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PEER
PEER INSIGHT BY Interstate Electrical Services, Safety Training Services, Inc., and SDBright
INSIGHT
How much is the life of an employee worth? How much is the loss of a big toe? Or an index finger? These are
the questions that keep safety managers awake at night. While there are no good answers, the only way to get
a good night’s sleep is to ensure that your company is doing everything possible to make your company as safe
as possible. Unfortunately, simply meeting OSHA standards isn’t good enough. Would you want to drive in a
car that was deemed the “least” unsafe, or one that was a model of safety? Make safety a priority by allocating
yearly funding, finding the best trainers (whether external or internal), and empowering employees to work with
managers to create easy-to-understand safety procedures and protocols. Encourage people to think first, act
second, and consider safety protocols as not just a rote function, but an essential fact of daily practice that might
just save their lives.
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Business Compliant
Programs
Finding the right balance between class-
room teaching and hands-on application is
key when it comes to safety training. Know
your facts, know your audience, and listen to
feedback so you can constantly update pro- Erik Richman
cedures as necessary.
Director of Safety, Interstate Electrical Services
IV. Golden Rules for Staying Compliant
Compliance should not just be a necessary
evil, but a daily part of life. Take the time to Robert Groszewski
learn why compliance regulations have been President, Safety Training Services, Inc.
set, and then move forward from there to find
the best practices that will elevate your com-
pany’s processes to the next level. Stefan Bright
V. Essential Take-Aways Expert in Fall Protection and Building Access Equipment, SDBright
In order for a culture of safety to grow,
H
you must provide a multitude of behaviors
to follow. Don’t just tell people to be safe; ow much is the life of an employee worth? How much is the
allow them to help create the protocols, loss of a big toe? Or an index finger? These are the questions
set the guidelines, and model the expected that keep safety managers awake at night. While there are no
behaviors.
good answers, the only way to get a good night’s sleep is to ensure that
your company is doing everything possible to make your company as
safe as possible. Unfortunately, simply meeting OSHA standards isn’t
Contents good enough. Would you want to drive in a car that was deemed the
“least” unsafe, or one that was a model of safety? Make safety a priority
About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.2 by allocating yearly funding, finding the best trainers (whether external
Erik Richman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.3 or internal), and empowering employees to work with managers to
Robert Groszewski. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.6 create easy-to-understand safety procedures and protocols. Encourage
Stefan Bright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.9 people to think first, act second, and consider safety protocols as
Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points. . . p.12 not just a rote function, but an essential fact of daily practice that might
just save their lives. n
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About the Authors
Erik Richman
Director of Safety, Interstate Electrical Services
E
rik Richman provides a wide range developing new programs, and continu- engineering and project management to
of risk management and safety ally enhancing our accident and incident safety management.
services to Interstate Electrical prevention culture.
Services and its clients, from hazard Mr. Richman has 17 years of industry
assessments and site safety visits to train- experience throughout the Northeast
ing and program development. He is and Mid-Atlantic regions, ranging from
responsible for the oversight of Interstate’s
☛ Read Erik’s insights on Page 3
existing safety program management,
Robert Groszewski
President, Safety Training Services, Inc.
S
ince 1988, Robert Groszewski has emergency responder into the safety Department since 1984. He was a res-
been involved with industrial safety consulting and training arena is Mr. cue specialist for two years and a Safety
training, first through U.S. Steel Groszewski’s value-added skill. Helping Officer/Training Captain for 12 years. He
Hazmat Training, then to Environmental facilities prepare for an emergency can served as a Battalion Chief for 10 years,
Resources Management (ERM) as a be considerably more efficient when an and prior to retiring in 2012, served
trainer and safety consultant. In 2001, effective liaison exists between industry as Shift Commander. Mr. Groszewski
several partners formed Safety Training and local responders. currently serves as a Captain/Training
Services, Inc and relocated to Hammond, Mr. Groszewski served six years Officer for the Munster Fire Department.
Indiana. Mr. Groszewski currently serves as a part-time firefighter/paramedic
as the company’s president, and heads in Calumet City, Illinois and was
the consulting division of the business. a member of the City of Gary Fire ☛ Read Robert’s insights on Page 6
Bringing the perspective of a long-time
Stefan Bright
Expert in Fall Protection and Building Access Equipment, SDBright
S
tefan Bright has been involved in the coordinator for the OSHA Alliance Guidelines for Window Cleaning, which
safety for the window cleaning and with the International Window Cleaning eventually evolved into the American
building maintenance industries for Association and actively participates on National Standard for Window Cleaning
nearly 40 years. After managing a pro- the OSHA Construction Roundtable for Safety, which has sold over 5,000 copies
fessional window cleaning and building Fall Protection. to date.
maintenance operation for 18 years, Since 2001, he has been the chair- His passion and focus on the devel-
he moved into developing and provid- man of the ANSI Accredited Standards opment and delivery of safety training
ing worker safety training programs. Committee I-14.1 for Window Cleaning to the window cleaning industry has
Furthermore, he has also been providing Safety and is also a member of the ANSI resulted in a 30 percent reduction in
fall protection for workers with build- A.120 Powered Platforms for Building fatalities and accidents over the last 20
ing and equipment design and installa- Maintenance committee. years. For this accomplishment, he was
tion. In that capacity he has designed Beginning in 1994, when OSHA rec- recognized by his peers and the American
numerous exterior and interior façade ognized professional window cleaning as Society of Safety Engineers as the recipi-
maintenance and fall protection systems a highly skilled occupation, Mr. Bright ent of the 2014 Triangle Award for
on commercial buildings throughout the developed and has been delivering the Heroic Dedication to Safety.
United States. window cleaner safety training program
He has held the position of safety on behalf of the International Window
director for the International Window Cleaning Association. This program has
Cleaning Association since 1993 and been attended by over 7000 professional
also serves as the technical director window cleaners to date.
for the International Window Cleaner Additionally, Mr. Bright led the
Safety Certification program. He is also ☛ Read Stefan’s insights on Page 9
development and publication of Safety
from multiple points of view. The field group. These cross-functional it part of roles and responsibili-
employee, the supervisor, and groups are currently developing ties, and most importantly have a
the safety professional will all proposals for new procedures and vehicle in place that ensures it is
observe and understand the steps standards that will be presented to followed up on. This evaluation
of a procedure differently and these leadership. If accepted, leadership should come from three directions:
alternative perspectives are crucial will facilitate implementing them. the employee performing the
to the overall thoroughness of the From that work breakdown and task, the supervisor, and the safety
assessment process. We utilize job the hazard assessment, thorough professional. Evaluations are often
hazard analysis (JHA’s) as well as and specific training programs conducted through observation.
observations when it comes to how can be developed, but that is only the Common benchmarks for evalua-
work is being done today. When it beginning. Those well-thought out tion will include the efficiency of
comes to current tasks and JHA’s, training programs will require con- the task, the tools being used, the
the supervisors are responsible for tinual evaluation as a best practice steps of the task, the ergonomics of
developing them and are encour- to ensure they are indeed effec- the steps, and historical data with
aged to collaborate with their tive as intended, and they will regard to injuries associated
crew. Then, JHA’s are reviewed by always require tweaking. This can with the task. The short easy answer
the manager and a safety profes- be a challenge because this part is is: opportunities to improve any
sional. We are also developing new rarely made part of the process; aspect of the task. A different tool,
procedures, standards, and pro- but instead is often left to a super- a different installation method, or a
cesses by utilizing cross-functional visor’s or safety professional’s dis- different material handling method
groups that are made up of various cretion and available time. Make could improve the efficiency or
aspects of our business, but most evaluation part of the process; safety of the task. n
importantly with input from the schedule it, budget for it, make
Increased Reporting can prevent the same incident from still have to wade through a quag-
Safety documentation can vary happening to others. mire of best practices to reach com-
according to the industry or pliance. Even if regulations are
business a client is in. In certain ancillary, your company is respon-
OSHA Compliance sible for following them. Ignorance
instances, there are set regula-
tions that must be followed. Many There are many different OSHA is never a defense when it comes to
places do not report incidences, guidelines, depending upon the non-compliance. As a result, the
they only report injuries. Others industry in which you operate. companies that hire my firm will
only report the raw data, such However, whether that is construc- often ask us to make them OSHA-
as how many injuries, incidents, tion, agriculture, or anything else, compliant. I always tell them that
and fatalities. They don’t report there is always a section called if they were graded on compliance,
the near misses and the many incorporate and incorporated by and were fully-compliant pursuant
times something almost happened. reference. Typically, OSHA only to the big book of OSHA regula-
We need to encourage more hon- tells you what the end compliance tions, they would still only earn
est reporting of the types of inci- levels should be, not how to reach a grade of D. This is because the
dents that could have, but did not them. They avoid being specific in OSHA regulations are the absolute
occur, because we can learn from order to avoid legal repercussions. minimum a company must follow.
them. If you almost have an acci- This has started to change, how- A company that truly wants to set
dent, next time the same situation ever. OSHA is doing a much better itself apart in terms of safety must
occurs, you will alter your behavior job of writing regulations and being not just meet those guidelines but
based on the previous incident. If more objective instead of subjective exceed them.
people share that knowledge, they about them. However, companies
everyone thinks safely about everything, not just ”Nothing can forego real world and
work experience.”
work-related issues. • Held the position of safety direc-
Stefan Bright tor for the International Window
Expert in Fall Protection and Building Access Equipment Cleaning Association since 1993
SDBright • Developed the window cleaner
safety training program on behalf of
the International Window Cleaning
down the road to remember why Association
doing it right was so important. Overcoming Challenges • Received the 2014 Triangle Award
I have found it best to explain all to Ensure a Thorough for Heroic Dedication to Safety
the nuances and critical points from the American Society of Safety
Program Engineers
about a technique before showing One of the best practices required
the technique. This also enforces the Mr. Bright can be e-mailed at
for a thorough training program is stefan.bright@execblueprints.com
think before you act concept. simply ensuring that every single
Some non-contractor based safety precaution is addressed on
industries — such as factory work any given occupation or task. To problems relating to the subject
— often only require hands-on be most thorough, an expert in that matter, the work, or the project.
demonstrations for training and do occupation needs to truly be an In my opinion, an expert epito-
not require any classroom training. expert as opposed to someone who mizes this definition but also has
More knowledge is always helpful is a safety professional, but does extensive knowledge, training, and
but my original point was specula- not have experience in the industry experience in the task or industry
tive in that for example, the worker or the tasks being addressed. The at hand.
who stamps the same number on Occupational Safety and Health Finding experts that meet the
the same part a thousand times Administration (OSHA) defines a aforementioned criteria and who
a day, may not require the same qualified person as one who, by can also engage students through
classroom training as the person possession of a recognized degree, involvement instead of just read-
who uses the machine to cut and certificate, or professional stand- ing or demonstration can often be a
create the part. ing, or who by extensive knowl- challenge. Reading a book or using
Experts in the various aspects of edge, training, and experience, Google or YouTube to see how to
the occupation are often brought has successfully demonstrated his do a task does not make one an
or her ability to solve or resolve expert in showing others how to
?
10 Key Questions and Discussion Points
1 What are the primary elements of an effective and compliant safety training program?
Which elements fluctuate by industry? Why? What experts are brought in to legitimize the
2 program?
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3
2 What are the best practices required for a thorough training program? Which practices are
1
4 the most challenging to develop? Why? What are the obstacles to adopting best
3
1 practices? How are the obstacles overcome?
2
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4
2
3
1 What benchmarks are used to evaluate the training program? What is measured and how?
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5
3 How are the hard-to-measure benchmarks evaluated, like training retention?
4
2
1
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4 How can the firm measure ROI? What are the non-financial rewards? Can these positive
5
3
2
8 results be quantified? How? How are the training costs calculated for the return
1
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5
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4 measurement?
3
1
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2
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5 In the last 12 months, what new training topics have been introduced? Are these
4
2
10
3
1
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7 requirements of the federal government? What role did media play in promoting these
8
6
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3 topics? Did industry back the efforts?
4
2
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1
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4 What new training technologies can we expect in the next 12 months? Will online courses
5
3
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2
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8 expand? For what audience? How can HR professionals select the best training
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5 technologies?
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3
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5 How is the safety training budget allocated? What percentage is dedicated to materials?
4
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7 To education and workshops? To consulting and experts? To other safety expenses?
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8 How do international firms approach safety training in overseas operations? Do the same
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6 rules and policies apply? What adaptations are necessary to be sure the training is
9 effective?
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9 How do effective Safety Officers communicate the importance of safety compliance across
8
an organization? Emphasis on the cost of compliance versus non-compliance? Is
10 communication a two-way street with employees?
9
10 How often should the training program be evaluated? Who should be involved in the
evaluation? What skills will they bring? Who should be responsible for periodic reviews?
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