JOHN J. MEOLA CSP, ARM, Safety Director at Pillar, Inc. Oct 30, 2018

It sometimes seems that every news report brings stories of fatal accidents across our Commonwealth, both in daily life and at work. The science of risk management can, however, provide a strong dose of sensitization to certain kinds of situations when things go haywire, but it requires a discipline of focused attention to absorb the lessons and change our behavior accordingly.

If you’re in business for the long haul, take a hard look at your machinery, tooling, safety program, employee training and skills development, and succession planning. For example, vintage machinery usually does not have basic safety features. Unless you retrofit, it’s time to go shopping.

Put the antiques out to pasture. Hospitalizations and amputations require direct reporting to the “safety police” and will probably result in high-dollar, wish-you-had-listened outcomes. Following many industrial accidents, investigations reveal the persistence of “denial” among management as one of the greatest safety hazards to all workers. If you are of the opinion that “all this safety stuff costs money,” wait until you see the cost of an accident.

Joggers, walkers, bikers and hikers, when you venture out wear a high-visibility garment such as those worn by construction workers. Again, the lesson here derives from accident reports: “I never saw them” is the number one answer to “What happened?”

In summary, a safety mindset can range from the simplest look-both-ways-before-crossing adage to the more intricate high-risk job planning choreography.
Contact John Meola at JMeola@Pillaroma.com.