Wordsmyth.net defines awakening as a “coming to keen awareness”.
The below articles are “awakenings” Dave Weber (our founder) has realized during his 43 year safety career.
You Can NOT Believe Accident Reports! misleading self-serving, biased , false, more concerned with being seen as politically correct and a team player. Reluctant to point the finger at any department or manager (especially executives and top-level managers) for fear of making an enemy and hurting their career and advancement chances. It’s the […]
Recently I sent a survey out to hundreds of safety professionals asking “Where’s the best place within an organization for the safety function to report?”. Over 80% of the responses fit into one of the below two categories: 1. REPORT TO THE TOP PERSON When I first started out I reported to the HR director, but this lasted for only a […]
My Simple Behavior Based Safety Program – A few years ago, I created a simple BBS (Behavior Based Safety) program and successfully implemented it at my multi-location, international employer. Unlike most other BBS programs, mine is simple and non-adversarial. Its’ focus is working with employees to identify their unsafe behaviors, and soliciting the employees participation in finding a win-win […]
Every large company that I’ve ever worked with has had a company safety manual. These manuals include the company’s: safety policy statement, safety policies, safety rules, and sometimes even safety procedures. But are these voluminous manuals really needed at medium and smaller sized companies? Yes, every employer should have some form of company safety manual […]
Years ago I visited a large egg farm. I was brought in to investigate a serious amputation accident that had occurred there a few days before. I found a huge building that housed thousands of chickens. All of the chickens were confined in tiny cages. I found a network of conveyors that was used to move […]
“Brothers In Safety Help Each Other” – A few years ago I was the safety manager for a large, multi-location company. We had numerous “internal” measures of our safety performance and we did a very good job in comparing our recent safety performance to our historical results. However, we could not find any good data […]
The Donald Trump Of Safety Donald Trump tells it like it is! There are two types of people who can be brutally honest – billionaires (like Mr. Trump) and retirees. Both are financially secure and don’t care much about the consequences of not being PC (politically correct). Retirees no longer have to worry about a boss […]
“Do We Still Need The ASSE?” – In today’s high-tech world, is there still a need for the nations oldest (est 1911) and largest safety organization? Is the ASSE (American Society of Safety Engineers) a relic of the past, or are it’s best days still ahead? I was a professional member of the ASSE from 1976 to […]
“Hazard Surveys vs Safety Inspections” – Is there any difference between a “Hazard Survey” and a “Safety Inspection”? I believe that there is. A “Safety Inspection” is a survey where one uses a checklist to evaluate a machine, process, or work environment. Often these inspections are performed to both determine if there […]
“Don’t Always Believe What You Read On The Internet” – Many practicing safety professionals spend much of their day on the Internet. In addition to doing searches, we also visit safety blogs and on-line safety magazines. These are a great ways to stay on top of the latest developments and to find out what […]