Businesses that have a sense of purpose – that is, they are motivated to provide value for all stakeholders and to improve the local and global society – tend to be more successful, generating more revenue. According to a survey, 58% of businesses that prioritize operating with purpose witnessed a 10% revenue increase in three years. Social […]
Safety Management
What is A Hot Work Permit: How it Works
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), from 2014 to 2018, United States local fire departments responded to an average of 4,580 annual structure fires from hot work activities. It was estimated that the annual associated damage costs were approximately $484 million, and an average of 22 people died each year from such operations. Hot work […]
Near Miss Reporting: What it is and Why it’s Important
According to the U.S Department of Labor, there were 4,764 workplace fatalities in 2020. Transportation incidents, falls, slips, trips, contact with objects and equipment, and exposure to harmful substances were the leading causes of death. Near misses contribute significantly to workplace fatalities regardless of their minimal effects at the moment. For every 600 near misses, 30 […]
Keep it Seen, Keep it Safe: The Importance of Construction Safety Observations
Despite improved safety standards and oversight, workplace risks remain. According to OSHA data, more than 100 workers died on the job every week in 2019 — and the construction industry accounted for 20 percent of these fatalities. As a result, construction safety observations are a critical component in reducing risk and increasing worker safety, in […]
The HACCP Plan: How it Can Help Reduce Food Safety Risk
Food safety is a top priority for organizations. As noted by the CDC, more than 48 million Americans get sick each year due to foodborne illness, and over 120,000 are hospitalized. The agency also points out that challenges around food safety will continue to evolve thanks to changes in food production processes, supply chain options, […]
Incident Reporting: A Key Component of an Effective Safety Management Program
No workplace is perfectly safe. Despite best efforts, incidents happen — machines may experience sudden failures or staff may unintentionally expose themselves or others to risk. Consider recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which found that private industry employers reported 2.7 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2020. While the […]
Food Safety Handling: Taking a Bite Out of Operational Risk
It’s one thing for food to taste bad, it’s another for it to make you feel bad. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, 47.8 million Americans fall ill with foodborne illnesses each year — of those, over 125,000 are hospitalized, and more than 3,000 die. Put simply, food safety handling matters. […]
5 Tips to Improve Safety Observations and Reduce Workplace Risk
Unsafe processes and workspace pose a serious risk for workers and can lead to significant impacts on overall production performance. Consider recent safety data from the National Safety Council, which found that in 2020, more than 1.2 million workers suffered workplace injuries or illnesses related to their job that required time off from work. The message […]
Toolbox Talks: A Great Tool to Improve Job Site Safety
What is a Toolbox Talk? Tool Box Talks are brief and informal safety meetings that take place on the job site and include all parties working collectively within the environment from general employees to management. Held prior to the start of job shifts, toolbox talk topics discuss identification, prevention, and first aid response to hazards […]
Certainty Software Webinar: Improving Safety in the Construction Industry
We recently sat down with construction industry safety professionals Steve Mellard, National Safety Director at Anning Johnson, and Desire’e Ropel, Safety Manager at Hermanson to dive into how construction companies can avoid pitfalls, leverage success and successfully create a safety program to truly improve safety in the construction industry and in the workplace. The session covered numerous subjects of discussion including: […]
Safeguard Management: Preventive & Mitigative Safety Tool
What is a Safeguard? Safeguards are vital for businesses to safely control the work environment for risk reduction and failure prevention. Rather than being reactive and reflective of failures in safety, safeguards are conscious plans in place which identify these potential risks and hazards and implement the controls necessary to prevent the negative instance from […]
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): What It Is and Why It Matters for Safety on Your Site
Construction sites come with risks. As noted by Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, one in every 10 employees is injured annually on worksites, leading to a non-fatal injury rate 71 percent higher than in any other industry. Taking steps to prevent these injuries such as prioritizing proper Personal Protective Equipment offers multiple benefits for companies: Staff […]
Essential Ingredient in Food Safety: Making the Most of GMP
Informed by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), manufacturers are required to implement processes that actively reduce the risk of foodborne illness, both from known pathogens and unknown agents. These processes are critical to track the type and nature of these illnesses and mitigate their impact — according to the CDC, 48 million Americans fall ill […]
The Pros and Cons of Behavior Based Safety
The corporate world is full of business improvement programs. Sometimes their adoption is a must to survive in a competitive industry or market, other times they are a passing phase better avoided. In this post, we look at the pros and cons and Behavior Based Safety (BBS). What is Behavior Based Safety (BBS)? Before jumping […]
The 5 Biggest Challenges When Building a Safety Observation Report (Solved)
Workplace safety is critical to ensure both employee protection and productivity — staff missing work because they’ve suffered injuries on the job can negatively impact both staff morale and overall output. As noted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, workplace safety remains a challenge: In 2019 alone, more than 880,000 workers suffered nonfatal […]
