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| Alter the Future with Near-Miss Reporting |
Wouldn’t it be great to have some sort of system in place to stop workplace injuries, fatalities and equipment damage situations before they occurred?
If your company adopted a simple, proven way to create a near-miss (close call) reporting culture, it would move a long way toward achieving that goal, according to certified safety professional Robert Ryan, president of Safety Metrics Inc. in Wilmington, DE.
Ryan says a near-miss reporting culture in place:
- Enables companies to pro-actively resolve hazards before a tragic or costly incident occurs.
- Engages the workforce (all workers at all levels) in solving problems.
- Increases safety ownership and reinforces workers’ self-esteem.
- Exposes valuable information that otherwise might not be discussed.
- Develops a positive and necessary attitude surrounding safety.
Ryan says there are basically four steps toward creating a near-miss reporting culture.
Step One: Answer the question: Why report near misses? And make sure everyone receives the same answer: A near miss incident is an opportunity to identify and fix problems before they do actual damage.
Step Two: Create a “willingness to participate” environment. Ensure that workers are not fearful of reporting near misses and that there is accountability at all levels.
Step Three: Make it easy for workers to report near misses by creating clear written guidelines.
Step Four: Measure your near-miss reporting program and fine-tune it as necessary.
A near-miss reporting system is like a giant brake that stops time, lets everyone take a step back from a dangerous situation and ensures that the hazard is fixed before the brake is released and work proceeds. The trick is that workers need to recognize when the “safety train” is about to derail and pull the brake before a near-miss turns into a serious injury or fatality.
Need help creating a near-miss reporting culture? SafetySmart Online has a number of tools, including posters, puzzles, clip art, articles for your company newsletters and safety talks, such as this one, that you can use to train and encourage your workers to report close calls. (Subscription to SafetySmart Online is required to access this page.)
Want to Try SafetySmart Online? Request a Free Demo
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| Safety Compliance & Technology Q&A – Oct 28th, 10am PST |
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| If you have questions on how technology can help you with your training and compliance responsibilities, then join us for Product Team Q&A sessions and get the answers directly from our product team. The sessions are designed to present an informal inside look into the product features and future plans of Bongarde's Safety training and compliance solutions. Plus, you will be entered into a drawing for a $50 Gift Certificate to SafetyPoster.com. |
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| Ah, a host of hazards here and hardly a piece of personal protective equipment in sight. We have unprotected eyes, unprotected heads, unprotected ears, unprotected hands on the saw operator and two sets of unprotected lungs inhaling who knows what. And how was your workday? (Paula Hadley photo) |
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| C-45′ing Company Officials: What’s Taken So Long? |
Well hello, C-45. We’ve been expecting you.
The notorious law that made corporate neglect of workplace safety a crime finally made its debutant appearance on Wednesday when 3 company officials from Ontario were charged with criminal negligence for the death of 3 workers in the Christmas Eve scaffolding tragedy.
No, this is not the first C-45 prosecution. But it’s the first time since the law took effect on March 31, 2004 that individual company officials have been charged.
Why Haven’t There Been More C-45 Prosecutions?
Holding corporate officials accountable for workplace safety was the very reason C-45 was adopted. So why has it taken more than 6 years for C-45 charges to be laid against a company official? There are at least 2 explanations:
Read more on C-45 law and prosecutions in the Due Diligence Blog on OHSInsider.com. Subscription is required – Sign up for a No-Cost Trial of OHS Insider and you will be entered into a drawing for a FREE NHL jersey of your choice .
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| Criminal Charges Laid in Toronto Scaffolding Tragedy |
Three owners of a Toronto construction company have been charged with criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm in connection with a scaffold failure that claimed four lives in that city on Christmas Eve 2009.
Six construction workers were on a swing stage and when a seventh worker tried to climb on, the scaffold broke into two pieces. Four workers fell 13 floors to their deaths, while amazingly a fifth worker survived his fall, albeit with severe injuries.
Charged are Vadim Kazenelson, Joel Swartz and Benny Saigh. Facing the same charges is the company they operate, Metron Construction Corp.
Metron, a company supervisor and Swing “N” Scaff, the company that supplied the scaffolding, also face Ontario Ministry of Labour charges as follows:
- failure to ensure that workers used proper devices to prevent them from falling,
- failure to ensure that platform the men were using wasn’t overloaded,
- failure to ensure the platform was designed in accordance with regulations, and
- failure to ensure workers were properly trained and following safety policies.
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| Upcoming Events: |
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| Webinar - October 21, 12:00 EST |
| What Every Supervisor Must Know to Protect Against the Growing Risk of Being Held Personally Liable for OHS Violations. |
| Find out how to avoid OHS fines, penalties, and even criminal prosecution. |
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| Join the online community of safety professionals |
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| Choose from over 1000+ posters on over 50 safety topics |
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| Take advantage of sophisticated and easy-to-use training resources. |
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