Every Worker Has the Right to Go Home Safe and Healthy Everyday

If you are a bottom-line type of person, you should know that your business’ greatest asset is its employees, yet they can also be an expensive liability. If a person is hurt or killed on the job, beyond the immeasurable grief of losing an employee, there is also downtime, loss of man hours, a payout for compensation and recovery, OSHA fines, and possible legal action. The National Safety Council (NSC) shows that businesses spend nearly $170 billion per year on costs associated with occupational injuries and illnesses – expenditures that come straight out of company profits.

Additionally, research has shown a direct correlation between safety and productivity. When safety performance increases, operational performance, machine speed, and utilization increase as well, including as much as 5 to 7 percent higher OEE and 2 to 4 percent less unscheduled downtime. Plus, the root cause of productivity loss often points back to an unsafe machine state.

With almost 75 percent of U.S. manufacturing facilities more than 20 years old, there are a great number of older machines in use in the U.S. This means that many machines do not have the proper guarding, controls, or utility systems to meet today's safe machine standards, and most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) do not support upgrades to achieve a safe machine state. Thus, safety programs aren’t just a cost; they are an investment and an insurance policy.

Getting Started with a Safety Risk Assessment

Whether your Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) program has been in place for years, or it is in its infancy, the program must be designed to address workplace safety and health hazards on an ongoing basis. While one of your most important goals is likely to eliminate or reduce the chance of error or injury when employees work with heavy, high-speed manufacturing tools and high-voltage equipment, do you know where to start?

One of the first steps in developing your safety strategy is to identify potential hazards that currently exist. This covers anything from oil or water leaking in walkways to warehouse shelving hazards. This step is typically an internal audit-level exercise or risk assessment conducted by evaluating various historical incident metrics in all areas of the manufacturing facility coupled with your safety strategy. You also need to establish tolerable ranges for risk, assign these values to machine hazards throughout the facility, and assign an acceptable risk value that should be achieved through a well-defined mitigation and validation process.

The written risk assessment is the most fundamental component of any machine safety project and is referenced regularly throughout the life of your company’s safety program. This document provides the overall safety project roadmap to be followed by engineering solution providers like Polytron.

Just as with any investment, you may want to diversify your machine safety upgrades while meeting the objectives of your EHS program. Some companies apply a strategy of immediate machine safety projects based on risk rating – the higher the risk, the more immediate mitigative action is taken.

Implementation and Training

Once equipment safety updates and modifications are made to reduce all identified hazards, the equipment is like a new piece of machinery as safety-rated components were added, technology and software were integrated into machine operations, and isolated safety zones were created. Training employees how to operate and maintain the “new” equipment is critical to everyone’s safety and operational improvement. Our proven roadmap (below) outlines our approach to machine safety including:

• Defining how to address hazards with a detailed solution that considers all applicable regulatory and safety standards. The definition should include the scope, preliminary hardware and software identification, budget, preliminary schedule, and training.
• Design specification that shows all safety equipment, software, and hardware to be applied and any machinery changes to be made.
• Implementation of the design.
• Testing and validating every element of the newly designed safety technology.

Developing a Technology Transfer and Training Plan 

Risk mitigation creates necessary change for everyone's protection, and in many cases, provides operational improvement. As a critical part of the machine safety roadmap, we develop a specific technology transfer and training plan to ensure that any worker involved with operating the newly upgraded machine is properly trained on the changes made.

In other words, we approach machinery upgrades as "new equipment." Without training, the operator would continue to shut down the machine as before, creating unnecessary downtime and unsafe actions. With effective training, the upgrades, and a retrained workforce, often deliver greater productivity than before the safety upgrade.

After the first steps are taken, a full plan is developed that outlines the specifications, behaviors, and measurement criteria for the company. The plan items include:

1. Safety Rules
2. Employee Responsibilities
3. Safety and Training
4. New Employee, Contractor and Visitor Orientation
5. Incident Investigation and Reporting
6. Personal Protective Equipment
7. Emergency Action Plan
8. Safety Discipline (violation policies)
9. Employee Confirmation of Safety Program

Creating a Culture of Safety

A culture of safety doesn’t just have an impact on accident reduction, it also has an impact on the entire manufacturing process. Some manufacturers run for years without an incident because of their safety culture. They are the best in the industry, not only for their safety, but because of their resulting efficiency. Manufacturers with a safety culture have less turnover, less absenteeism, and higher productivity. Establishing safety and health management programs can reduce your injury and illness costs by 20 to 40 percent. In today's market, that could mean the difference between thriving or surviving. 

Simply stated, "Every worker has the right to go home safe and healthy every day and every employer has the responsibility to provide a safe work environment." This was the driving force that resulted in the passing of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This agency was created to set and enforce protective workplace safety and health standards and has a vision to significantly reduce safety and health hazards in U.S. workplaces.

In our creating a culture of safety for your organization blog, I review how to establish and launch a safety program, but I will touch on some of the key points here as well. A safety mission/values statement, which means the principles the company lives by, and a safety program, which sets engagement rules, are the beginning steps to creating a culture of safety that are generally driven by the executive office along with the EHS officer or human resources. These are designed to be woven into the very fabric of the organization, whether on the plant floor or in administrative offices and are for everyone that conducts work on behalf of the company, including temporary workers. Examples of safety-focused vision statements Include:

• "Our vision is to have colleagues, contractors, and visitors return home safely at the end of each day."
• "We have the right to work in a safe environment."
• "We will provide the leadership necessary to create a culture in which all employees accept personal responsibility for workplace safety and health."
• "We are committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for our employees."

Safety and health principles should also be established. A sample list might look as follows:

1. Provide workers with a safe work environment.
2. Demonstrate that work is never so urgent that we cannot take time to do it safely.
3. Demonstrate alignment with the safety mission in both words and actions.
4. Ensure accountability at all levels of supervision for safety performance.
5. Provide on-going property conservation practices.
6. Provide personal protective equipment.
7. Develop and implement safe work procedures and rules.
8. Encourage raising concerns about hazards by everyone.
9. Provide ongoing safety training.
10. Conduct routine/regular workplace inspections.
11. Enforce safety rules and appropriate discipline.
12. Include safety as a performance measurement for all employees.

To build a safety program, we recommend focusing on the three supporting areas of prevention, capability, and compliance.

1. Prevention gives insight into setting a prevention goal that can be achieved based on basic safety changes, procedural changes, and more in-depth habits and technologies. Implementing easy to follow policies and hazard prevention are key concepts.
2. Capability usually proves to be the biggest surprise for representatives as they gain an understanding of passive awareness, proactive engagement, and skill-driven engagement. Culture change starts with orientation and continues with formal and informal training opportunities and employee-driven awards that focus on catching someone in the act of “doing something right” rather than the “number of accident-free days.”
3. Compliance focuses on benchmarking and leveraging internal and external best practices, providing easy access to safety requirements, and having simple auditing and tracking methods in place.

Getting Employees Involved

The biggest hurdle in starting a culture of safety is getting everyone to buy-in to the idea that safety is an investment with real bottom-line benefits. Myths, stories, attitudes, norms, assumptions, and beliefs all stand in the way of getting the acceptance facilities need to develop a culture of safety. Signs, billboards, reports, and incentives can help, but in the end, the people who run the business will be your greatest asset if they know how to ensure each other’s safety. Safety systems can be as simple as including safety conversations in existing meetings and a comment box, but no safety system will be successful without universal buy-in.

Safety brings organizations together because everyone can work toward a common goal and improve a business’ bottom line. To successfully improve a facility’s safety record, there needs to be support from leadership, shared responsibilities, clear communication, and continuous improvement. Everyone must take responsibility, but the trend starts with management. If leaders don’t demonstrate an active commitment to safety, nobody will.

Supporting Change for a Culture of Safety

To get through the initial barriers, personnel should understand why they are being asked to change what they normally do and to trust their leadership to follow through with support. Employees need to know that if they take action or speak up, they will be rewarded, not punished. There needs to be consistent support and positive reinforcement from leadership.

Safety should be part of the operational fabric of a facility. That means doing things like discussing safety at the start of meetings and holding leaders accountable for safety performance. Additionally, these measures might break down organizational barriers such as fear and lack of trust. Employees should still use the chain of command, but they shouldn’t have to face repercussions for speaking up. Supervisors and managers should be held accountable for their responsiveness when issues are raised.

Communicating Safety

Changing organizational behavior is the goal of creating a culture of safety. The continued success of a safety program hinges upon everyone’s ability to clearly communicate their thoughts and intentions and act accordingly. Clear and constructive safety communication improves understanding, prevents at-risk behaviors, and enhances safe work practices. A Plan to Act can provide the procedures personnel should follow when they encounter an unsafe scenario.

A safety committee that includes production teams, managers, and supervisors who can ensure responsibilities are distributed among everyone should also be established. The safety committee promotes safety awareness and reduces the potential for injury/loss at all levels of the company. The committees hold individuals accountable for meeting the goals outlined in safety reports. Leadership’s directives, guidance, and training should show the committee what the right decisions are and how to make the right decision when individuals recognize an unsafe scenario. Leadership is also responsible for safety committee oversight. 

Formalizing a Safety Plan

As mentioned, a safety program should start with a risk assessment of all equipment in the facility, using a standardized method and data capture tool to ensure all machines receive the same review and that no item is left unchecked. Safety goals should be clearly defined within safety reports that are substantiated with accurate data. Overemphasis on bottom line performance, such as the accident rate, can drive accident reporting under the table.

However, reporting minor incidents and near misses is important and will require additional training, attention, and time for input. With more in-depth, accurate reporting, incident rates will appear to rise initially, but it will level off and decline as safety system changes take hold. Accuracy in reporting is important because OSHA violations can carry serious consequences.

According to the NSC, "Establishing safety as a value rather than a priority tells our employees and our customers that safety is built into our culture, not something we do to merely comply with regulations." What this means for manufacturers is that OSHA will show up unannounced and conduct a comprehensive wall-to-wall inspection of the facility in their jurisdiction. Why? This is a local enforcement strategy designed to address issues in industries that pose a particularly high risk to workers.

This differs from an incident inspection where OSHA is only interested in the area involved with the reported incident or hazard reported by a worker. Many of the OSHA Local Emphasis Programs (LEPs) are focused on specific equipment such as powered industrial trucks or hazardous respiratory conditions like breathing silica dust.

If OSHA Knocked on Your Door Today, Are You Ready?

As an employer, you have a responsibility to provide a safe working environment for your employees, contractors, temporary workers, and visitors. A good starting point for this might be to ask, "Are we aligned as an organization for safety standards, communications, and training?" If the answer is not 100 percent “yes.” then there is an opportunity to make a commitment to safety at the highest level of the company. Below are some of the signs that an operation may not be in compliance:

• Lack of continuous emphasis on safety
• Wages paid to injured workers for absences not covered by workers' compensation
• Wage costs related to time lost through work stoppage
• Administrative time spent by supervisors following an injury
• No formal employee, contractor, visitor, or temporary worker safety training program
• Lost productivity related to new employee learning curves and accommodation of injured employees
• No risk assessments on equipment and work areas
• High replacement costs for damaged material, machinery, or property

For reference, below are OSHA's most cited violations for 2024 (in order of total number of violations), which touches just about every corner of the manufacturing floor. Has your facility experienced injuries or near misses in any of these areas? Have preventive measures been taken to ensure it is no longer a hazard?

1. Fall Protection - General Requirements (1926.501): 4,932
2. Ladders (1926.1053): 2,210
3. Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 1,929
4. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 1,927
5. Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 1,746
6. Scaffolding (1926.451): 1,736
7. Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 1,524
8. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 1,488
9. Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503): 1,301
10. Machine Guarding (1910.212): 1,295

OSHA's Focus Areas

OSHA will shift focus from time to time based on season, increase in incidents in a specific industry, and programs specifically designed to decrease workplace fatalities, injuries, and illnesses. Currently, OSHA’s focus areas include:

• Workplace violence
• Fall hazards
• Heat stress and illness prevention
• Whistleblower protection
• Hazard communication
• Construction-specific hazards
• Training and outreach

Safety and Health Programs DO Work

OSHA cites several proven benefits of implementing and building a culture of safety:

• Reducing injuries, illnesses, and deaths
• Lowering workers’ compensation and other costs
• Improving morale and communication
• Enhancing corporate image and reputation

As a result, this all translates to better processes, products, and services.

Continuous Improvement

The start of a safety program often leads to major improvements, but after a period of time, progress can stall. Incentives, continuing evaluations, committee changes, and consistent reinforcement from leadership will ensure a facility is committed to a culture of safety.

Publicizing results will help sustain efforts and motivate employees. Recognizing and rewarding safety performance shows employees that acting on safety procedures will lead to good results. You can also foster accountability by charging costs back to the unit that incurs them for example. When individuals can be rewarded or penalized for safety measures, they will be much more willing to confront unsafe behaviors or conditions and address them or even shut them down until corrective measures are taken.

Through self-guided safety checklists and specialized training programs, Polytron can help you transform your workplace into a culture of safety that exists beyond an aging workforce. Learn more about our machine safety services.