In my earlier blog, I mentioned I was able to participate in a Cal/OSHA Consultation visit with one of our clients. The visit was very informative and the Consultation Officer was very helpful. I thought it might be helpful to share some of the things he observed and recommended in hopes that it may benefit others.

The very first thing he asked for was the agency’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP). Fortunately, I had previously worked with the client on using the sample IIPP that was developed by BRS. We had modified it to meet the needs of the agency and the Consultation Officer thought it was well-written and that it would pass scrutiny from Cal/OSHA. This was a very nice endorsement of our IIPP and it was nice to hear that if a company used our sample IIPP and modified it to their operation, that Cal/OSHA would not have issues with it. In case you haven’t seen it, or need one, the IIPP can be found in the Members Only section of your pool’s risk control website page. Just remember, it must be modified to meet your agencies operations because that is what Cal/OSHA will hold you to.

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I recently had the opportunity to participate in a Cal/OSHA Consultation visit with one of our clients. I know what many of you are thinking; if Cal/OSHA is coming to my facility it can’t be good a thing. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong in this instance and I’ll explain why.

Most of us are familiar with the Enforcement Division of Cal/OSHA. You are likely to see them show up unannounced at your facility when they respond to serious injuries,...

In my two prior blogs on coaching employees I reviewed the importance of identifying unsafe behaviors in the workplace and how get your employees to change their behavior. Now I would like to give you some tips to use for coaching your employees.

Coaching Tips:

• Focus on the unsafe act rather than the employee, their personality, or attitude. • Focus on the unsafe act rather than the outcome. For example, a near miss v. a medical...

On my previous blog I discussed why monitoring your employee’s behaviors at work can help prevent injuries and what you, as a manager, can do about it. Now, let’s talk about how to do it.

One of the first things is to catch people doing things right! This will encourage them to continue the same correct behavior. When you encounter poor work practices, remind employees that working in an unsafe manner is a bad habit that needs changing. However,...

When managers and supervisors conduct safety inspections, they often times tend to just concentrate on the conditions or “things” that may lead to accidents. While identifying and correcting unsafe conditions is important, it’s just as important to conduct personal safety evaluations specific to each employee’s individual work practices. In other words, “Are your employee’s working safely?”

When it comes right down to it, most injuries are caused by unsafe acts, poor work practices and taking short-cuts. This means the decisions people are making are most often responsible for their injuries and accidents. Good decisions usually result in good outcomes, whereas bad or improper decisions usually lead to an accident. The laws of probability are also associated with accidents and injuries. For every serious disabling accident, several occur that only result in minor medical treatment, and for each of these, many smaller accidents or near misses take place. By reducing minor accidents and near misses, the probability for a serious injury is also reduced. That’s why it’s important to identify and eliminate hazards and/or the unsafe employee behaviors that may lead to an accident.

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One of the areas we discussed during the driver safety webinar was distracted driving. We all have probably seen examples of distracted drivers: talking on the phone, texting, eating, grooming; children; pets; etc. The list goes on and on. Now the question we need to ask ourselves is, “Am I a distracted driver?” If so, you need to change your driving behaviors. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), every day there are more than 15 people...

We hope you enjoyed today’s webinar on Driver Safety. One of the things we talked about was the 40 mph off-set crash conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). In this test, they used a 1959 Chevy Impala to crash into a 2009 Chevy Malibu to demonstrate which vehicle would be the safest to be in during a collision. Many of you felt the Impala would have fared better in this collision because it is significantly heavier and larger...