It would be tough to overstate how highly Iowa-based manufacturer Katecho prioritizes its employees’ safety.

This maker of medical and cosmetic products has taken so many measures to keep workers safe that Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials have asked to showcase its facility to other businesses.

“You walk in the door and it’s clear that this place is special,” said SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Jason Clausen.

That’s why the company sprang into action after learning that a change intended to boost efficiency had drastically increased the amount of weight employees would have to lift.

Their solution: building a fully customized machine that would do the lifting for them.

‘We had to find a way’

One of the products Katecho manufactures is the gel pads that go between a patient suffering a cardiac arrest and an automated external defibrillator (AED).

To produce those pads, Katecho first makes large rolls of hydrogel. The hydrogel rolls start as huge rolls of raw components. These component rolls are brought in on pallets, lifted, moved 75 feet to a hydrogel coating machine and then lifted again onto spindles as high as 6 feet. After the coating process, the finished hydrogel rolls are removed from the machine, bagged, sealed and boxed.

Seeking to boost production and meet customer needs, the company began using wider rolls of the hydrogel, a change that increased the weight of the rolls from 40 to 350 pounds.

“We had to find a way to get these rolls up on the spindles without hurting people,” said Katecho Director of Manufacturing Chris Gunsaulus.

As a stopgap measure, they had their supplier shorten each component roll’s length for a 100-pound weight reduction. They also made it a requirement that no fewer than three people work together to lift the rolls. They tried purchasing a roll lifter made for just such a task, but it didn’t fit into the spaces where they needed to use it.

Out of options, they started drawing up specifications for a custom-made machine, and worked to build and install it with a northern Iowa company called Positech that specializes in industrial manipulators.

Side-benefit: Increased efficiency

The manipulator was strictly an investment in safety; however, improved efficiency has been a side-benefit. There’s no time wasted gathering everyone together and struggling to change rolls — a savings of up to two hours per day.

“It’s just made life a lot easier for us,” said machine operator Dan Chamberlain. “It’s definitely less strenuous on your muscles and your back.”

Despite the significant expense, Gunsaulus said they met no resistance from management in moving ahead with the plan to custom-build the machine.

“It’s really important that our people go home at night in the same state they came in,” he said. “People are here to earn a paycheck, not put their lives and limbs at risk.”

See video of the machine in action:

Elk River, Minnesota-based U.S. SiteWork in earthwork, excavation, underground utility construction, drilled piers/deep foundations and demolition for large projects such as industrial oil and gas sites, agricultural terminals, tank farms and railroad embankments. The organization was founded in 2012 by five seasoned professionals and places a major focus on safety. We talked with CEO Bart Anderson about why safety is so important to the organization.

(Conversation edited for length and clarity.)

You’ve stated that your primary mission as a company is safety. How did you arrive at that philosophy?

The safety focus of the industry has changed a lot in the last 15 or 20 years. In my past experience, even though my previous company had a great focus on safety, there were still guys in the field that hadn’t quite bought into the new safety culture that was coming from the top. It was a challenge over there, and I thought that we’re going to start this company and we’re going to put safety culture at the forefront of everything we do. Everybody we hire, we’re going to try to get the safety culture right in the beginning, and if the people we’re hiring don’t have the right mindset toward safety and dedication to it, then we don’t really want them working here. The five people that started this company, we didn’t start it to get people hurt. We started it to do it different, to try and do it better, and to set ourselves apart, and safety is one of those ways we try to set our company apart from the competition.

How do you hire for safety?

We’ll ask them some certain questions about their experience. Have they put a job hazard analysis together? What did they think of the safety culture at the previous company they worked at? Do they think it could be better and what would they change? Asking about five to eight questions like that, you can get a good feel for what kind of safety aptitude that certain individual has.

We’ve heard the strong economy is making it tough to find good employees. How do you find employees without lowering your standards?

It’s not a perfect process, but 99 percent of our employees get it. They understand the safety focus. They understand the dedication that we want all our crews to have every day. If we get new hires, we have a mentoring process where our experienced employees will work with them very closely. We watch them very closely the first two to three weeks they work here to see if they actually practice what they are preaching.

What are the practical things you do to keep workers safe?

We do safety training frequently throughout the year internally with our supervisors and our foremen. We try to get each one of them trained to a level where we could consider them a full-fledged safety director. From there you have to get every single person buying into zero injuries every day. The way we try to accomplish that is with a good, thorough job hazard analysis (JHA) every morning, and before every task. If we switch tasks throughout the day, we might do two or three JHAs. Each task is different, the job site changes as the day goes on, and we want to make sure we’ve analyzed all the hazards on the job site correctly so we can put in the proper mitigation techniques and methods to properly manage all those hazards.

Do you look at your safety program in terms of return on investment?

I think that’s kind of a gray area. It’s hard to calculate that. Some people have the mindset that all these safety measures cost production and cost contractors money, and I completely disagree with that. I think the safer you are and the more planned out your jobs are, the better they will run and the more production that you will get, and safety is a huge part of that. A better plan and better executed project should also be a safer project.

What’s your advice for other business leaders who want to make their workplaces safer?

If you’re going to walk the talk, you have to become educated in what makes a great safety culture and what will facilitate great safety performance. I read a ton of articles. I’ve been to a ton of seminars. I’ve been fortunate to work for some really great, safe companies that have taught me a lot. The industry and the clients that I’ve had over my career have driven me to try to be a safety expert. I don’t feel that I’m a safety expert, but I work hard to try to make myself more knowledgeable about safety and more savvy about safety every day.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

With mass shootings making headlines disturbingly often, many employees have considered the possibility of a shooter terrorizing their workplace.

Employees at the Dallas County Hospital in Perry, Iowa, have gone beyond thinking about this frightening prospect. They’ve practiced for it through an active shooter drill.

The safety committee at the 25-bed hospital worked with local law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security and the hospital’s SFM loss prevention representative to hold an active shooter drill in the summer of 2016. The fire chief from nearby Waukee, Clint Robinson, played the role of the shooter, using a whistle to signify gunshots. Employees who’d been “shot” were handed a piece of paper.

In just seven minutes, the shooter had nine victims and had made it through the entire facility. This was especially disconcerting because staff had been warned of the day the drill would take place, said the hospital’s Support Services Manager Julie Smith, who also chairs the safety committee.

“The whole day and into the next day, staff were still talking about it,” she said. “They were talking in terms of what they’d do differently if it really happened.”

For example, some staff members learned they would have been better off to shelter in place than to try to escape, she said. The actor who played the shooter wore an action camera so the safety committee could analyze video from the drill.

Drill required months of preparation

Although the drill went quickly, it was a long time in the making.

The hospital began planning last fall, starting with a risk assessment conducted by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security protective security advisor, which led to creation of an action plan to reduce the risks where possible. The hospital also required all staff members to take the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s web-based active shooter training course.

To train employees in every area of the building on what they should do in the event of an active shooter incident, the committee created a video showing the options to exit the building or shelter in place in locations throughout the hospital.

“It was worth the time and effort,” Smith said. “Until you practice things, all of your policies and procedures are just words on paper.”

More employers training on workplace violence

Dallas County Deputy Sheriff Max Roll, who worked with the hospital to plan the drill, said the department is getting more requests to assist with similar types of training.

“We would recommend that anybody that feels the need for their business to do it,” Roll said. “It’s always a good thing to have, especially in today’s environment.”

Roll said the department learned a lot from being part of hospital’s drill. Law enforcement has always trained on these types of scenarios, but organizations conducting similar training is a relatively new phenomenon, he said.

The hospital’s SFM Loss Prevention Representative Jason Clausen agreed that nowadays many types of employers should be thinking about providing this type of training. He said the hospital not only trained its staff on responding to an active shooter situation, but also provided training on de-escalation tactics to prevent tense situations from becoming violent whenever possible.

“Violence prevention is an extremely important component of any safety training on workplace violence,” Clausen said. “It’s admirable the hospital is working so hard to protect its employees.”

For more information on de-escalation tactics see these SFM resources:

• De-escalation Team Training – health care
• Alternative intervention & de-escalation tactics, 5-Minute Solutions safety talk
• Home health care: Violence prevention in the home, 5-Minute Solutions safety talk

Resources from the federal government to protect against active shooters in the workplace

Following are two resources provided by the federal government that SFM’s loss prevention representatives sometimes recommend to employers who want to do more to prepare for workplace violence:

• The Department of Homeland Security’s Protective Security Advisor program
  Through this program, government security experts work with organizations in government and the private sector to protect the country’s critical infrastructure. They conduct threat assessments, hold outreach activities, respond to incidents and provide training. Depending on the risk level, a protective security advisor might even tour your facility and provide suggestions for improving security. For more information, or to contact your local protective security advisor, email PSCDOperations@hq.dhs.gov.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s active shooter training
  This free online course trains you on how to recognize potential workplace violence indicators, what to do in the event of an active shooter situation and how to prevent and prepare for such incidents. The course takes about 30-45 minutes plus time for the post-test. If you’d like to take the test and receive a certificate, sign up for a student identification number  before you take the course.

Another option you may want to consider is reaching out to local law enforcement for guidance.

Every organization is different, and there are many other resources available if these aren’t a good fit. It’s an unfortunate reality that nowadays organizations of all types and sizes must take steps to prevent and prepare for a violent situation in the workplace.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

Independent School District 911, Cambridge-Isanti Public Schools , implemented a stepladder program to decrease falls from chairs, and got much more.

“By putting stepladders around our schools, giving teachers and other faculty easy access to them, we not only decreased the incidence of falls, but also saved our district time and money,” said Pamela Mix, human resources specialist.

As part of the district’s monthly incident and accident review process, it became evident that falls from faculty standing on tables, chairs and other unauthorized surfaces was a problem. The district’s safety and health committee decided the most effective way to decrease the risks of such falls was to provide stepladders in easy-to-access areas in every building in the district.

Previously, ladders were kept in custodial closets under lock and key, making them difficult for teachers to access. Placing stepladders throughout the departments saved employees time that would have been spent searching for a ladder.

To start the program, the safety and health committee worked with principals, head custodians and site staff to set criteria for which type of ladder to purchase. The criteria included things like maximum weight, means of storage, product material and number of steps or rungs. Based on the criteria, the committee gathered a variety of stepladders for trial.

After trying the ladders in a variety of ways and locations, the committee was able to make a selection and rolled out the stepladders to all schools within the district.

Program a success

Having the support of all school administrators and department heads was key to the success of this program. They helped communicate the expectations for use and storage of the stepladders, and reiterated the importance of safety.

“The feedback has been positive across the board. Our faculty is using the stepladders regularly and likes how easy they are to carry, use and store,” Mix said. “And since the implementation of the program, we have not seen one incident report of a fall from a table, chair or other unauthorized surface. We feel the program is a complete success.”

“As a bonus, this program encouraged others throughout the district to talk about safety in general. It got conversations going,” Mix said. “It showed that our employees are important and that we will provide the equipment they need to stay safe.”

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.