5 Tips and Tools to Optimize Your OHS Compliance Training
Employees forget 50% of what they learn within an hour Employees forget 80% of what they learn after two days Employees forget 90% of what they learn after one month No matter what kind of organization you’re running, your people need compliance training.After all, almost every industry is subject to regulatory requirements, and they’ve all got a pretty strong incentive to make sure those requirements are met. As one McKinsey partner puts it, “there’s a dollar value attached to non-compliance”, especially for organizations that don’t keep up with regulation around common issues like privacy and cybersecurity. That’s why [...]
How to Prevent Contractor Accidents
Using contractors is a cost-effective way to secure vital services. But it can create huge safety problems – especially when contractor personnel work at your facility. Maintaining a safe and healthy workplace for your own people is tough enough. It’s a real challenge when your workplace is swarming with unfamiliar workers. This can be a recipe for injuries and liability. To control these risks you need to know at any given time which contractors are on your site and whether their safety training meets your expectations. Company Blamed for Subcontractor’s Injury Here’s a true story that shows what can happen [...]
National Day of Mourning – A Day to Remember
April 28, the National Day of Mourning, is a day to remember and honour those who have died or been injured on the job. Years ago, I got a call that nobody wants to get. A close friend’s father had fallen off the roof during an inspection – his injuries were too severe – he didn’t survive the fall. I wish I could say this is rare – but it’s not. I have no idea what your schedule looks like for the 28th this year, but I strongly urge you to ensure it allows for some reflection. Take a [...]
5 Steps to Emergency Preparedness
If the California flooding has taught us anything, it's that emergencies can happen at any time. Your workers play a key role in the execution of your company’s emergency preparedness plan. Given the current conditions, maybe it’s a good time to review the topic of emergency preparedness with your workers and go over the 5 steps to emergency preparedness. Step 1: Evaluate Your Existing Plans Your first step is to review and re-evaluate your company’s emergency response plan, making sure that plans are in place for all possible types of emergencies. These can include, but aren’t limited to: Fires and [...]
Meeting Minutes – Tips and Tricks
SIMPLE TIPS FOR BETTER MEETING MINUTES Meeting minutes help with communication at work and they ensure people have a common understanding of what the meeting was about, what was done, and what they should be doing next. PURPOSE OF MINUTES Minutes are particularly helpful for formal meetings as they serve as a permanent record of the discussion and the decisions that were made. A written record of the meeting in the form of minutes can be especially useful for people who were not able to attend in person as they get to see what came up in the meeting. TIPS [...]
Hearing Protection PPE Requirements
Employees must be given a selection of several types of hearing protection to choose from. For routine noise levels, earplugs, canal caps or earmuffs can be used. There are many styles and sizes, some even designed to allow the wearer to “hear” conversations while providing a barrier to extremely loud sound levels. For extremely loud areas, such as working around jet engines, special ear muffs are designed for more significant noise reduction. Your vendor can help you make some choices. If you do not have a vendor, interview several before you select one. When making your selection you should consider [...]
Building a Safety Program
Workplace fatalities, injuries, and illnesses are preventable. Safe workplaces exist because employers make the choice to fulfill their responsibilities and protect their workers. Workers shouldn’t need to put their lives at risk to make a living. The system should train workers to be aware of and appreciate safety issues. A well-defined safety program benefits and advances the best interests of everyone. SAFETY PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT Step 1. Make the Commitment to Safety with a Mission Statement. Document safety goals so they can be measured and improved. Step 2. Industry Requirements Check out all resources made available including other professionals in the [...]
Becoming an Effective Speaker
THE IMPORTANCE OF STRONG PUBLIC SPEAKING Strong speaking skills will set you apart, make you feel more confident, and give you the ability to take on leadership roles. Public speaking offers one of the most effective ways to get your point across, demonstrate your knowledge, and influence others. It can even help you stay organized and improve your writing and interpersonal communication. Many people who appear completely comfortable in front of crowds started out with a significant fear of public speaking. By overcoming this fear, practicing, and gaining confidence, you can have more advantages in life. STRATEGIES TO BECOME AN [...]
An Integrated Safety Management System Primer
What Is an Integrated Management System? An integrated management system is the framework of policies, systems, processes and procedures that organizations use to fulfill all of the tasks required to achieve their pre-defined business objectives. Why do organizations need such a formalized or structured management system to achieve their goals? Systems might be unnecessary when business competition is weak, risk is minimal and business activities are uncomplicated or mature. But if changes take place, the need for a more formalized system will emerge. For example, the company’s processes and business knowledge may reside not in a formal system but solely [...]
The Importance of Breaks in Adult Learning
Breaks keep our brains healthy and play a key role in cognitive abilities such as reading comprehension and divergent thinking (the ability to generate and make sense of novel ideas). Breaks play an important role during a training session, particularly in the case of longer sessions. If you are delivering a full day training session, then you should give at least 2 breaks during the training day. The first break could be a coffee break in the morning while the second can be a lunch break in the afternoon. LUNCH BREAK It is essential that the lunch be a light [...]
Workplan: 10 Steps to Creating a Confined Space Entry Program
Working in a confined space is one of the most dangerous of all workplace hazards. In fact, it’s been calculated that working in a confined space is 150 times more dangerous than doing the same job outside of the space. While this Workplan is geared toward compliance remember, compliance is often only the minimum set of requirements for safety. Step 1: Identify Permit-Required Confined Spaces Determine if you have any confined spaces and then classify the spaces as either: Non-permit confined spaces – spaces that don’t contain or potentially contain hazards capable of causing death or serious harm to entrants; or Permit-required confined spaces – spaces that [...]
What is a Safety Culture and Why Do You Need One?
The words “safety culture” gets bandied about a lot. But it’s also a term that nobody quite understands. What exactly is safety culture? And what, if any, impact does it have on a company’s liability risks? What Is Safety Culture? Safety culture is one of those fuzzy concepts like “obscenity” that nobody can precisely define but everybody knows when they see. Safety culture is first and foremost a mindset, a set of shared values and thinking among all the members of an organization. When we say a company has a “good safety culture,” we basically mean that people who work [...]
