It is a lonely business being at work by yourself. There is always something to be said about working in pairs or groups from the standpoint of safety, but many times it is more effective to have one worker on site at a time, which means that one worker having self-imposed accountability to ensure his [...]
Being safe while alone on the worksite is a matter of values. The concept is called self-management, and it's a process in which lone workers, or those who are on an island working independently from others with no team members or supervisors in close proximity, are able and willing to self-accountable, self-observant and self-aware about [...]
We really do want to trust those lone wolves. OK, we do - honestly. But you have to excuse us safety professionals if we act like helicopter parents or worrisome nannies when our lone-wolf workers, or "island laborers," as I tend to call them, are on the job by themselves with no accountability and no [...]
They say that the definition of integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking. And if you are a lone worker in the field, the integrity of the workplace safety protocol can very much be challenged. Lone workers are increasing in number these days, as more and more companies go to more [...]
The bottom line with safety is that success can be ergonomically designed. There is a reason that ergonomics hs become "a thing" in safety culture and safety processes; it's because a majority of the time-loss incidents and injuries in workplaces can be directly attributed to workers' posture, form and use of their limbs in ways [...]
When it comes to this blog, you can always count on an article by Robert Pater to fill a couple of spots of content here. As one who is a big believer in the success of companies that have a safety culture and not just a safety program, I am always interested in Pater's articles [...]
Robert Pater is at it again. The prominent author of several safety-leadership and safety-culture articles in such vehicles as Professional Safety magazine, has struck again with his latest entry, which discusses the power of commitment to a safety culture change in the workplace. Pater co-wrote his most recent article with colleague Ron Bowles, discussing the success of [...]
Guardrails are good for all drivers. And cars, even those without a driver. With self-driving cars being the new innovation in transportation, the U.S. Department of Transportation has had to address the concept of driverless cars sharing the road with vehicles that have human drivers. With that, cars that have their own memories and can [...]
We have given thanks to firefighters for all they do to help keep our communities safe. But maybe the time for just platitudes is over. This might be the time to show our gratitude with something more than just words. We ask a lot of our firefighters, probably even more now than we have in [...]
When you consider all the different occupations that fit into the construction-industry vertical, construction is the largest sector of the economy and can be an effective barometer of the state of a nation's economy. If there are buildings being renovated, new buildings going up or new neighborhoods being established, that is usually a sign that [...]
