What If you held the cure for cancer or heart disease in your hands? How would it make you feel? Would you share it with the world?The fact is, workplace accidents are the cause of more deaths and injuries than cancer and heart disease combined and as CEO of your company you hold the cure […]
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What If you held the cure for cancer or heart disease in your hands? How would it make you feel? Would you share it with the world?
The fact is, workplace accidents are the cause of more deaths and injuries than cancer and heart disease combined and as CEO of your company you hold the cure for this one. Really!
CEOs who get it understand that safety in the workplace begins at the top. It's not just appointing some unsuspecting employee to be the “safety officer,” then announcing that you now have a “safety program.”
Simply stated, it is about caring for your employees enough to take the lead and establish a safety culture that communicates you do care. Select a qualified individual to be your safety officer, train him or her, supply the needed tools and most importantly lend your support. Your safety officer can develop and administer a safety program, but you as CEO need to make safety a priority and a core value of your company.
You may say safety is expensive. CEOs who get it say differently. Studies prove that establishing a positive safety culture in your business is pro-active, and gaining compliance saves money by decreasing lost workdays and lowering production costs and insurance rates. At the same time, it raises employee morale, engagement and retention. It helps recruiting and saves on retraining. And, if you need more of a bottom line, it spares your company being fined for non-compliance.
A good safety program needs compliance and a supportive culture, including a good attitude. Honestly, one is ineffective without the other. Compliance is, of course, meeting codes and regulations mandated by federal and state agencies. The Occupational Safety Health Administration leads the compliance criteria. OSHA writes the regulations and is empowered by the government to enforce the regulations.
In Maine we are fortunate to have SafetyWorks, a division of the Maine Department of Labor. SafetyWorks will work with a company to fulfill the first element of safety compliance if a company has the foresight to be pro-active. It conducts on-site safety inspections and works with you in a non-confrontational manner to help you achieve compliance. As incentives, SafetyWorks administers OSHA awards programs that reward companies for exemplary safety systems. Maine leads New England by having nearly 70 companies that have earned OSHA's certification under the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program. Considering there are fewer than 2,000 SHARP companies nationwide, this is indeed testimony to the effort and effectiveness of SafetyWorks and to the commitment of many of Maine's employers who do get it.
Maine Employers for Safety and Health Excellence fulfills the second element. MESHE is a volunteer nonprofit comprised of many of the companies that have earned OSHA recognition along with other supporters of safety culture. MESHE is dedicated to bringing safety culture training and mentoring to Maine companies. MESHE's mission is to promote safety and health practices, with the goal of reducing work-related injury and illness of employees, thereby reducing expenses for employers.
Even if your company already has a culture of safety, it may not be as positive as you would like. MESHE volunteers will work with what you have and help you find a path to establishing a positive and active safety culture. You can achieve compliance and totally miss the core value of establishing a safety culture. It is critical not only to have rules and regulations, but equally important to develop minds that “Think Safety” to diminish workplace risks every day and on every task.
Edwin W. “Bill” Morong, executive director at Maine Employers for Safety and Health Excellence, can be reached at info@meshementor.org