{"id":6943,"date":"2012-07-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/nia-safety-roundtable-recap\/"},"modified":"2012-07-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-01T00:00:00","slug":"nia-safety-roundtable-recap","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/nia-safety-roundtable-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"NIA Safety Roundtable Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Annual NIA Convention in Scottsdale,
\nArizona this past April, approximately 40 NIA members met with the
\nplatinum-award winners of the Theodore H. Brodie Distinguished Safety Award to
\ndiscuss ideas and suggestions for creating and maintaining a top-notch safety
\nprogram. The group consisted of a wide variety of members, from insulation
\ncontractors to distributors\/fabricators and associates. This roundtable has
\nproven to be an extremely valuable resource for attendees who are concerned
\nabout maintaining the highest-level safety program possible and minimizing
\non-the-job injuries. Workplace safety is becoming increasingly important, not
\nonly from the standpoint of reducing injuries and their resulting costs, but
\nalso when it comes to avoiding OSHA citations that can adversely affect a
\ncompany’s ability to compete for contracts.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Winning
\nRecommendations<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

All of the platinum-award winners emphasized
\nthe importance of making safety a priority. One of the key components of
\nimplementing an effective safety program is the proper training of new
\nemployees. One of the smaller contractors said that his company devotes half a
\nday with new hires to train them on safety protocols; while some of our larger
\ncontractors report that a full day or more is spent making sure that new
\nemployees are effectively trained in safety.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Part of training involves testing, which helps
\nemployers to gage their employees’ knowledge of the rules and regulations. All
\nplatinum-award winners said that they test employees after their safety
\ntraining to ascertain their understanding of the material. The winners
\nindicated that employees who do not meet the company standards for safety
\nknowledge are not permitted to work until they can demonstrate a sufficient
\nknowledge of critical safety issues. One
\ncontractor indicated that his company conducts a pre-hire evaluation of the e<\/span>mployee’s safety understanding and then tailors
\nits training to supplemen<\/span>t<\/span>
\nthe employee’s existing knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regular meetings that
\ncontinually train employees on safety requirements, while also giving employees
\na chance to mention any safety issues that have recently occurred, are also an
\nimportant part of maintaining a strong safety program. All of the
\nplatinum-award winners conduct, at least, weekly safety training through
\nvarious forums, such as toolbox talks or safety huddles. Most of the winners
\nalso have daily safety briefings to keep employees focused on safety as they go
\nabout their day-to-day activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several of the platinum-award winners shared the
\nfact that they regularly begin the workday with stretch and flex programs to
\nget their employees loosened up to avoid sprain\/strain types of injuries. Such
\na program is actually beyond any OSHA requirement, but contractors and
\ndistributors who practice this routine assert that it has a definite impact on
\nreducing soft tissue injuries. <\/span><\/p>\n

Member Strategies<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

During the roundtable discussion, many members shared their unique
\nstrategies for fostering a safe work environment. One of the
\ndistributor\/fabricator members shared his efforts to promote workplace safety.
\nHe has a policy of conducting morning meetings with employees to ensure that
\nthey have an opportunity to share their safety concerns with their supervisors
\nand make certain that they are using the proper equipment. He also empowers his
\nemployees and his fabrication team to write down suggestions for solving safety
\nissues that arise on the job and to bring those suggestions and concerns to the
\nattention of the Operations Manager.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the associate members ensures that new
\nemployees receive safety training immediately after they are hired. His company
\nhas a monthly safety program and devotes a high level of attention to the proper
\nuse of personal protective equipment. During management meetings, safety is the
\nfirst item on the agenda. <\/span><\/p>\n

Owner Sets the
\nTone<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Many of attendees shared the fact that they believe that the
\nowner\/president of the company is responsible for setting the standard when it
\ncomes to safety. The owner\/president needs to make sure that everyone is aware
\nof the company’s safety procedures. For instance, in one medium-sized company,
\nthe owner provides new hires with an orientation on safety to emphasize its
\nimportance as they begin their careers with the company. <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the platinum-award
\nwinners reported that no one in his company took safety seriously 20 years ago.
\nNow, safety is a core value of his business. In order to keep the safety
\nmessage fresh, the company has weekly safety meetings. Employees who are
\nobserved being unsafe are required to give a safety talk at the next safety
\nmeeting to discuss their mistake(s), in addition to any other discipline they
\nmight receive.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Several contractors addressed the difficulty that
\nmany members face to make sure their employees follow safety rules when they
\nare working as a subcontractor on a project, and the other contractors working
\non the site are not taking safety seriously. How do you instill a safety
\nculture in your employees when the general contractor’s employees don’t take
\ntheir own safety program seriously? Whether this is a widespread problem or
\nnot, contractors who face this type of situation have to be even more diligent
\nwhen conducting safety audits of their job sites to ensure that their employees
\nare the exception on the job, rather than the rule. You cannot let your safety
\nprogram slip just because no other contractor on the job is focusing on safety.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Safety Incentive
\nPrograms<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Safety incentive programs took up a portion
\nof the roundtable time because of the recent memorandum from OSHA indicating
\nthat safety incentive programs that rely on records of lost time from injuries
\nor recordable injuries will be scrutinized as a potential violation of Section
\n11c of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. While attendees at the
\nroundtable who use safety incentive programs primarily rely on the findings
\nfrom safety audits (and this type of incentive program does not violate Section
\n11c), it is important to address this issue. The recent memorandum stated that
\nif you base an incentive program?and incentives can include individual cash
\nawards, crew lunches, awarding points to employees that they can use to
\npurchase various items, and recognition at company meetings?on the lack of
\nworkers’ compensation claims and\/or recordable injuries, you could be violating
\n11c. It is important to remember that an incentive program must be based on
\nsafety performance and safety audits, not on workers’ compensation claims or
\nrecordable injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nFuture of Safety<\/span><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

All attendees felt that the roundtable
\nprovided valuable information to aid them in maintaining their own safety
\nprograms. While safety has always been an important aspect of any job, it is
\nbecoming increasingly important in the insulation industry today. More focus is
\nbeing placed on safety compliance and safe work sites by owners, general
\ncontractors, and mechanical contractors. Therefore, the NIA is committed to
\nproviding opportunities to members to enhance their safety knowledge and
\nstrengthen their safety programs. We want to remind all NIA members that
\nparticipation in the 2012 Theodore H. Brodie Distinguished Safety Award
\ncompetition, will no longer be limited to distributor\/fabricators and
\ncontractors. Associate members now have the opportunity to participate in this
\ncompetition, as a result of the Associates Committee’s meeting at the
\nconvention. The NIA Safety & Health Committee strongly urges all NIA
\nmembers to participate in this valuable program not only to get an assessment
\nof their individual safety programs, but also to see how their company stacks
\nup in the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Annual NIA Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona this past April, approximately 40 NIA members met with the platinum-award winners of the Theodore H. Brodie Distinguished Safety Award to discuss ideas and suggestions for creating and maintaining a top-notch safety program. The group consisted of a wide variety of members, from insulation contractors to distributors\/fabricators<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[44],"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[294,289,24,21,291,32],"class_list":["post-6943","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-training","category-personnel-protection","category-contracting","category-business-managment","category-association-news","category-health-and-safety","author-gary-auman"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNIA Safety Roundtable Recap - Insulation Outlook Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/nia-safety-roundtable-recap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NIA Safety Roundtable Recap\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At the Annual NIA Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona this past April, approximately 40 NIA members met with the platinum-award winners of the Theodore H. 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