Loading ...July, 2010
The First Safety Committee
Q: Who invented the safety committee?
A: Apparently, the first safety committee was established by George Eastman at Eastman Kodak in 1911. At least that’s the first reference to a safety committee I could find. If any of you SafetyXChange members know of an earlier example, please e-mail me at glennd@bongarde.com and we’ll print a correction.
Safety Committees In The U.S.
Unlike Canada, OSHA laws don’t require companies to establish health and safety committees at their workplace. However, U.S. companies are also subject to state law and there are at least 14 states that do make safety committees mandatory:
California
Connecticut
Michigan
Minnesota
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Oregon
Tennessee
Washington
West Virginia
In addition, 5 states recommend the implementation of a safety committee:
Alaska
Hawaii
Pennsylvania
Vermont
Virginia
6 Safety Committee Best Practices
Over the years, I have written extensively about what we in Canada call Joint Health and Safety Committees. One of the things I do is interview leaders of successful committees and gather up their best practices. I have written a book summarizing my findings. Here’s a small taste of some of the best practices I [...]
Tips for Building a Culture of Safety
A culture of safety is not just a new set of rules; it is a new philosophy of preventing injury in the workplace. In a true safety culture, safe behavior is not something the boss makes you do; it is a vital part of your job. An unsafe worker is an uneducated [...]
How to Use Search Engines to Your Advantage
Google and other Internet search engines have changed job seeking like they’ve changed everything else. What hath Google wrought? And how can you, as safety professionals, take advantage of Google to enhance your job search and career prospects? Here are three quick tips.
1. Give Yourself a Regular Google
Understand that Google has become a tool for [...]
July 26, 2002, The Quecreek Mine Miracle
Any time a worker survives a mine accident, it feels like a miracle. Multiplied by 9, it’s like a miracle on steroids. So what happened 8 years ago on this date in the Pennsylvania Quecreek Mine is a tale worth retelling.
It began 2 days earlier, on July 24. At 8:50 [...]
4 Ways to Cut Yourself Some Slack in a Hectic Schedule
When people are faced with too much month and too little pay, they are often forced to draw up and follow a budget. Just as money can be saved that way, it’s also possible to budget your time more wisely and reduce stress.
The following time-saving tips, applying to activities both on and [...]
How to Maximize Your Time
Busy people often wish for more hours in the day, but leadership consultant Joelle Jay, Ph.D, says, “When you maximize your time, you actually do have more hours in the day.”
Jay, president of Pillar Consulting, says the key to maximizing time is following these five shortcuts:
1. Modeling: In many industries, modeling [...]
Using the Audit Toolkit to Measure Your Compliance
Pressure to increase productivity, tighter profit margins, cuts in work forces and safety staff. It seems like a very good time to audit whether your current operations are compliant with all relevant health and safety laws. I have developed a comprehensive auditing tool that I’m willing to share with any organizations [...]
Tool 1 – Model Audting Protocol
The following is a step by step list of procedures to which NAME OF COMPANY will adhere in completing audits.
Once a scheduled audit date has been established, a memorandum is sent to the Senior Site Official and NAME OF APPROPRIATE CORPORATE OFFICIAL in preparation of the upcoming audit.
A blank Audit Questionnaire is sent confidentially [...]
