We like to think of ourselves as scientists. After all, safety officers love spreadsheets and taking down figures and expressions to represent risks and hazards in a worksite, and to track incidents with empirical values so as to try to figure out what went wrong and how to prevent the same issue from occurring in [...]
If only the headline referred to a car. Seems like it should, right? Wouldn't we all want that great Z car, and just be so excited that it gets a new model with upgraded features, maybe some leather seats, surround-sound stereo ... Wait, what? Sorry, got distracted. It's not a Z car? Oh, right. [...]
Safety is, in some way, about control. Yes, we can admit that as safety officers, we really do not like free thought when it comes to workers. We would much rather have control over every worker's motions and movements and attitudes so they are always safe and removed from any illness or injury risk. [...]
Our old friend Robert Pater is at it again. The guru of safety leadership has been one to provide great insights into developing safety leadership and safety leaders within organizations, and has been active in providing thought-provoking articles in Professional Safety magazine that explore safety leadership in a number of ways and helping us understand the [...]
As Kermit the Frog once said, "It ain't easy being green." Believe it or not, we safety officer could add a couple words to the end of that sentence: It ain't easy being green and safe. Now, I know what you might be thinking. There has been a generally accepted connotation with "green" initiatives in [...]
Boxers or briefs? When it comes to safety, I choose briefs. We have some things to cover, so this occasional installment of Safety Briefs will not have a long introduction, other than to say that there is an interesting mixed bag of information here - something about improving locomotive safety on railroad tracks, a study [...]
It is the Holy Grail for safety officers. OK, besides Target Zero. Every safety officer is tasked with having a worksite that encourages health, safety and productivity among workers. Every safety officer feels achievement when every single person on the payroll comes to work as expected every single day and works their full shift and [...]
Life goes in shifts, and often we find ourselves having to shift gears. Why is there shifting in life? Because there are times when we realize that we are not in control of our lives - someone else is calling the shots. We figure this out just as we think we have a plan laid [...]
There has been a lot of conversation in recent headlines in the U.S. about women's health issues and the so-called "War on Women." And yeah, there is war going on, but it is a war that is on a much different front line that what the headlines tell you. From a certain perspective, it can [...]
