Archive for Awakenings

The Urban Dictionary defines a pet peeve as a “An irritating experience caused by others in which you cannot control“.  Here are a few of my safety pet peeves: OSHA in the USA has done much good, but unfortunately they will never reach their full potential because they are a “political organization” that is subject […]

I’ve participated in state and national safety conferences for over 40 years.  Today’s safety conferences are not as effective as they were before the year 2,000! These days, conference attendees are often distracted by their mobile devices.  Some spend much of their time in conference presentations on their smart phones texting, surfing the net, or playing […]

If someone decided to build a new Mount Rushmore National Memorial that featured the four greatest influences on occupational safety and health, whose faces would you like to see enshrined in stone for all time?  Below are my picks: Dan Petersen – is known as the father of modern safety management.  Dan was the first to advocate applying […]

  I’ve been a safety professional for over forty years, and I first started working in factories and construction sites in the 1960’s.  Today’s workplace and today’s safety professionals are very different then they were 50 years ago.  Below are the five greatest influences I’ve seen on the safety profession in the last 50 years: […]

 “Blood & Gore Has It’s Place”  I strongly believe in using “blood and gore” to motivate employees!  The two oldest safety meetings that I can remember both involved seeing the gory aftermath of accidents. 41 years ago I saw a safety movie that showed a hospital ward in India devoted to treating villagers who were […]

Most countries have established occupational safety and health regulations.  These standards are based upon extensive research and are often a response to excessive accidents. Complying with safety regulations is of course a legal mandate, but don’t stop there – sometimes the standard doesn’t go far enough or is outdated.  Ask yourself, “Does compliance with the […]

   “We’re NOT The Safety Police”   The Safety Manager is a member of the management team.  As such, you have a responsibility to enforce company work and safety rules.  The big question is not – should you enforce rules; but rather – “how” should you enforce rules? Decades ago, safety managers would carry disciplinary forms with them […]

“What If Your Audience Knows More Than You?”   Early in my safety career I lived in Dubuque Iowa.  As a young safety consultant I was frequently asked to speak to groups of employees about various safety subjects. One of my clients was a trucking company.  An analysis of their vehicular accidents found that their […]

“Beware Of Friday The 13th”   I’m not superstitious, but I am aware that some of you are a bit wary of Friday the 13th. One large study by a major insurance company found that 28% of their workers compensation claims occurred on Fridays.  But why would more accidents happen on Fridays than any other […]

“Don’t Always Accept The Status Quo”   As a safety professional, you will often hear “well, we’ve always done it this way and no one’s been hurt yet!“ When doing a risk analysis you look at not only the past accidents and near misses, but you also evaluate the “potential” for a serious accident. In the 1980’s […]