers, you’d know exactly who I was talking about.
It was [...]
