Increase Productivity While You Decrease OSHA Visits
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Few things make business owners and executive more nervous than notification of an OSHA inspection or reported violation. And few things make them happier than productivity, which is highest when workers are in a safe, well-equipped work setting and know how to do their jobs safely. And, of course, no one wants a serious accident or death to occur because their workplace is unsafe.
In 2006, 5,840 U.S. workers were killed in accidents on the job. Vehicle crashes and falls claim the most victims.
One of the best ways to accomplish two major goals - a safe, productive workplace – is to strategically train workers in safety and be sure what they learn is implemented and passed on to every employee. For smaller businesses, it may make more sense to hire a consultant periodically to visit their site and check workplace safety.
Northwest Arkansas Community College is offering its first program to certify people to teach OSHA approved safety program. Besides being more convenient in the region, it can produce significant savings for companies that have been sending people to the closest available training in Kansas City, MO., or Dallas. At $695 per person, the program will teach trainers who will then be able to offer 10- to 30-hour safety training. Specialized training in construction is also available.
The program will be taught by an OSHA-authorized trainer, Toni Blasi. Her dedication to worker safety began when her father died after falling from an 18-foot structure in 1996. The owner of Safe Sites Consulting http://www.safesitesconsulting.com/ in Bella Vista, AR., Blasi says it saddens her that she usually doesn’t get a call until someone is injured.
Blasi says much of her work is educating workers and companies about federal safety regulations. She also consults on specific business or industry needs, such as steel erection, scaffolding, fall protection and prevention, and trenching. Large businesses are more likely to train in-house safety experts, and to bring in a consultant to assess safety and recommend changes, Blasi says. It worries her and other experts that smaller businesses may not be as safe as they could be, in spite of the fact that free OSHA training is available to them.
One company that will send employees to the new local training is Superior Industries, an aluminum wheel manufacturer based in California. It employs about 1,500 people in northwest Arkansas.
Superior says train-the-trainer programs have been effective at its plants. One employee, for example, speedily changed the way compressed air tanks were stored. As a result of OSHA training, he realized that the tanks, five feet tall, could become “like missiles that don’t stop moving until all the gas is released” if they fell over. The company added an iron bar to prevent them from falling.
OSHA training has dramatically increased in recent years. In 1997 a total of 105,387 employees across the U.S. took at least the minimum training, 10 hours. In 2007, the total was 522,248 – 80 percent more people.