Friday, October 30, 2015

New Visual Management Techniques Publication Available

Visual Workplace Inc. has released a new free publication about visual management techniques to create a safe workplace environment. The document covers a variety of topics to help organize a safe work place, including the use of PPE, covers machine, equipment and process protocols as well as offering facility safety instructions.
istockphoto.com/kevinkraft

The publication makes note that visual information is essential to help make safe decisions at a workplace facility. This allows the organization many benefits including increased quality, reduced injuries and creates a sustainable workplace organization among others.

The document also offers a list of top 12 visual workplace safety/emergency notification systems list, photos of PPE and their instructions as well as other protective work instructions. There are also tips on machine and equipment safety like suggestions of organizing by color distinction and identifying lock out/tag out processes through visual aids.

View the entire publication here.


Keeping First Responders Safe in Ambulances

iStockphoto.com/Willowpix
An updated standard for ambulance design should make emergency runs safer for first responders. EMS providers riding in the back of current ambulances not using restraints are at high risk of injury or death during a crash or evasive traffic maneuver, even at relatively low speeds. However, restraints are said to make treating patients difficult while in route to a hospital.

Trading off protection for function often comes at a price. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that between 1992 and 2011 there was an average of 4,500 vehicle crashes involving ambulances annually, a third of which resulted in injuries.

With the new design standards announced today, emergency personnel should be able to do 95% of their tasks while properly restrained.

To maximize safety without compromising effectiveness, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),  Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, and NIOSH developed design guidelines for ambulance patient compartments.

“With the new design standards, emergency personnel should be able to do nearly 95 percent of their tasks while properly restrained,” says Jennifer Marshall, homeland security program manager in NIST’s Special Programs Office.

Learn more at NIST's website.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Coaching Skills for Leaders

©iStockphoto.com/Mikko Lemola
Coaching is management style that some leaders are incorporating into their work environment. In his Forbes Leadership article, William Arruda asks successful coaches what their advice is for leaders who wish to integrate coaching into their daily routine.
  • Ask questions. Ora Shtull, founder of OraCoaching says that “a leader who reduces the need to be the smartest in the room and have all the answers will motivate her team, win allies, and create the capacity to grow personally.” Asking questions to your team will help grow trust, encouragement and communication.
  • Kara Exner, founder of Nine Lions Coaching, also encourages leaders to ask questions. “Leaders who invest the time asking questions to foster a team member’s self-discovery see a bigger payoff . . .” She says team members become more engaged and more empowered. 
  • “When in doubt, communicate.” Shira Ronen, founder of Spectrum Consulting, suggests that adopting a coaching leadership style must be about communicating better and more frequently. Ask open-ended questions and really listen to the what the person answers.
  • Karen Tweedie, a partner in Access leadership Australia, says “Better conversations mean better relationships, which lead to better output.”

In addition, here are some tips coaching leaders can practice to support their workforce:
  • See yourself as a thought partner, listen for potential.
  • Keep your questions open-ended.
  • Encourage self-discovery.
  • Put your attention on the person who is in front of you—not the issue.
  • Expect that the person is capable of determining the best approach.
  • Empower the person to succeed by providing resources and removing obstacles.
  • Maintain accountability, and celebrate effort and results.


Four Causes of Workplace Stress

Stress in the workplace can lead to burn-out, anxiety, depression and symptoms like high blood pressure and back pain. Managing work-related stress is vital in reducing these issues, protecting worker health and increasing productivity. As part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness, understanding and management of work-relate stress, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work’s (EU-OSHA) Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress 2014-2015 highlights four causes of workplace stress and how is it managed by companies in Europe.

Demolition Safety: Unique Considerations

Katie Schofield, PhD, CSP, ARM, CHST, CSRM, is a risk consultant based in Minneapolis, MN. She and John Lloyd, a vice president with Lloyd’s Construction Services Inc. in Savage, MN, will present “Construction in Reverse: The Safety Behind Selective Demolition” on Nov. 12 during ASSE’s Construction Symposium in New Orleans, LA. We recently spoke with her about some of the special risks encountered during demolition

ASSE: Describe some unique hazards involved in demolition projects.
Katie: Demolition is a part of construction that mixes the activities and hazards of almost every construction trade into one. It is diverse, it is rapidly changing. Every job is different. The “unknown” is the biggest hazard on every job.

When selective demolition crews begin a job, they are inheriting a structure and site. They don’t know with 100% certainly what occurred during the construction and life of the location, whereas most other trades can observe and see how a project is advancing and what is occurring in real time, prior to and when they come on site.

Some unique considerations include:

  • initial structural integrity, and maintaining it as work and the project progresses;
  • chemicals and asbestos, decontamination, clean-up and remediation;
  • animal/pest hazards;
  • business continuation (e.g., general public and project owners still utilizing the site);
  • crashing, crunching and splintering debris;
  • remote demolition (demo robots);
  • high-reach demolition;
  • specialized equipment and attachments;
  • debris, waste management and reclamation,

ASSE: Discuss why such hazards might be overlooked or unplanned for.
Katie: Conducting thorough preconstruction planning and surveying should account for hazards adequately. However, in some cases hazards can be unaccounted for the following reasons:

  • Abandoned, bankrupt, foreclosed properties may have no one to contact for information on the project.
  • Past flood, fire or disaster modified or damaged the structure.
  • Residual fluids, chemicals, oils and gases may be present in selective demolition areas.
  • The site may allow for less staging and removal of debris and waste than planned.
  • The job requires the crew to perform nonroutine tasks or techniques.
  • Blueprints or structural information does not exist or is inaccurate, which can be typical in historical renovation projects.

ASSE: What are some effective protective strategies that can be used to manage these hazards and prevent injuries/illnesses?
Katie: A project prestart survey, conducted by a trained and experienced individual, can identify known and potential hazards so they can be proactively planned for or accounted for in the bid. Communication with general contractors and project owners is essential for selective demolition, and the level and frequency of communication needed to make a successful project is probably higher than other trades. It is also important to have a variety of safety and equipment options (beyond what is already planned) available so employees can quickly adapt to changing needs or conditions as they arise. Plus, there is increasing ability to have specialized equipment perform higher risk work to minimize employee risk.

ASSE: What are some key steps in planning a demolition project?
Katie: The demolition presurvey is crucial. National Demolition Association has a presurvey that is extremely thorough. It’s available as a free PDF download. Communication is also very important.

ASSE: What challenges might an OSH professional face when getting management to support these planning efforts?
Katie: Primary challenges include:

  • Planning efforts can be extensive and often require time, documentation and thorough follow-up.
  • Surveys for hazardous materials (e.g., asbestos, lead, chemicals) can be expensive, and responsibility for the surveys (and cost) may change depending on the project.
  • Projects can be so diverse, new or unique (safety) equipment may need to be purchased for a single job that may not be used again in the foreseeable future.
  • Work must not start until all of the correct preplanning paperwork is completed. If this starts to compromise budgets and timelines, there may be pressure to cut corners.

ASSE: Any final thoughts?
Katie: Employees must be given the tools to be on-the-job problem-solvers, whether that means equipment, management support, training, communication skills, leadership opportunities, continuing skill development or similar things. Employees also need a solid understanding of safety principles and equipment and how to apply them in diverse situations.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

NIOSH, AIHA Announce New Initiative for Young Workers

   ©iStockphoto.com/IPGGutenbergUKLtd
AIHA and NIOSH have launched an initiative to raise awareness and teach teens about workplace safety and health.

Every 9 minutes a young worker is injured on the job in the U.S. To raise awareness among young workers and provide an understanding of the skills needed to create safe and healthy work environments, AIHA and NIOSH designed Safety Matters, a 1-hour interactive teaching module and PowerPoint presentation targeted to students in grades 7 through 12.

Based on NIOSH’s Youth@Work: Talking Safety foundation curriculum, this program presents essential information and career-readiness skills. The program focuses on eight core competencies including identifying hazards at work, injury and illness prevention, and best practices for addressing emergencies.

Visit the Safety Matters Center for more information or to download the presentation.

OSHA Releases Toolkit for Transitioning to Safer Chemicals

©iStockphoto.com/Mikko Lemola
Many of the thousands of chemicals used in workplaces are suspected to be harmful, but only some are regulated. OSHA says workers suffer more than 190,000 illnesses and 50,000 deaths annually related to chemical exposures. Workplace chemical exposures have been linked to cancers, and other lung, kidney, skin, heart, stomach, brain, nerve and reproductive diseases.

OSHA notes that basic regulatory compliance is not the best way to prevent chemical exposures. Instead, it recommends substituting hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. The agency offers a toolkit to give employers and workers methods, tools and guidance on using informed substitution in the workplace.

Beyond keeping workers safe, OSHA says implementing alternative chemicals can reduce costs, keep companies in compliance and create safer products for consumers and the environment.

Find the guide here.

ISO 45001: The March Continues

From left: U.S. TAG leaders Jim Howe, Vic Toy,
Thea Dunmire and Kathy Seabrook.
ISO/PC 283, the committee overseeing the development of the much-anticipated ISO 45001 standard on occupational health and safety management systems, met on two recent occasions, June 29-July 3, 2015, in Dublin, Ireland, and Sept. 21-25, 2015, in Geneva, Switzerland. The two meetings were designed to meet in task groups to address 2,400 comments on the second committee draft before meeting as one group to address major issues.

Vic Toy, CSP, CIH, chair of the U.S. TAG to ISO/PC 283, reports that 109 delegates, representing 33 countries and 7 liaison organizations registered for the working group meeting in Geneva. Overall, Toy and the rest of the TAG delegation, which included Kathy A. Seabrook, CSP, CFIOSH, EurOSHM, Vice Chair, Thea Dunmire, JD, CSP, CIH, subject-matter expert/representative, and James Howe, CSP, TAG Membership Subgroup Chair, say the U.S. was successful in addressing many issues of concern to the U.S. “The U.S. delegation had many wins during the Geneva and Dublin meetings, which will be reflected in the soon-to-be-published DIS,” Seabrook says.

The group also experienced a positive climate of cooperation within the PC. “The worldwide impact of this standard will be significant due to the diverse range of stakeholders involved in developing it,” Seabrook explains. “The U.S. delegation continues to demonstrate a leadership role . . . to build consensus around key issues to the U.S., influencing and working with participating countries and liaison groups to develop a standard that will improve occupational safety and health around the world.”

However, as with any standards development project in process, some significant issues remain for the committee and key stakeholders to tackle. “There continues to be significant issues of concern to the U.S., including the prescriptive nature of the draft when compared with ANSI Z10. This may impact the appeal and potential uptake in the U.S. for adopting 45001,” Toy explains. He also notes that some U.S. users and auditors may find the standard confusing due to what they view as redundant requirements and inconsistencies. “We are hopeful, however, that the editing conducted by the secretariat and ISO will improve readability and understanding of the requirements,” he adds.

The U.S. TAG delegation also points to these issues of concern to the U.S. in particular:
  • consultation required in the organization’s policy by non-employees;
  • clear requirements for improvement, opportunities and objectives;
  • inclusion of incidents (including all near-misses) with "non conformances";
  • clarity of consultation versus participation with workers and when required;
  • need for greater systems emphasis within the standard;
  • burdensome documentation requirements;
  • use of the term non managerial worker as those with no supervisory responsibility.
In addition, the group indicates that ISO’s Annex SL and the ongoing harmonization effort will require coordination with other U.S. management system standard developers such as TC 207 (environmental), TC 262 (risk management) and TC 176 (quality). However, the harmonization effort is valuable and a vehicle does exist within ANSI for doing this.

Among several new developments, a resolution was adopted, with U.S. agreement, to submit a new work item proposing development of a new part to ISO/IEC 17021: Conformity Assessment: Requirements for Bodies Providing Audit and Certification of Management Systems--Competence Requirements for Auditing and Certification of OH&S Management Systems.

The TAG will now begin to meet remotely to address the issues of concern and to work on U.S. comments once the DIS is released during the 2-month translation periods. The release of this draft for public comment is expected sometime in January/February 2016. Planning is also underway for a face-to-face TAG meeting in February.

The TAG leadership is also hopeful that ANSI will work to further promote integration of management systems among U.S. stakeholders. “With the release of the revised management systems standards, ISO 14001 (environmental) and 9001 (quality) based on standardized harmonization language, ANSI should consider forums to aid organizations looking to take an integrated approach to implementing these standards along with ISO 45001 and ISO 31000 (risk management),” Toy advises.

Click here to view a PowerPoint recap and additional insight about the next steps.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Study Finds Green Buildings Improve Cognitive Function

The study was conducted in the environmentally controlled
Total Indoor Environmental 
Quality Laboratory at the
Syracuse Center of Excellence in 
Environmental and
Energy Systems in Syracuse, NY, and 
took place over the
course of 6 workdays across a 2-week 
period. (PRNewsFoto/
United Technologies)
A new study found that improved indoor environmental quality doubled participants’ scores on cognitive function tests. Conducted by researchers at Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, SUNY Upstate Medical University, and Syracuse University, the study found that employees’ cognitive performance scores averaged 101% higher in green building environments with enhanced ventilation, compared to a conventional building environment.

“We know green buildings conserve natural resources, minimize environmental impacts and improve the indoor environment,” says John Mandyck, chief sustainability officer with United Technologies, which provided primary support for the study. “These results show they can also become important human resource tools for all indoor environments where cognitive abilities are critical to productivity, learning and safety.”

Researchers tested 24 participants’ cognitive performance in nine functional domains (i.e., basic, applied and focused activity levels; task orientation; crisis response; information seeking; information usage; breadth of approach; and strategy). Laboratory conditions simulated conventional and green buildings, as well as green buildings with enhanced ventilation.

Cognitive test scores showed the largest improvements in crisis response, information usage and strategy:
  • Crisis response scores were 97% higher for the green environment and 131% higher for the green environment with enhanced ventilation and lower CO levels compared to the conventional environment.
  • Information usage scores for green and enhanced green environments were 172% and 299% higher than in the conventional environment, respectively.
  • For strategy, green and enhanced green scores were 183% and 288% higher than the conventional environment.
Read more about and download the study from Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment.


Process Safety Management, Inherently Safer Design Included in CSB Recommendations for DuPont La Porte Incident

CSB
In response to the 2014 fatal incident involving the toxic chemical release at the DuPont La Porte, TX, facility, CSB released an interim recommendations report. The chemical release occurred on Nov. 15, 2014, when nearly 24,000 lb of methyl mercaptan was released inside the Lannate manufacturing building at the DuPont facility. Four employees died from asphyxia and acute exposure to toxic chemicals.

The recommendations include numerous suggestions DuPont should take into consideration to ensure the safe environment of the manufacturing operations. Some of these recommendations include performing a robust process hazard analyses to identify and control the hazards; conducting an inherently safer design review, detail the analysis, finding and corrective actions and make the report available to employees, representatives and CSB; and ensuring the manufacturing building is safe for workers by conducting a “robust” evaluation of the building and dilution air ventilation systems.

To view the complete CSB report, visit CSB’s website.

Listen to Safety Lately 10/27/15

Safety Lately is a look at the past week in the world of OSH. This week’s show covers Safety India, power line proximity alarms and safety excellence in construction.




You can download the podcast here.

Like what you heard? Look for more podcasts at www.asse.org/safetylately You can also connect with ASSE on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Removing Barriers to Safety Excellence

Safety excellence is one of those terms that most OSH professionals talk about, yet achieving safety excellence can be difficult. During his presentation at ASSE’s Construction Safety Symposium, Chris Golden, CSP, PMP, will help attendees develop a strategy for removing barriers they may encounter on this journey to excellence. ASSE recently spoke with Golden about his presentation and his view on managing OSH effectively in construction.

ASSE: At ASSE’s upcoming Construction Symposium, your presentation will examine how today’s OSH manager should be able to demonstrate how effective OSH management—or lack thereof—can contribute to project success or failure. Why is this such a critical skill area for OSH professionals?

Chris: Our industry continues to be one of the most hazardous in our economy, the costs of medical treatment in the U.S. continue to rise, and our clients and communities are becoming less tolerant of the serious consequences that occur as a result of failing to manage OSH risks. I don’t think many members within the ASSE community would argue that a project shouldn’t really be considered a success if someone lost his/her life in the process of building it. So the need for effective OSH systems is more apparent now than ever before.

Personally, I think the largest detractor from achieving OSH excellence in many organizations, at least in the construction industry, is the lack of focus on aligning and understanding overall project or organizational goals and processes. On most projects, each function is competing for resources in attempt to elevate its own priorities over others. Competition should be saved for the bid room, not within the project team; otherwise, this creates silos and breaks down communication and can degrade overall team focus, leading to misaligned objectives.

Each project team faces the challenge of managing competing “constraints” (e.g., budget, schedule, safety). So I believe that project management systems, including OSH processes, should be as integrated as possible, to avoid the duplication of efforts and misuse of resources.

ASSE: What are some effective ways that OSH professionals can integrat OSH management systems throughout an organization?

Chris: For me, the better you are able to improve communication with your workforce from an OSH perspective, the better you will be able to improve communication overall. For example, most construction OSH systems involve preshift communication relating the risks of the work to be performed. This communication shouldn’t be limited solely to an OSH discussion, but rather should be part of the overall message you want your workforce to receive in order to be prepared for that day’s work.

Another example is scheduling. This is a project management process that typically involves little overlap with an OSH management system. However, the decisions that go into establishing the project schedule can have serious consequences for the individuals who ultimately execute the work. An unrealistic duration within the project schedule can lead to an increased likelihood that workers will be rushed, cut corners, or be required to work longer shifts and become fatigued. Having greater coordination among scheduling, operations and OSH professionals can reduce the likelihood that an activity won’t be completed on time, as well as decrease the likelihood that a compressed schedule will contribute to someone being injured.

The less that OSH is managed as a stand-alone system and the more that it is integrated into other project management processes, the more communication will improve, and awareness of OSH risks will heighten across the entire team.

ASSE: Can you describe some steps of a strategy that OSH professionals might use to better align OSH management with an organization’s overall strategy?

Chris: The first step I will share in my presentation will hopefully provide audience members with a confidence boost. One key takeaway from my presentation is that we—as OSH professionals—have become good at certain aspects of management, such as formalizing processes and systems, measuring and reporting performance, assessing and mitigating risk. So when it comes to the need for business or process improvement, I believe we should also be looked at as an internal resource for improving performance overall, not just OSH processes.

Second, I hope to reinforce that many of us are construction OSH professionals, not just OSH professionals working in the engineering and construction sector. Personally, I’ve made a concerted effort to better understand how our business works beyond the sphere of OSH management and to identify how OSH can be better integrated with other project management processes, not independent of or in addition to them.

ASSE: How about an example or two of how doing so can positively affect an organization’s performance overall?

Chris: One example is risk management. To any organization, risk management can have several meanings. Risk management can refer to managing schedule and budget risks, it can simply mean insurance, or it can refer to managing OSH risks. Rarely, however, are these processes integrated. And often, a project’s risk register will not even mention OSH risks, even if they are of such potential consequence to derail a project as any schedule or budget risk.

At the project level, perhaps no individuals are better trained at evaluating the likelihood and potential consequence of an event than OSH professionals. We should be looked at as a resource when evaluating and developing strategies to manage non-OSH risks, too. This provides another opportunity for OSH professionals to become more engaged with the project team. This type of interaction not only helps improve risk management processes, it also helps the project team become less siloed and more aligned in achieving the same overall objective, including conformance to OSH system requirements.

This brings me to quality management, another area in which OSH professionals can help to improve performance. Project Management Institute defines quality as “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.” Verifying conformance to requirements is a large part of what an OSH professional does on a project each day. To me, this is as every bit as much a process of quality management as it is an OSH one. The less time an OSH professional has to spend “policing” the project, the more time s/he can spend improving system performance.

ASSE: How can using leading indicators improve project quality?

Chris: The similarities of implementing OSH, environmental and quality management systems are fairly obvious, especially when viewed through the ISO framework. All are based in the foundational concept of plan, do, check, act. So, for an organization that is successful in executing its OSH management system, but lacks sophistication when it comes to quality systems, who is better positioned to help close that gap? It’s another opportunity for our function to add value.

From the perspective of measuring performance and leading indicators, OSH professionals as leaders in the industry when it comes to tracking measures that contribute to the prevention of an event, not only the occurrence of the event itself. Most organizations are tracking such things as employee training, senior management engagement, field observations of performance. We measure these indicators primarily to determine the effectiveness of our systems in preventing incidents. Why should this be any different for the purposes of managing quality to prevent defects?

ASSE: What tips can you share about communicating more effectively to improve stakeholder relations?

Chris: It’s easy to have pride working in our industry. We build things that matter and have the ability to positively transform our communities. Too often, however, our communities only hear about the things that go wrong on our projects: cost and schedule overruns, safety and environmental incidents, ethical breaches, etc. This hasn’t given our industry the best reputation, but we do a lot of great things and can do a better job of telling our story.

Large engineering and construction organizations are now publishing sustainability reports, with OSH performance representing a large portion of content from a social sustainability perspective, and I applaud these efforts. In fact, I would like to see this reporting effort extend down to the regional or even the project level.

However, many organizations do not report sustainability performance to external stakeholders, even when there is a good story to tell, like excellent OSH performance, strong local employment figures or an improvement to the local environment. These reports serve as a communication tool to provide stakeholders with a better understanding of how our organizations value the safety of their people and communities, and can help promote a positive reputation of our organizations and our industry.

ASSE: How can OSH professionals best engage corporate leaders in this effort?

Chris: I think the easiest way is to highlight how positive OSH performance is helping the business overall. The connection between OSH and financial performance has been well established. However, I think there is room for improvement when it comes to establishing a connection between effective OSH performance and reduced risk from an investment perspective.

According to Morgan Stanley, “In 2012, $1 out of every $9 of U.S. assets under professional management was invested in some form of sustainable investment, primarily in public equities.” One of the key findings was the positive relationship between corporate investment in sustainability and stock price and operational performance.

For engineering and construction firms, having an effective OSH management system plays a large role in mitigating social risks from a sustainability perspective. So when it comes to engaging corporate leaders, I think it helps our cause when we connect the dots between reducing risk to people and to our investors.

Another strategy is to make the case for your organization to differentiate itself from its competition. Many projects are now being procured through alternative delivery strategies (e.g., design-build, public-private partnerships). These projects are less likely to rely upon cost as the sole determining factor in a decision to award. With clients moving toward a best-value approach, OSH performance will likely be considered in that decision to award, adding another strategic component. This provides further opportunity for OSH professionals to engage their leadership in the need to outperform their competition and to align OSH efforts with other strategies that are determining factors in securing future business.

Chris Golden, CSP, PMP, is an EHS manager for Skanska USA Inc. in New York City, NY. He has considerable experience in the delivery of high-profile infrastructure programs and the integration of EHS and sustainability systems into operational processes and overall organizational strategy. He holds a B.S. in Safety Sciences from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University.



Friday, October 23, 2015

Proximity Alarm Standard From ASTM to Help Prevent Power Line Contact

Aimed at reducing the risk of contact with power lines by cranes, utility trucks and other equipment, a proposed ASTM standard (Work Item WK49653) describes high-voltage proximity alarm systems. These alarms provide audible and visual alerts with or without the ability to limit movement of equipment.

“In the construction industry alone,” says ASTM member Lance Burney, “OSHA estimated that there are 164,000 establishments using about 96,000 cranes that could fall under the scope of this standard.”

According to ASTM, the standard would apply to any equipment that can elevate to the height of a power line, such as fire trucks, mining apparatuses, news vans, concrete pumps, excavators, derrick diggers and dump trucks.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Listen to Safety Lately 10/19/15

Safety Lately is a look at the past week in the world of OSH. This week’s show covers ergonomics, stress, and new standards for ambulances.



You can download the podcast here.

Like what you heard? Look for more podcasts at www.asse.org/safetylately You can also connect with ASSE on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

ANSUL Launches Online Fire Protection Museum


©iStockphoto.com/ArtemSam
In conjunction with ANSUL’s 100th anniversary, the company has launched an online Museum of Fire Protection. The site includes video, photos and text to tell the story of the fire protection industry and ANSUL over the years. It also includes how ANSUL and other organizations have used cutting-edge science to protect people and property around the world. Users can click on any exhibit of the online gallery to view historical photos, watch videos and share content.

Exhibits include Great Historical Fires; Industries of ANSUL; Journey of Innovation; Science Behind the Brand; ANSUL: Then & Now; Life in 115; Future of ANSUL; and an information section.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Overcoming the Challenges of Training Lone Workers Available as PDF


istockphoto.com/endopack
David Castle, personal safety trainer and consultant, spoke on "Overcoming the Challenges of Training Lone Workers" at Safety & Health Expo 2015

His presentation where he explored what personal safety means, what prevents someone from being safe and who has responsibility for people's safety. It also covers what can make a difference in safety and how to create an effective policy that provides the platform for effective training. This presentation is now available as a PDF download for review.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

What Is Your Management Style?

©iStockphoto.com/Warchi
In Dan Bobinski’s article, “So You’re a Manager. Now What?” he challenges managers to assess what type of managers they are. He argues that knowing your management style will help you better understand your strengths and weaknesses. He also encourages managers to “pay close attention to that common thread that runs through all managements styles, the one that has to do with how you interact with and treat other people.”
Bobinski likens management styles to a spectrum. On one end is the “builder” and the other end, the “climber.” Builders invest in their people, take the time to train employees and make it a habit to talk about how their team contributes to the company’s overall mission. “They offer clear, specific advice, and they are not afraid to be among those who take a hit if something goes south,” he says. They are builders because they build up their employees, creating a powerful team.
Climbers, on the other end, are managers who strive to make themselves better, taking credit for their teams’ work. “They offer little or no advice, and they are quick to pass the buck and place blame if something goes wrong,” he says. They are climbers because they climb on the backs of others to put themselves in a better light.

Bobinski says that while no one is locked into a particular spot on the spectrum, most managers have a particular spot where they prefer to operate most of the time. “Where we operate on this spectrum and how we weave this thread into our personal leadership style may be the largest factor in determining our ability to create successful, passion-driven teams,” he says.