Workplace Safety

Mobile phones are convenient and can even prove useful if an employee needs to call in an accident or another important safety report. Unfortunately, much of the time, mobile phones pose more of a risk to safety than anything else. Combining the use of a mobile phone with driving, operating power tools, or navigating other hazardous work conditions can be dangerous or even deadly.

Improper lifting of heavy or awkward materials can result in injuries that vary in severity from cuts and bruises to low back injuries and hernias. Whenever possible, use mechanical devices to lift and move objects and, when objects must be moved with manual effort, use the following guidelines to decrease your risk of an injury.

If you’re only tracking lagging indicators, like OSHA recordables and lost days, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to prevent future incidents and improve the safety culture in your plant. Leading indicators, on the other hand, present you and your team with an opportunity to track improvement and promote proactive behavior.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your in-plant safety program in 2019, many of these are great places to start.

Keeping your employees’ hands safe could be as simple as adding a quick toolbox talk at the beginning of your next shift.

A different approach to training new hires.

Prioritizing safety is a continual process and everyone needs to be involved. Its success is dependent on motivating people. I like to think about safety like a good marketing campaign.

When you first bring a new hire into your plant, there‘s a lot going on that can easily distract someone unfamiliar with component manufacturing. It can be a challenge to keep a new person focused. That said, it’s critical they pay close attention to all of the potential safety hazards, from handling sharp-edged connector plates to learning how to properly swing a hammer.

It’s been a really hot summer and members of the SBCA Safety Committee are always looking for new and different ways to ensure their employees are safe at work, especially when the temperature climbs.

Jared Dix wears a lot of hats at Apex Truss, just one of which is Safety Coordinator. One of the things he’s been focused on lately is getting the production employees to be consistent about wearing their personal protective equipment (PPE), specifically their safety glasses.