This section provides an opportunity to brag about promotions, certifications, announce job changes and generally keep track of what is happening in the safety community. If you, or someone you know, has reason to brag - please let us know
Ryan Wolschleger and
Steve Baril of Earth Tech recently passed their OHST exams!
FAREWELL!
This will be the last newsletter that I’ll be editing. I’ve really enjoyed the exchanges from our members over the past three or four years! Each issue finds a few folks who take the time to write about one thing or another - or simply to say "Hi". I’ve really enjoyed these exchanges and will miss them! I’ve never met some of you out there, but feel I know you from our e-mails. (The new editor - Steve Baril - could walk up to me on the street and I’d have no idea who he was - but we’ve networked through this forum!)
It’s always interesting to see what "sparks interest in a person. Some articles I think are pretty mundane have created the most comments.
I hope you will support Steve Baril as he takes over the newsletter role. I truly believe the newsletter is a vital part of keeping our members in touch with each other, and creating the feeling that we are part of a "family of safety professionals.
I want to leave with some things that have struck me during my years in safety. So without further ado -
RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH SAFETY by Eric Longman
· Management usually gets the safety program that Management wants. Simple huh? You can listen to the top people all you want but most often a simple look at loss trends and housekeeping will give a good overview of what’s important and where safety ranks in the grand scheme.
o Corollary 1: Management of poor safety programs are full of excuses ranging from workers who are mostly careless or stupid, or to blaming doctors or the W.C. system for their woes. Excellent programs don’t spend energy finding fault or placing blame, they find solutions!
o Corollary 2: Without some type of "A-HA Moment you can’t "sell safety to management. Well organized, thought out arguments for significant changes involving safety are pretty much wasted effort. My Mother-in-Law had a saying posted on her refrigerator. It went something like - "Don’t try to teach a pig to sing. It will only annoy the pig and waste your time. I once surveyed a company doing custom auto body work to see if we wanted to insure them. Their spray booths were deficient and housekeeping around the booths was pathetic. My reports indicated that - but I was taken to task by someone higher up in our organization who asked - Why can’t you explain to them what they are risking. Well, yes, I can do that, but they were aware of this problem by other "inspections that had taken place. If I pushed they might agree to clean up the clutter and look into a proper spray booth. My best guess is that two months later we would be dealing with the same concerns - fighting the same battle. They had the safety program that made sense to them!
· Backup Forklift Alarms do NOT improve safety! Do you have backup alarms on your forklifts? Take a minute and watch your driver drop a load and back up. Did he/she look behind? In the vast majority of drivers I’ve observed they don’t take that extra second to look behind them. They "trust that the back up alarm will warn people. Drivers without alarms tend to do a quick check behind them before backing up. The obvious follow-up question is - do pedestrians pay attention to back up alarms? My answer is yes - most of the time. However with noisy environments and routine they become complacent. A better question is: Who do you want to have the responsibility for the safety of the forklift - the driver or the pedestrian. I’d suggest you take off the alarms and hold your drivers accountable for looking when backing. (And no - alarms are not required by OSHA as far as I can find.)
· Training is worthless! Okay, perhaps not worthless, but I hope I got your attention. Teaching a recent college class on safety behaviors I was struck by the student’s belief at the start of the class that if a problem existed all you needed to do was "train the workers. Those that passed the class were smart enough to avoid that simplistic solution on the final exam. In my mind training is good for two things - To meet OSHA regulations and to impart new information. If you have a new machine with new lockout requirements training makes sense - with appropriate checks to verify learning has taken place. However training for back safety, for general safety awareness and, to a large extent for driver training offers little payback for the time and cost. A review of my files finds an article with this nugget: According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the value of training programs in safe lifting is open to question because there have been no controlled studies showing a consequent drop in manual handling accident rate or back injury rate.
o In addition to the questionable worth of training is the high cost to a company. Let’s say you have 100 workers and a training program will take 30 minutes. You can bet a company will lose an hour of each employee’s time as they shut down equipment, move to the training area and then disperse back to their workstations. Average wage? Let’s say $10. It’s probably more considering insurance, fringe benefits, etc, but $10 is good. We have just "cost that company $1,000 in wages alone. We have also reduced their output that day by 12.5%! (One hour out of 8 productive hours!) This hour of training will likely require sales of over $100,000 to offset the loss! Something to think about before offering training as a "solution".
· Review of auto accidents is all about blame and rarely on "the root cause"! When was the last time your review of an auto accident (or forklift accident) led to any real corrective action? The large company I work for does what most companies do. They break out auto accidents for their drivers into preventable and non-preventable. The review of an accident follows guidelines set up by the National Safety Council. Involved in a preventable accident? You are "punished by paying the deductible and going through retraining. In our company all drivers have gone through an initial defensive driver training so it seems safe to assume that the accident wasn’t caused by lack of knowledge - but by unsafe behavior. If your company’s fleet program sounds similar perhaps it’s time to "rethink your fleet policy! Is it possible your most productive workers are in more accidents because they are taking more chances while trying to keep management happy? Are losses occurring at the end of a long shift or when driving new routes? Just as you don’t "solve underlying safety issues in a factory by training and punishing - you won’t have much impact on your fleet problems without being willing to look at operational aspects.
Agree or disagree - please enter into a free spirited debate on this or other "random thoughts on safety for future newsletters.
NEW OFFICERS:
In June we have a new board. These folks are listed below:
PRESIDENT: Mike Rabach of the Accident Fund.
PRESIDENT ELECT: Clara DeVries of Parker Hannifan.
SECRETARY: Brian Becker -Steelcase.
TREASURER: Heather Kubiak - Risk Manager of the City of Wyoming.
HOUSE OF DELEGATES: Greg Green - Greg teaches at Grand Valley State University.
WEBMASTER SHIFTS NORTH!
Mike McKay of Ferris State University has stepped forward and, in so doing, has added a new skill to his resume. Mike attends as many meetings as he can, not a simple task from an hour North. The website is something he can do from a distance.
If you want something like a job or announcement posted on our website you can send it to Eric Longman who will forward it to Mike.
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Last Month’s question was meant to be provocative. Simply stated I was looking for some discussion on "ergonomics". The question was: What percentage of "RSI injuries are legitimate compensable injuries? More than that I encouraged people to "unload about their frustrations and successes concerning Ergonomics.
Interestingly I got more positive than negative comments. (Perhaps this can be tied back to my "random thoughts article.)
Here are some of the responses:
After giving this question serious thought, and from stretching my fingers after finishing five computer reports yesterday, my answer is an emphatic YES!
Now for my serious answer. I think that in general a fairly small percent of strain/soreness injuries are truly not work related and that most are either caused by or at least aggravated by work. We remember the truly fraudulent cases because they cause the most frustration, but too many people use a few cases to generalize that no strains are work related.
Employees theoretically are exposed to the work environment for 1/3 of their day, home work for 1/3, and sleep/recovery for 1/3. These percentages vary, but the percent that often increases is at work from overtime. My question is what does a person do at home that truly presents the same risk factors that are encountered at work? Even a fairly active person does not assemble hundreds of parts at home, work in awkward postures for 8 hours, or use hand tools for uninterrupted periods of time at home. Just as important, we are not bored by work at home which is more interesting.
Some people are certainly more active and may sew, work with crafts, or lift at home; however, how many of us are really as active at home as we are in an assembly or highly repetitive operation? Any safety professional has evaluated workstations where the exposures were so light that we could not figure out how someone experienced discomfort. However, I can think of several cases this year alone where the injury was being disputed and a review of the workstation showed clear risk factors (non value adding work that added repetitions, awkward postures, and high forces) that the employer had not recognized and addressed.
Sorry for the windy reply and I am off my soap box now.
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This is can be sort of gnarly and I hesitated in providing my thoughts. We've utilized countless processes, methodologies, treatment protocols, training, employee involvement, task forces, etc. The two most important things we've learned is to teach/train our employees self protection and keep them involved-be sure they are part of the process, when any changes are made in how tasks are done. Concurrently, developing objective medical interventions and working with occupational medicine providers (PT/OTs, MDs) was also key. We learned that there are many underlying factors that contribute to "ergonomic injuries" and are not work related.
HOWEVER, some work activities will exacerbate/aggravate an underlying condition, and in the Michigan WC world it would likely be compensable. OSHA has had some interesting interpretations on RSI recordability - one of the most recent has to do with stretching exercises (that one sort of elevates my BP!). Another component to this interesting phenom is the psychosocial overlay that occasionally enters into the mix-probably the most challenging to manage. I do believe that some RSIs are legitimate - particularly when repetitive lifting is involved or repetitive fine hand/finger movements are essential tasks. Still many unanswered questions - i.e. How come some people are not afflicted with RSIs or if they are, "work through them"; Is conservative treatment the best approach (OT/PT, anti-inflamatories, modified work)?
We've tried to keep the science of ergonomics very simple - ask our employees what they think is the best way to perform a job, what would make their job easier, then, working together, do what is feasible. It is usually a win-win.
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I have made the following changes with my workforce of electricians to avoid problems
1) Switched the brand of 'wire nuts' from ones that take 6-10 twists to tighten to ones that take 4-6 turns. We use 90,000 annually
2) Changed all the machine screws from straight slot to Phillips and provide them with driver bits so they can use their cordless drill/drivers.
This provides them with an alternative from using 'traditional' screwdrivers
3) Changed from hex nut / lock washer to either a flange (serrated) nut or a keps nut. This eliminates the need for flat washers and or lock washers
4) Provide 6" long leads for devices that are 'stripped and retained'. This eliminates the need to cut off 6" of wire and strip it by hand (x4 per device)
While these may seem insignificant, I believe that in 5 years I will have lessened some of the (undocumented)
repetitive motion activities our field electricians do on a daily basis
End result - it was actually a dual benefit; if ergonomics matches productivity I look good both ways. In all of these it was a homerun X2.
SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAMS
Our friends at CET asked that we remind our members of their many training programs. You can find them on the web at
www.michigan.gov/miosha but the ones in our area that look interesting include the following:
DATE COURSE CITY Contact Phone
June 7,8,9 Safety & Health Administrator Course Grand Rapids Elleena Chrzan 616 234-
For Construction 3382
June 9 Overhead & Gantry Crane Seminar Holland Staff 800 690-0314
June 21&22 Two Day Mechanical Power Press Seminar Holland Staff 800 690-0314
June 23 Recordkeeping of Occ. Injuries & Illness Muskegon Staff 800 690-0314
July 12 Lockout and Machine Guarding Niles Tim Childs 269 687-5651
July 26 Ergonomics - a practical approach Grand Rapids Staff 800 690-0314
MAY MEETING - TRUCK SAFETY
Ron Edwards of the Michigan Center for Truck Safety provided various hand outs and enlightened us on the broad range of topics. This included information on training services from the Michigan Center for Truck Safety and their skid pad training facilities. Ron updated the group on current and upcoming standard changes and provided interesting concepts on hiring practices, drug testing, vehicle markings, and vehicle classifications.
There were 25 attendees but we are concerned by the fact that there were 13 no shows! The count included 4 people that were not signed up.
From our past experience we know that a few members will have things come up at the last minute and be unable to attend. We also find a few folks show up that we didn’t plan for, and generally things work out fairly well. However, when we are catering a meeting (as in this case) the missing people are a source of concern. We have talked about billing "no-shows (and some of the no-shows have offered to pay) but we haven’t felt the problem was severe enough to require that drastic action. Please make your best attempt to show up if you have RSVP’d, and let us know as soon as possible if you have to back out (or find a replacement from within your organization!) Enough said!
SAFETY PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR:
Greg Green headed up the search for the Safety Professional of the Year for 2005. In our May meeting we were pleased to announce the winner!
And the winner is:
Kevin Quigley of the Accident Fund!
Kevin has been around forever, as past president and current "archivist and Program Chairperson. He continues to provide guidance at Board meetings and probably has one of the best attendance records for meetings of any member! Kevin’s sense of humor is well known, and he provides an excellent balanced opinion of ideas that are bantered about by the Board. We all value Kevin’s participation. Outside of WM-ASSE Kevin’s work is with The Accident Fund. As a "competing servicing rep I’ve heard many accounts speak glowingly of Kevin’s excellent work - as a challenge of a standard to compete against.
Congratulations Kevin, An award well earned!
STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
The West Michigan ASSE Board (through the efforts of Clara DeVries and others) is pleased to recognize the efforts of David Zerfas for our Student Scholarship Award this year. David received a check for $500 to use toward his studies at Grand Valley State University.
David is a senior in the Occupational Safety and Health Management program. A year ago, he reentered school to earn a second BS degree. His first degree is a BS in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and he has tried graduate school twice, in Education and the seminary. His work experience is in photographic repair, printer and fax repair, custom color darkroom printing, and photographic retail sales.
Healthcare is his area of interest within the field of safety, largely due to his seminary experience as a chaplain intern at a hospice and at a mental health facility. His studies blend his interests in an application of technical knowledge, communication skills, tutoring, and service that promotes a public interest.
A Quick Story:
I was driving down I-96 last week - late at night. I saw some kids up on an overpass and it appeared they were throwing something down on the highway. I changed lanes to move over - and passed under the bridge without incident. However, a State Police Officer was right there and pulled me over. He had me walk a straight line, which I did. I tried to explain about the kids - but to no avail. I convinced him to walk back to the bridge with me and sure enough we found the kids had thrown a bunch of those "push pins that you use on bulletin boards down on the highway.
I was pretty upset when the officer insisted on giving me a ticket anyway. What did he cite me for?
Tax evasion of course.
KENT COUNTY EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMISSION
Sue Barthels wants to extend an invite to our group for a Kent County Local Emergency Planning Commission (LEPC) Industry workshop October 21, 8:30am - 12:30 @ TEA Employers Association, 5570 Executive Parkway SE just off Patterson Ave. They are having representatives from Michigan State Police Motor Carrier Div, USF Holland, Kent County Emer Mgt, Alticor, Michigan Infraguard, Federal Bureau GR Office, Cascade Engineering, Wyoming Fire Dept, American Red Cross, etc. and will present on topics relative to Homeland Security Issues affecting General Industry.
There is no cost for the 4 hour workshop, refreshments are furnished, however capacity is being limited to 80. Persons interested can RSVP Sue Barthels @ the Kent County Sheriff Dept, E mail Sue.Barthels@kentcounty.org
