When it’s snowy and icy outside, it takes the right moves to avoid a winter slip-and-fall injury in a parking lot. Show your employees this lighthearted video to remind them how to walk safely in slippery conditions.
For more winter prevention resources and information, visit SFM’s winter slip and fall prevention page.
What do Midwesterners dread most about nasty winter weather? Driving in it.
Getting across town during a snow or ice storm can be stressful, time-consuming and dangerous.
What can you as an employer do to keep your employees safe and your organization functioning when dangerously bad weather hits?
There’s not always an easy answer, but the first step is to have a plan.
A severe weather policy is a critical component of your business’s overall emergency preparedness and disaster recovery plan.
It’s not uncommon for state departments of transportation to advise against travel due to severe weather. Whether it’s poor visibility or ice, unsafe road conditions could keep your employees from the office.
Schools have decades of experience in communicating closures to keep staff and students out of treacherous weather conditions. They’ve established clear plans on who makes the decision to close, by what time, and how to notify people.
But calling a snow day isn’t just for schools.
It’s essential for employers of all types to be prepared for a disruption to normal business operations because of severe weather. Of course, not everyone can shut down during inclement weather. Hospitals, for example, need to be staffed 24/7. You may have critical operations to keep running.
How can you get prepared? With a snow day policy.
The time to plan for bad weather is before a storm hits. Employees will have many questions that should be addressed in an inclement weather policy, like in this example policy .
“The inclement weather policy must set expectations, present a balanced approach to compensation, mitigate risks for both employers and employees, and present a fair solution for emergency situations,” writes Susan Heathfield .
Following are items you should think about covering in your inclement weather policy:
Let’s look at a few of these items in more detail.
When developing your plan, consider setting specific criteria about the amount of snowfall, road conditions and temperatures that may trigger a closure. This will keep your employees from wondering about a snow day each time the snowplows come out.
Blizzards aren’t the only weather situation that may require closing. Below-freezing temperatures and wind chills as low as -60 degrees prompted the governor of Minnesota to close schools statewide in January of 2014.
Rely on an expert like the National Weather Service for weather conditions and to your state’s department of transportation for road conditions. You may look to your local school district as a guide. Know the terminology for different winter weather alerts, advisories and warnings.
If you’ve set up the ability for workers to telecommute or work remotely, do you still expect employees to work if your office is closed due to weather? What if the company does not close, but an employee would prefer to avoid traveling? Remote work options could allow them to avoid taking a personal day.
As with other parts of your snow day plan, communicate clear expectations with your employees if you expect them to work remotely if they cannot make it into the office. Prepare your IT infrastructure for a spike in activity if many more employees than normal try to access the remote work system.
Your weather emergency plan also needs to factor in maintaining any business-critical operations. If a vital employee cannot make it to work, do you have a backup plan?
Keep in mind the business implications of voluntarily closing because of the weather. Even if your employees aren’t working, they may still be due a paycheck. Check your state and federal regulations for rules around paying exempt and non-exempt employees in various bad weather scenarios .
By developing a snow day policy ahead of time, you’ll be prepared to make a thoughtful decision before a storm hits, and you’ll help your employees stay safe.
An inclement weather policy can formalize your stance on employee safety during winter weather conditions, but ultimately, employees must also make decisions about their own safety and use their best judgment about whether they should be driving.
That’s why it’s important to foster a workplace culture where employees know you care about their health and safety and wouldn’t punish them for prioritizing their safety over work.
In the same vein, you can be proactive by starting to plan as soon as you hear a big storm is coming. You can encourage employees to rearrange their schedules in advance to avoid driving during the worst of it. This might mean leaving a day early to get to an out-of-town meeting, doing a delivery early or simply rescheduling an offsite meeting.
Strategies like this can keep your organization functioning while also keeping your employees 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.
This post was originally published on January 18, 2017 and updated on November 7, 2018.
Have you ever been driving home late at night and had to fight to keep your eyes open?
Or maybe you’ve felt your attention drift while driving to work in the morning?
It might seem commonplace, but driving in these situations can be dangerous. Even if you’re not falling asleep at the wheel, drowsy driving poses a risk to your life and others.
Driving while drowsy can cause drivers to pay less attention to the road, slows their reaction time and affects the ability to make good decisions. It also impairs information processing and short-term memory and decreases performance, vigilance and motivation.
Accidents caused by drowsy driving are most common late at night and early in the morning, with early afternoon also being a peak time for drowsiness. Most crashes result from failure to brake or avoid an accident. It’s also common for drivers to veer off the road.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving causes 100,000 crashes, 71,000 non-fatal injuries and 1,500 deaths per year. However, these are low estimates as drowsy driving can be difficult to track. It’s thought that up to 6,000 fatal crashes each year may be caused by drowsy drivers.
Drowsy driving occurs when a driver is sleepy or fatigued. Excessive drowsiness is usually caused by sleep loss from restriction or too little sleep. This can result from interrupted or fragmented sleep or chronic sleep debt. Other factors include undiagnosed or untreated sleep disorders, the use of sedating medication and consumption of alcohol when already tired. These factors can compound on one another, and any combination of them increases the chances of causing a motor vehicle accident.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, people who sleep six hours a night are twice as likely to be involved in a drowsy driving crash than those sleeping eight hours or more, and people sleeping less than five hours increase the risk to four or five times.
Commercial drivers who operate vehicles such as tow trucks, tractor-trailers and buses have increased risk of drowsiness. Workers with long, rotating or night shifts, such as doctors, nurses, pilots and police officers, have a higher risk of drowsy driving, especially when driving home.
Warning signs include:
If you experience these signs, pull over to rest or change drivers. It’s not enough to just roll down the windows or turn up the radio.
There are many ways to prevent drowsy driving:
At least seven hours is the recommended amount of sleep for the average adult.
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day and make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet, relaxing and at a comfortable temperature. Remove electronic devices from your room, avoid large meals, caffeine and alcohol before bed and get some exercise.
Pay attention to potential symptoms, such as snoring or regularly feeling sleepy during the day. Many people with obstructive sleep apnea and narcolepsy go untreated.
Check the label on medications or talk to your pharmacist. Common sedating medications include antidepressants, cold tablets and antihistamines.
Share driving with other passengers on long trips, pull over at rest stops and take a short nap or arrange for someone to give you a ride home after working a late shift. On long trips, schedule breaks or switch drivers every 100 miles or 2 hours.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its preliminary top 10 violations for 2018 in late October at the 2018 National Safety Council Congress & Expo .
These standards were the most frequently cited during OSHA’s fiscal year that ended September 30. According to OSHA, the list serves to “increase awareness of these standards so employers can take steps to find and fix the hazards to prevent injury or illness.”
Fall protection has topped the list of most-cited OSHA violations for eight years in a row, and many of the other standards continue to be in the top 10 year after year. The only new item in 2018 is eye and face protection at number 10.
Here’s the full list:
SFM and OSHA both offer safety resources to educate employers and workers on common sources of violations and injuries. See below for a sampling of resources for each of the top 10 violations.
This post was originally published on December 6, 2017, and updated on October 31, 2018.
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Skip isn’t the only superhero who cares about safety. School bus drivers play the role of safety hero every day as they go about their jobs.
This year’s theme for National School Bus Safety Week, “My Driver – My Safety Hero,” reminds us of bus drivers’ important roles in getting people where they’re going safely.
National School Bus Safety Week , from October 22-26, brings awareness to the dangers for drivers, students and pedestrians. It’s everyone’s responsibility to stay safe around school buses.
Bus drivers have additional duties beyond transportation. Drivers must be aware of their own risk of injury, while driving safely and keeping an eye on their surroundings.
School Bus Safety Week offers a chance to provide drivers with a few safety basics, including:
SFM’s safety resources help keep bus drivers injury-free, from pre-trip inspection to exiting the vehicle using 3 points of contact. Download SFM’s Supervisor Initiated Training talks tailored to transportation workers to make it easy for your leaders to have a discussion with their teams about school bus safety.
National School Bus Safety Week is sponsored by the National Association for Pupil Transportation , National School Transportation Association and National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services .
When Jones Metal Inc. identified a safety risk in the shipping process, they didn’t delay in finding a solution.
The SFM policyholder, based in Mankato, Minnesota, provides custom sheet metal fabrication services for original equipment manufacturers in industries as varied as agriculture, construction and defense. The family-owned business, which marked 75 years in 2017, employs more than 80 people.
The pallet-wrapping process required two people lifting a roll of shrink wrap and reaching up and around the pallet while it was held up by a forklift. No injuries had occurred, yet the shipping manager recognized the risk of strains, sprains or being struck by a forklift and brought an automated solution to the company’s attention.
Jones Metal applied for a Minnesota OSHA safety grant to help them pay for an automated pallet wrapper that would eliminate the risks and improve their shipping process. The MNOSHA safety grant program awards up to $10,000 in matching funds to “qualifying employers for projects designed to reduce the risk of injury and illness to their workers,” according to the MNOSHA website. The application requires an on-site inspection and written report by a qualified safety professional.
Jones Metal’s Director of Human Resources, Val Bentdahl, called in SFM Loss Prevention Technical Leader Lee Wendel to assist in applying for the grant. Wendel visited their manufacturing facility, observed the pallet-wrapping process and provided a written recommendation for the equipment.
Jones Metal received the matching grant and installed the machine.
The end result: A safer and more efficient process. The step that previously required three workers now takes only a forklift driver, who operates the pallet wrapper with a remote control.
“The machine prevents the possibility of strain injuries and struck-by injuries, plus saves time,” explained Bentdahl. “It wraps the material in a fraction of the time, and it’s much more secure. It eliminates quality issues, and eliminates injuries.”
Since Jones Metal became an SFM policyholder in 2015, it has taken full advantage of SFM’s safety resources. Working in a higher risk industry, Jones Metal is never complacent about injury prevention. Their safety committee proactively recognizes and addresses risks.
“They’re on the leading edge of adopting changes that are safer for their employees,” Wendel said.
They train employees on safety from day one, and experienced workers — their skilled workforce averages 14 years of experience — continue to receive safety training. They leverage the Minnesota Safety Council for specialized training.
They’re on the leading edge of adopting changes that are safer for their employees.
~ Lee Wendel
Most of their safety training takes place through the online learning management system SFM offers free of charge to policyholders, called Vivid Learning Systems.
Vivid offers interactive 20- to 40-minute modules employees take individually, when it fits in their schedule. Topics cover a wide range of occupational health and safety subjects. Jones Metal makes use of online trainings for hearing protection, lockout/tagout and more.
When an injury does occur, Jones Metal supervisors respond quickly. Very few of their claims become lost-time claims because they understand the importance of bringing injured employees back to work as soon as possible. Jones Metal works within any medical restrictions to find transitional jobs for their workers, and they involve themselves with the claims process.
Even with a good loss history and an e-mod that has improved almost 20 percent in the last three years, Jones Metal continues to emphasize injury prevention.
“They’re always striving to do better than they’ve done before and looking for more resources to prevent injuries for their employees,” Wendel said.
Photo courtesy of Jones Metal
Due to an aging population and the high cost of hospital visits, there has been increased need for alternative care options for the sick, elderly or disabled. One of these solutions is the use of home health care.
For home health care workers, there is very little control over hazards they are exposed to. They face many unique safety risks while on the job.
If you are driving to work, make sure your vehicle is in good working order and keep emergency supplies on hand. While travelling, keep your car locked and stay on well-traveled roads. Park in well-light areas and avoid underground parking lots, dark alleys or parking next to large vehicles.
If you are using the bus or walking, stay in well-lit areas with high pedestrian traffic. Be aware of your surroundings, making sure to look and listen. Make sure any oncoming traffic can see you at all times.
Indoor hazards include:
While working indoors, keep your shoes on if allowed by the client and be sure to check the floor surface before walking on it. Watch out for clutter and suggest to the client that items be stored properly, electrical cords get tucked out of the way, and drawers stay closed. Always use handrails when going up and down stairs.
Outdoor hazards include:
Wear footwear with a good tread and check all walking surfaces before taking a step. Move cautiously when exiting your vehicle and when walking on uneven, wet or icy surfaces. Be sure to notify your client representative and supervisor of any hazardous conditions.
Violence refers to any physical force that may cause injury, as well as threatening statements or behavior. Clients and their family members or visitors may become violent or argumentative due to frustration caused by the client’s condition. Clients may also be experiencing difficulties due to trouble communicating, effects from medication, physical or cognitive limitations or frustration over being dependent on others.
Be sure to read over the care plan before visiting clients. Assess their mood before starting your duties and be sure to tell them what you’re going to do before you do it. Make sure you have easy access from the home.
If a situation becomes stressful, stay calm and face the person with your elbows at your sides and arms out. Watch for signs that the person might strike out. Don’t argue or raise your voice. Reassure the person that their concerns will be dealt with as soon as possible and tell them how to make a complaint to your supervisor. Tell your supervisor about the situation as soon as possible.
The five main risk factors that cause overexertion and strain from repetitive motion include:
Signs of overexertion and strain from repetitive movements include:
Transferring, repositioning, dressing and bathing clients, as well as housekeeping work, can put you at high risk for strains and sprains. Plan your tasks to reduce the potential for injury.
The best way to avoid injury when transferring or repositioning clients is to use equipment and transfer assist devices, such as lifts or low-friction slide sheets. Clearly communicate your intentions and instructions the client. Avoid having a client hold on to you.
If you have to lift manually, it’s important to practice safe patient handling. Lift from a position of power by keeping your head up. Get close to the client while lifting and make sure you have a good hold. Use a staggered stance by positioning one foot in front of the other and remember “nose follows toes” to avoid twisting. Bend your knees and avoid jerking motions.
When dressing a client, try to avoid awkward positions, such as reaching to dress the client, and static postures, such as supporting the client in one position for a long time. Keep your body upright and shift your weight with your legs when helping the client move.
Other best practices include starting with the client’s weaker side when putting on clothes, helping your client lean forward when putting on shirts and sitting on a stool when assisting with socks and shoes.
When bathing a client, avoid awkward and static positions, using the same set of muscles repeatedly without a chance to rest and contact stress from kneeling on the floor or leaning against the tub. Be sure to gather all equipment and supplies you need and position them in easy reach. Before you help clients into the tub, be sure to seat them on a transfer bench or shower stool.
While on the job, there are several household tasks that you might not think are hazardous, including making beds, cleaning and doing laundry.
When making beds, avoid bending at the back and flexing your knees as you make the bed. Walk around the bed instead of reaching over it. If you have to work from one side, keep one hand on the bed for support.
While cleaning, use equipment with long handles for hard to reach areas, place a folded towel under your knees while kneeling and make sure protective gloves fit well to prevent using extra force with gripping.
Carry loads you can comfortably manage while doing laundry. Avoid bending forward, fold clothes at a comfortable height and avoid twisting when lifting.
With four distinct generations now working together, employers must create and adapt safety and health programs to engage baby boomers, generation X-ers, millennials and the newest generation.
Members of the youngest generation, lacking an agreed-on name, but commonly called Generation Z, are just beginning to enter the workforce, according to the Pew Research Center . Millennials, now in their 20s and 30s, may soon surpass Baby Boomers as the United States’ largest generation .
These generations have dramatically different cultural, societal and educational experiences that shape their perspectives, motivations and “norms” about their work lives. They also have different safety needs.
Traditionalist
prior to 1946
Baby Boomers
1946 – 1964
Generation X
1965 – 1980
Millennials
1981 – 1996
Generation Z
1997 – present
Older employees have delayed retirement far longer than previous generations, and they simply cannot do the physical work they once did in the same manner without increased risk of injury.
Cumulative trauma from age, work and lifestyle can start to exhibit itself in soft tissue and musculoskeletal injuries. Physical strength and muscle mass also decrease as we age.
Employers should take a fresh look at work tasks and processes and try to engineer out manual aspects or incorporate devices or design to reduce the physical burdens of the job.
For example, it may mean breaking down packaging to decrease the weight lifted, or moving keyboards and monitors into more ergonomically correct positions. Job rotation or cross-training can be used to reduce physical strain on employees and prevent repetitive motion injuries. Functional strengthening or flexibility exercises can make employees more resistant to injury and incorporate wellness into the work process.
These improvements can also serve younger employees and promote safety for all employees.
When older employees begin to retire in large numbers shortly, a knowledge vacuum could occur if steps aren’t taken to prevent it. Hundreds of years of collective information about the employer — especially about equipment, machinery, buildings and processes — could be lost.
Begin using mentorship programs or relationships to transfer knowledge to younger generations so their safety isn’t jeopardized when long-term employees retire. A side benefit of mentorship: younger generations can give a fresh look at established processes and generate ideas to make them safer or more efficient.
Younger generations can be incredibly savvy with technology. Use their knowledge to assess opportunities to introduce technology that will advance safety in the workplace. Diversifying training and communication methods to include online, video and teleconferencing benefits all employees.
However, be aware that people’s preferences may differ. Some employees prefer the phone over instant messaging; set guidelines so everyone is communicating effectively. As more and more digital applications enter the workplace, ensure that less technologically advanced workers receive the training and instruction they need to use them safely.
Total Worker Health — incorporating safety with health promotion on and off the job — benefits all generations in your workplace. Younger generations may expect employers to promote physical activity, mental health, work-life balance and proper nutrition, and they may buy in more quickly than older workers.
Use younger employees’ momentum, energy and leadership to engage older employees in your efforts. Total Worker Health can help reduce the occurrence of chronic, age-related conditions that increase the risk of workplace injury and delay recovery.
All employees need and want feedback about their performance and safety efforts. Even so, they differ considerably in what they perceive to be the optimal amount and timing.
All new employees should have a safety orientation, even those who may not be new to the industry. You can’t make assumptions about employees’ safety knowledge based on their ages. Rather, you must train all employees and provide feedback that is best suited for them.
After the initial safety orientation, incorporate ongoing safety messages into team huddles or meetings to combat the information overload that can happen at the beginning of a new job. SFM’s 5-Minute Solutions and Supervisor Initiated Trainings are two tools to add short safety messages into daily work.
Younger employees often look for immediate feedback or response, while older employees may take more of a “no news is good news” approach. Make sure management and employees are all on the same page and understanding of each other’s needs for safety communication.
Having so many generations in the workplace at once presents challenges as well as opportunities. Thinking through your safety program with all of your employees’ needs in mind will take time and effort, but it should pay off in the form of safer, more knowledgeable employees of all ages.
Will your company take part in Safe + Sound Week August 13-19?
The second annual Safe + Sound Week raises awareness about the value of safety and health programs. The theme is taken from the phrase, “Safe workplaces are sound businesses.” Throughout the week, companies are encouraged to hold events demonstrating their commitment to safety.
The Safe + Sound Week information on OSHA’s website offers multiple activity ideas for each of the three main elements of a successful safety and health program:
All organizations, regardless of industry or size, may take part. Participating businesses can be listed on the map of events and receive a certificate and badge recognizing their efforts.
Led by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the coalition of organizers for Safe + Sound Week include:
Learn more about Safe + Sound Week or register your event .
In the United States, trench and excavation hazards cause more than 100 deaths and 1,000 injuries every year. Eventually, all excavations and trenches will cave-in, but knowing proper safety procedures and what hazards to watch for will greatly reduce the risk of injury.
The National Utility Contractor’s Association (NUCA) is holding a safety stand down week for trench and excavation safety from June 18-23. This event, endorsed by OSHA, provides companies with an opportunity to have a conversation with employees about trench and excavation hazards and best practices to prevent injury. Take a break to talk about trench and excavation safety, plan a safety event or provide training for all workers.
Cave-ins pose the greatest risk and are much more likely than other excavation-related accidents to result in worker fatality. Keep an eye out for warning signs, such as bulges in the walls of the excavation and cracks running parallel to the edge.
Other trench and excavation risks include:
When doing trenching and excavation work, a competent person capable of identifying and correcting hazards and who has the authority to stop work must be present. Prior to beginning work, underground utilities should be located. Before an employee enters the excavation, test the area for hazardous atmospheres such as oxygen deficiency and high concentration of combustible gas or other hazardous substances. If detected, clear away prior to entry.
Depending on the depth of a trench, different safety requirements are necessary. Access or egress must be provided for an excavation of four feet or greater. If an excavation is more than five feet then a protective system of either a bench, slope or shield must be in place. When the excavation exceeds six feet, fall protection is required.
Examine equipment used for protective systems for damage that could impair its function. Remove and replace damaged equipment.
Spoil piles should be a minimum of two feet away from an excavation’s edge and placed so that rainwater runs away from the excavation. Ladders are required to enter or exit a trench and must be within 25 feet of all workers. Employees should not work outside of a trench box or shoring. All workers need appropriate personal protection equipment: hard hats, safety boots, safety glasses and Class II high visibility vests.
By following these safety recommendations and keeping aware of your surroundings, you can significantly reduce the risk of injury.
Visit SFM’s resource catalog for more construction safety materials.
