How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?
How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?
(OP)
Frustration is starting to set in.
Imagine you have every thinkable safety precaution in place.
Weekly safety meetings.
Pre-shift safety talk.
Departmental safety meeting.
STOP program, everyone is encouraged to stop unsafe acts even if it means shutting down the operation.
Recognitions programs, where the best safety suggestion or safety action is awarded.
Safety bulletins, learning from others.
Pre job analysis, what can go wrong.
Safety tours with the crew.
Audits and endless audits.
And you're doing a pretty good job, looking at the statistic. But then it happens!
That one little thing. Rarely a new hand, mostly experienced and accountable guys. Someone slipping off a ladder, cut in the face eventhough both faceshield and goggles are in place, crushed finger when cleaning up workshop...the list goes on.
How do you stop the little things from biting you in the ass?
Imagine you have every thinkable safety precaution in place.
Weekly safety meetings.
Pre-shift safety talk.
Departmental safety meeting.
STOP program, everyone is encouraged to stop unsafe acts even if it means shutting down the operation.
Recognitions programs, where the best safety suggestion or safety action is awarded.
Safety bulletins, learning from others.
Pre job analysis, what can go wrong.
Safety tours with the crew.
Audits and endless audits.
And you're doing a pretty good job, looking at the statistic. But then it happens!
That one little thing. Rarely a new hand, mostly experienced and accountable guys. Someone slipping off a ladder, cut in the face eventhough both faceshield and goggles are in place, crushed finger when cleaning up workshop...the list goes on.
How do you stop the little things from biting you in the ass?





RE: How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?
HAZOP at www.curryhydrocarbons.ca
RE: How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?
We have special lectures and special training for any time we do unfamiliar tasks.
Also we tell folks that we don’t think it is good business to kill employees. Everyone agrees with that. Then we tell them that since it is not good business to kill employees it is also probably not good business to get employees hurt. Somehow this gets a safety point across and they really realize that we care.
Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.
www.carbideprocessor.com
RE: How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?
I think owg has a point there when he says that, in my own interpretation, showing your commitment on saftey will reflect the safety outcome of the workers. Fair enough! People don't care how much you know until you show them how much you care.
And like tomwalz, we also take our staffs safety very serious and wants everyone go home to their families as they left home. Zero tolerance on accidents.
It still amazes me that it is not the high risk, very complicated, simultaneous operation where people get hurt. It's the every day jobs. Things that has been done a thousand times. How do you keep people "on their toes" regarding safety even during the normal tasks?
RE: How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?
Washington State has a really good, free safety and health consulting service we have used several times.
Use fewer people. In Washington State you are heavily penalized for adding employees but there are tax benefits for buying equipment.
Use the right employees. Some employees have more accidents than others. One reason sometimes given in the studies is that employees who get injured repeatedly have a need for recognition.
Do drug and alcohol testing. Be careful on this. Several years ago I announced that we were going to do it and lost three key employees. They just happened to quit shortly after the announcement.
Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.
www.carbideprocessor.com
RE: How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?
The entire process takes time, a LOT of it. Try to not get discouraged because of one or two bad months, just do some analysis, determine the root causes, and implement changes throughout the facility. Good luck.
RE: How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?
The results: One people injured and Plant Safety record finished.
In others cases the personal attitude is the key problem, many people go to work in our plant installations, they use personal protection equipment, follow the safety rules and make all activities following the correct procedures. But when labor day finish this same people get into the cars to back home and you can see in the majority of the cases they forgot put the seat belt before drive the cars.
Regards
Alberto J. Hung C
Caracas Venezuela
RE: How to stop the little things biting you in the a**?