People, Equipment, Chemicals…Do You Have a Safety Plan?

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A stitch in time saves nine.

Both these expressions advise us to heed the same warning: a little precaution before a crisis occurs is preferable to a lot of fixing up afterward.

It’s a good philosophy to live by when operating a business. Especially one where the health and safety of a full staff of employees depends on the working conditions you provide for them.

Safety Helps Your Bottom Line

Good safety management can be effective in reducing overhead costs, which in turn can help your business to be more profitable (and isn’t profitability what we all strive for?). Your overhead is kept down because a safe and healthy staff will be there on the job with fewer absences and less down time.

In addition, a clean safety record can help bring your company lower rates from your insurance carrier. The cost of premiums to provide coverage for a workforce can be a substantial outlay for a company. And those costs keep rising all the time.

Anything that a business owner can do to lower their premiums can help a company’s bottom line. Running a safe operation is the surest way to see lower rates – insurance companies provide discounts to those proven to be less likely to file claims (think of the “Good Driver” discount for auto coverage).

A safe and healthy–and, thus, less absent–staff is also a more productive one. Your employees aren’t fulfilling their duties when they’re not on the job, right? So, it stands to reason that the more days per year that they are working, andnot injured or sick, the more productive they will be.

Every Company Needs a Safety Plan

“At Hunter, the importance of safety starts the very first day a new employee is on the job,” said Kim Pinkerton, environmental, health and safety manager for the company. “Because we deal with hazardous materials, potentially dangerous equipment, and have so many people on the job at any given time, it is essential that our employees be well versed in proper procedures for doing tasks right.”

Pinkerton said that the procedures Hunter has in place can easily be implemented at any company and she stressed that all businesses in the irrigation industry should have some type of safety management plan in place.

“Our new employees receive an orientation about the company which includes a complete briefing on our Injury and Illness Prevention Program, the Hazard Communication Standard, and our emergency action plan,” said Pinkerton. “The new hires are then trained on their specific safety needs for their work area by their supervisor. Thereafter, each month, employees and their department must attend a mandatory safety meeting that reviews and/or updates an important safety procedure.

“Safety training is a priority with our company. There are too many opportunities for employee injury and property loss.”

Incentives, Training Help Acheive Cooperation

Incentives are a great way to encourage employee safety. Mike Rorie, president of Groundmasters, a Cincinnati-based maintenance company, told the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) that he regularly uses incentives.

“Rewarding employees for following safety guidelines is just as important as rewarding them for meeting productivity standards or coming up with new ideas.” said Rorie. “Safety has to be made as much a part of company culture as providing a high level of service.”

Safety precautions or not, accidents will still occur. That’s why it is essential to have your employees trained and prepared for what to do when one happens. Pinkerton recommends that all employees be trained on how to use a fire extinguisher, how to administer first aid, and who to contact in case emergency assistance is required.

“No matter how good we are at preventing accidents,” she said, “we can always do better.”

If an accident does occur, the health and safety staff reviews the incident and tries to determine what procedures can be altered to prevent a reoccurrence.

“Of course, good safety management doesn’t always means reacting to negative things that occur,” said Pinkerton. “We try to be proactive to prevent the loss from occurring in the first place by constantly evaluating the working environment. We do this by listening to our employees and working together as a team to correct hazards in the work place.”