Keeping Incident Rates Down in the Age of Innovation

by Nicholas DePesa, Safety Coordinator at Scientel 

Stemming from the 20th century labor and safety movements, the tagline ‘Safety First’ has since become a well-known slogan for workers everywhere, with an intent to help against hazardous working conditions.

With advancements in technology and government regulations, “Safety First” became a prerequisite for many American working environments. It would be easy to assume the end of such movements would ensure that employee safety is no longer a societal concern, but unfortunately, that is not our collective reality yet.

As civilization continues to develop, as do our jobs and the created hazards. As more fields of employment develop, as do new found challenges and dangers to employee health. To keep up with these everchanging times, the need for organizations to develop adequate procedures to ensure facilities are safe is now more important than ever.

The question becomes: How can companies identify safety as a core value while keeping incident rates down?

It comes down to businesses and corporations recognizing the humanity of their employees, making them and their families a top priority. Ingraining a sense of unity into company culture and teaching proper precautions can ensure that incidents are kept at a minimum. Adapting employees to this mindset creates a solid foundation for a workplace culture while simultaneously allowing employees to withhold any negative feelings geared towards safety & health regulations.

As educator, Eleanor Everet put it, “Safety is not a gadget, but a state of mind.” To ensure employees get through the workday and back home safely, it is critical that organizations provide valuable training and have consistent policies and procedures in place, in order to provide a sense of security for all. However, protecting the health of your employees doesn’t stop there. Bringing innovation into your processes and procedures to reflect the habits of your employees is critical to lowering incident rates

Scientel has several procedures in place in order to keep our employee’s health and safety our top priority. Some of the key components that have been implemented into our safety process include:

1. Effective communication with each region and the Safety Coordinator allows Scientel to stay on top of action items about safety such as PPE inventory, project’s scope of work, and recommendations from a safety standpoint.
2. Use of PowerApps for our Vehicle fleet and more 
   • Vehicle check-in/out process
     • Informs the manager/safety coordinator which vehicles were used, who checked them out, inspection data, and for which project.
   • Completing a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA). 
     • Workers give a detailed scope of what job they will be working on, the PPE used, and job details. This helps workers foresee any possible hazards associated with their work. 
   • Documented companywide bi-weekly PPE inspections
3. Azuga Fleet to monitor Scientel’s vehicle fleet regarding vehicle live data, the current condition, and location.
4. Emergency phone notification system to notify employees of any natural disasters that could affect our office.

Technological safety integrations are a great, simple, and cost-effective way to ensure that your employees protect themselves and coworkers. Updating your company’s safety process to reflect the times we live in will ensure your incident rates are kept low, but most importantly, that your employees are kept safe. 

References: https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/osha