Effective Safety Programs

Too many times, associates don’t heed safety warnings and ignore their safety programs.

They think it doesn’t apply to them or that they won’t be hurt, or that they know better “how things work,” and they’ll circumvent safety equipment and safety procedures to make things work.

As the president of a large manufacturing company, I invested in training 100% of our people in the same way we trained our managers and supervisors. We made sure they heard the same message from the same safety professionals and understood what was expected from each of them. We made the production associates accountable for the safety of the production environment, and not the managers.

As a result of our new safety programs, one plant reported no lost time for more than 8 years while another plant celebrated no lost time for over 5 years. Those are impressive statistics when you consider what goes on in a lot of manufacturing facilities around the country.

In addition, the OSHA recordable rates at all locations are far less than they were before the safety program was implemented, and they are far less than the industry average today.

I’ve been a manufacturing executive, as well as a sales and marketing professional, for a few decades. Now I help companies turn around their own business. If you would like more information, or even help designing your own safety programs, please visit my website and connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.