We get to the first full month of fall (and Canadian Thanksgiving month – let us all be thankful!), and we get to start the month with a couple of safety briefs – actually, a couple of installments. Maybe we can call this doing our housekeeping a little early.
Sadly, though, while it is fall, there aren’t any briefs about falls. Sorry about that.
I will admit that some of this may be old news to some of you, but it is all new to you if you are a regular reader of this blog, and I will tend to grab some information if I think its pertinent and important, regardless of when it actually was released. I don’t mind giving reminders, or covering something that maybe didn’t get much press initially or was not considered important before. It’s here because I think it is valuable information for all of us to help us do our jobs better.
So without further ado, here we go.
Are You Framework Capable?
No, this is not a question about your skill in framing for residential construction projects. Might as well get that out there early.
The year 2016 began with the introduction of the Global Occupational Health and Safety Professional Capability Framework, created as a consensus from the International Network for Safety and Health Practitioner Organization (INSHPO). The goal for this framework, according to the organization, of which ASSE is a founding member, is to provide some clarity and definition to the role of an OHS generalist and to help further the skills and competency of those professionals in these kinds of roles.
INSHPO is a group dedicated to promotion and and development of competence standards for professionals in the OHS industry, which gives clarity to those hiring these professionals and detracts from unskilled, undereducated or those of questionable competence from being safety officers. Workplace safety is too important to leave to fly-by-night operators and those will dubious experience or certifications. Reputation maters, and having a certain level of skill and competence as a standard for the profession, as well as accountability within it, enhances the braces that reputation and keeps it at a positive, professional level of respect in the current economy.
You can gather more information about the framework at this link.
Flu Fighters
As we are entering the fall, we are also soon to be entering the flu season, which can often decimate some workplaces.
How badly? It is estimated that as many as 20 percent of the workforce can come down with the flu each year, and that could mean more than 110 million lost days of work. Can you imagine your company doing well if you had one of every five employees out of the office due to the flu? Maybe the only thing we can be grateful about is that flu season is temporary.
One of the challenges that companies have is keeping their workforces healthy during flu season, which can often be a daunting proposition. However, a group called Total Wellness likes to send out annual reminders about three key strategies that can help mitigate lost time by workers.
- Education. They say knowledge is power, and the more knowledge your employees have about influenza and the company’s policies about sick leave and telecommuting options, the more empowered the employees will be to understand their risks and how best to stay productive without risking infection to or from anyone else in the office.
- Communication. If you are good at communicating with workers about other business-related issues – especially those that impact the bottom line – then you should definitely be on board in communicating about health, as sick time also impacts the bottom line as much as anything else. Make sure you understand and can express a comprehensive communication plan in regards to sick workers and the policy for making sure work gets covered when a worker is out sick.
- Activation. The previous two strategies are fine and dandy, but without driving workers and supervisors to action, the first two strategies are just empty words with no meaning. Find ways to get your workers to execute actionable steps toward improving their health and resistance to the flu – promote hygiene, step up cleaning and sanitizing work areas, even have a flu-shot clinic in your office lunch or break room.
For more helpful information about the flu season, visit this link.
Our October Safety Snippets will continue Friday. Stay tuned!