The State of Safety

September 2012

What is Safety?

Ideas

My Favorite Definition

An Acceptable Level of Risk

Can our definition (perception)of safety change?

What are some factors that can cause ones definition of safety to change?

• Age• Experience• Knowledge• Altered Level of Consciousness

Practical ExampleHas the level of risk changed?

Examples

Do you need more?

That doesn’t apply to me

• How does all this apply to us as SC&RA members?

Company Safety ProgramsIs it just a book?

REVIEW; What should be the overall goal of an effective safety program?

What elements should be a part of a world class safety program?

• The Right People

• Measureable Goals • Accountability for Results

The Right People

Management CommitmentWithout this principle in place the best safety staff in the world cannot accomplish even the most basic safety improvement goals

Examples = Management lowering employee standards for increased work or increasing working hours for business reasons

Safety StaffWhat roles does a good safety

professional play?• HR• Risk Management• Sales• Customer Relations• Trainer

Program / Goals

A safety program and its goals should be…– Unique to your industry– Quantifiable– Proactive, (Focus on leading indicators, not only

lagging)

Accountability

If accountability does not exist, (positive and negative), the majority of the rest of the program is null and void

That was a review of what safety is and the way most people think a safety culture “should” be….

What does the safety culture in our industry actually look like?

Governmental Guidelines

OSHA, MSHA, DOT, EPA, State Agencies, etc.– What is the current regulatory culture like?

• OSHA = More fines, higher monetary value ,Items like the OSHA 10 hr. training classes are being more regulated than ever. Recordablility standards conflicting with industry practice.

• DOT = Passage of CSA placed over half the country in a deficient category overnight, warnings count the same as tickets, fault has no bearing on accident records. FMSCA has right to shut down companies they deem to be unsafe

• MSHA = Increased enforcement, no tolerance policy for citations, (i.e. extraneous material in cabs)

• EPA= See the news headlines every day on emissions regulations, pollution standards, etc. Plants choosing to shut down instead of comply

• Workers Comp. = still a no-fault law

Car seat story

Contractor Guidelines

• PQF’s before each project– What's on a PQF?• OSHA Lagging indicators for previous 3 yrs., 5yrs., etc.• Customer requests such as list all medical cases in the

past 3 years, how many near misses have you had each year for the last 3 years, EMR documentation from insurance company, submit entire safety manual, etc.

This has led to the introduction of…

The Real Stimulus Package

Safety Networks such as ISNetworld, PICS, PEC Premier, BROWZ, Xnet, etc.

Close to a full time job for larger contractors, consultants offering to do it for customers and hundreds of employees at the networks to review thousands of

submissions daily

Submission of safety stats on monthly, quarterly, yearly basis, submission of safety programs as required by the customer, searches for nationwide citations company wide, etc. (i.e. $100 MSHA citation affecting operations in different states in a different company area)

Accurate Reporting?

• Many of the nations largest refineries, chemical plants, and even commercial contractors require stringent lagging indicator numbers to even enter the facility, (in addition to security clearances, hair follicle drug tests, background checks, etc.)

• Last years average TRIR for our industry, (other specialty trade contractors) was a 4.3 , the cut-off point for many large industry customers is 1.0. These locations nationwide have thousands of contractors enter their plants every day…

• The average EMR in the US is a 1.0. Many locales now require under a .85 with most having a no-bid number of anything over a 1.0.

What is the difference in a 4.3 and a 1.0?

To maintain a 1.0 TRIR a contractor cannot have more than one recordable accident every 200,000 man-hours.

A 4.3 TRIR is the equivalent of between 4 and 5 recordable accidents in the same 200,000 man-hours.

200,000 man-hours = a crew of 97 people working 40 hrs. a week for 2 years.

Remember = 4.3 is the average!!

Accurate Reporting

Examples of discipline for reporting injuries, damages, and even near-misses.

Legal Culture

• Legal Action / Lawsuits are at a very high level against contractors and individuals of all shapes and sizes.

• Many safety departments spend most of their time engaging in liability protection instead of employee safety

Summary

“I got out at just the right time.”

Hugh Erwin

Summary

We have to do what is best for our employees and companies in spite of the culture, not be in a constant reactive state because of the culture.