HSE People - Health and Safety Community

Workplace safety can appear very daunting for many employers. Creating a safe work environment for workers is not only morally right, but also a legal right in this country. There are many important tools available to ensure that all of the necessary precautions are taken to avoid and reduce accidents in the workplace.

1. Hazard Assessment/Job Safety Analysis (JSA)

Hazard assessment or job safety analysis (JSA) helps identify potential safety risks in the workplace and what measures should be taken to avoid these hazards.

2. Implementing controls at work stations

Implementing safety controls and devices to work stations based on the findings of your JSA will reduce the occurrence of workplace accidents. This includes built-in safety devices, such as a chemical eyewash station, or requiring employees to wear hard hats and protective eye wear on the job. This year alone, 78% of eye injuries were due to a lack of protective eye wear.

3. Provide proper safety training to employees.

View training as an investment. The better the training your employees receive, the less likely an incident will occur. Many employers forgo educating their workers on topics that could potential save them thousands in workers’ compensation claims and lawsuits.

Today there are more choices than ever when it comes to safety training. Many employers think the only option is the traditional classroom setting, but thanks to technology – online training is the quickest, easiest, cheapest and most environmentally conscious choice. Many online safety training companies offer their own tracking systems to alleviate the administrative burden from employers and some offer free courses (www.safetyskills.com) or trials. But always make sure that your training provider is IACET certified and has the proper credentials.

Whatever type of training is chosen, setting high standards of training completion on employees is crucial and any incidents of negligence by an employee should be deemed unacceptable. This ensures your financial security as a company, as well as the safety of all of your workers.

4. Staying current.

Keeping up with the latest guidelines and trends in safety is very time consuming, but necessary. OSHA sets the standard in safety. If an employer doesn’t have time for this task, finding a training provider that does is the best route to take.

It is also important to pay attention to any news coverage about emerging workplace safety issues. For instance, incidents of Heat Stress have become more and more common resulting in heat-related illness and death. Providing training on Heat Stress is a new trend that is becoming necessary, especially for those who work outdoors.

Besides training, all gear and equipment should be regularly maintenance and replaced when it becomes outdated or a potential hazard. This is another topic that has been in newsstands across the country due to the recent metro tragedy in Washington, D.C. It was reported that the metro train that crashed needed to be replaced for a newer model, which would have saved the lives of many.

5. Refresher courses.

Like any student who finishes a class, sometimes a refresher course is needed down the road. Issues in safety are constantly changing because our technology keeps advancing. This also means that with new advancements means new problems. Giving refresher courses every year is a great way to reduce the likelihood of workplace accidents.

                         

Hi HSE People

Just an update on the site! Things are coming along fantastically, we are now well over 750 members and thanks to everyone continuing to spread the word that is increasing every day.

As a thank you I have added some more features to the site. Members will be able to, from next week, use the new Micro Feed button on the videos page to download and view any videos on the site offline. This feature will require a download of the Micro Feed software which is free (as usual) to site members. You will be able to subscribe to a feed from HSE People which can automatically update with all the videos on the site. This software allows users to download you tube videos also and subscribe to other feeds and free TV channels across the Net. Please note the Micro Feed won’t work properly with HSE People until next week but you can still download the software just now and get started.

An additional feature is also the new Events Tab. This is designed mainly for training companies and course providers. Anyone can add an event which will require Moderator approval before appearing on the site. As a way of helping HSE People cover costs all we ask is for a small percentage of the course fee per candidate attending your Event through the site. We think this is fair and there is no charge to list the event so you have nothing to lose by giving it a go. Please contact me if you are a Trainer or Course provider and want more details Kevin@hsepeople.com

In an attempt to make HSE People the one stop site for everything safety related we intend to offer a Links Page in the very near future that will offer links to Recruiters, Trainers and Consultants. Again if you would like your company link to appear on a main page on the site please contact me Kevin@hsepeople.com

A Product review page is also in the making and we hope to be able to use this page to make members aware of the latest safety products on the market. I would very much like to hear from PPE Companies and suppliers interested in this.

The much anticipated Document Library is well under development and we hope to bring this to you very soon. Members will be able to upload, share, search and download any document relating to Health and Safety this will prove to be a very valuable resource and I am sure a very popular page. I would be interested to hear from our members on how you think the contents should be broken down and what categories would like to see.

The final addition to the site is the Music player. Anyone can upload music to their profile and create their own play list to listen to as they browse the site. This then gets added to the main music player page where you can browse all the music on the site. Warning the first person to upload any Dolly Patron or Frank Sinatra will be deleted from the site! (just joking) ;)

Finally thanks to all the people who have provided links back to HSE People on their own websites. This is really helping us get up the search engine rankings and making the site a big hit.

Have a great weekend

Kevin

The new Events page on the site is designed for Training and Course providers to advertise courses they provide and available places.

The event is free to list and can be added very easily from the create events icon on the sites main control panel that is available to members on every page when signed in.

HSE People will charge a fee of 10% of course price per delegate signing up through the site. I think this is fair and a great way of supporting the site and giving a little back without paying for advertising that may or may not work.

When you create an event you will be emailed a forum to fill out with your company details.

If you wish to discuss this or want more information drop me a line. kevin@hsepeople.com

2009 Edition of the DuPont Safety Awards

 

This competition is organised every year to stimulate contributions aimed at improving safety & health, risk management and accident prevention.

This year, prizes will be awarded in five categories: Performance Improvement, Innovative Approach, Visible Management Commitment, Sustainable Business Impact and Cultural Evolution. The jury, which is constituted by outstanding personalities in their field, will select five winners, one per each category, according to these five criteria: Design & Innovation, Scope, Results, Replicability and Risk.

Please have a look the following website for further information regarding this award program.

http://www2.dupont.com/Consulting_Services/en_US/assets/downloads/2009_Leaders_Forum/Safety%20Awards%20Application%20Package%20v3.pdf

Gokhan