a) Experienced business people will simply not buy a generic cost/benefit claim that says something like every dollar spent on safety saves two dollars, or whatever. If you really want to influence managers, look at each proposed initiative individually, computing its costs. Then compute the likely savings based on what similar initiatives have been documented to achieve elsewhere. This takes more work, but a manager who is skeptical to begin with won't be influenced by anything less.

Scott Stricoff, CSP, CIH, President, Behavior Science Technology, Ojai, Calif.

When I was in industry, we learned that increased safety training efforts significantly improved communications between supervisors and their workers, and unintentional injuries almost stopped happening. More than 40 percent of our operations went more than a year with no lost-time incidents. We used actual historical numbers and cost of workers' compensation claims on an annual operational and departmental basis to show how much we saved after training. Since the "back to the basics" safety program was determined to be the variable, we took credit for the savings.

Jeff Meddin, consultant, Dallas, Texas

If I knew this, I would have written three books and retired on the royalties! You can show cuts in workers’ compensation costs, cuts in real dollar costs of medical treatment, lost days, and restricted days; and lost production versus outlay of dollars for safety departments.

Margaret Carroll, CSP, P.E., principal member of the technical staff, safety engineering, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M.

Putting safety efforts on a dollars-and-cents basis is a great way to get your upper management to understand what you and your programs are all about. Try this: 1) Get the costs for several of your larger incidents. I mean all of the costs:

• Injured employees’ wages (don't forget overtime);
• Cost of their fringe benefits;
• Cost of medical treatments;
• Cost of repairs to equipment/building/etc.;
• Estimate the dollars lost in productivity, quality;
• Determine your insurance multiplier or your workers’ compensation rate.

• Cost of visual aids and purchased training supplies;
• Cost of any incentive programs;
• Estimate the cost of lost production because employees will be in the safety meeting;
• Estimate overtime costs — if your employees come in on overtime to be trained. 3) How does # 1 compare to #2? If all incidents can be prevented, you can save all of the costs in item number 1 with your training program. 4) Talk to your workers’ compensation insurance company. Ask them what your premium rates are now and what they would be if you had more of any one type of incident? What would your rates be if you eliminated those incidents? How much would you save?

Barry R. Weissman, REM, CSP, CHMM, EA Engineering, Science & Technology, Inc.

Q) How do you train employees about ergonomics-related symptoms without triggering a rash of non-work-related claims? A) We focus on the prevention side of ergonomics — how to lift properly, how to set up your office — and less on symptoms. When we do discuss symptoms we look at cause and effect on specific body parts. When we analyze a workstation we use a “body part discomfort checklist” and map it to symptoms to see if they match. We also warn about workers’ comp fraud for those potential malingerers who may try to abuse the system.

Mark D. Hansen, CSP, P.E., director, quality, health, safety and environmental, Weatherford International.

Initially we provide training to everyone. Internal studies showed over 80 percent of our back and sprain-strain cases were due to material handling problems, with a minor amount coming from computer work stations. We addressed material handling, and during our computer retraining (Y2K updates) we trained the supervisors and gave everyone information on "Setting up Your Workstation Properly." Special problems or complaints were addressed prior to modifying the workstation or purchasing ergo products.

Jeff Meddin, CSP, consultant, Dallas, Texas

Teach employees the basics for prevention and the “80 percent solution” — standard routines for work set-up, lifting, material handling in general, office workstation set-up — and let them have some power in the situation. Let employees identify what they think they need to change, and have a trained professional check on the solutions to verify. We have been teaching people to lift properly for eons, and we don't generate rashes of back injuries; same with machine tool safety, etc. Most office situations can be handled by purchasing proper equipment, along with proper (one-time) set-up by knowledgeable persons, and then rechecking with employees to make sure the set-up is working. This works better than allowing a not-quite-right solution evolve into an employee complaint (and trip to medical).

Margaret Carroll, CSP, P.E., principal member of the technical staff, safety engineering, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M.

Some people want to exploit any apparent weakness in a system, and the proposed OSHA rules will certainly encourage people to claim the workplace is the cause of their injury. With the standard of having an OSHA recordable as a trigger (a very low-level aggravation can cause an illness to become an OSHA-logged illness) it will be difficult for most companies to control these claims. This is where open communication and rigorous incident investigation is paramount. The incident investigation gives the employer an opportunity to both learn and instruct. The employer must understand all hazards in the workplace, and how they may contribute to cause and effect. The employee can be taught how to identify workplace stressors, and report potential problems before an injury occurs. It is only through the active involvement of everyone in the process that a system can be created that will, in essence, predict where injuries may occur and encourage solutions before a problem arises.

Doug Poole, safety consultant, DuPont Safety Resources, Wilmington, Del.

Q) What advice do you have for setting a lifting policy, in terms of size and weight of packages?

A) After reviewing several mishaps relating to manual lifting we developed the following guidelines: A) Manual lifting operations should be reviewed to ensure the lift can be performed as safely as possible. Mechanical lifting devices should be used whenever needed. B) Visually inspect the object to make certain it has no splintery edges and that grease or other slippery substances will not cause it to slip from your hands. If permitted, place masking tape over slippery surface, or using appropriate cleaning methods to remove grease or slippery substances. C) Remove greasy substances from your hands before attempting to lift any object. D) If appropriate, use gloves to enable a better grip or to provide protection from rough surfaces. E) Be sure you have a good footing before lifting. F) When lifting a heavy object, shift the load of your body until you are in position to make a straight lift. Never lift while your body is in an awkward position. G) When making a lift from the floor, keep your arms and back as straight as practicable, bend your knees, then lift with muscles in your legs. H) When it is necessary to lift from an elevated surface such as a bench, table, or shelf, bring the object as close to your body as possible, hug it to you, keep your back straight, and lift with your legs. I) Ask for help when the load cannot be handled safely by one person (due to operator's physical limitations, excessive object weight, bulk, or awkward shape.) J) As a guideline, one person should not lift more than 50 pounds. Processes/activities that require an exception to this will be reviewed by Industrial Safety and approved by management. There are some bulky or odd-shaped loads weighing less than 50 pounds that should not be lifted by one person.

Edwin L. "Brownie" Petersen, CSHM, MA Thiokol Propulsion

In training workers, we stress that IF they cannot move heavy or bulky objects with powered equipment, they are to get help from a coworker before lifting. We leave it up to the worker to determine what is heavy, but normally we use the 50-pound mark as a reference.

Jeff Meddin

What an employee can safely lift varies depending on their own individual physical conditioning; the number of times lifting is accomplished; what the object being lifted is like in terms of weight, center of gravity, shape; the distance and height being lifted, etc. The longer the distance, the distance it is raised or lowered, and the number of times the motion is performed must be considered. Then individual abilities must be considered. This is not a matter of gender, or age or size — it is a matter of individual ability. I routinely lift 50 pounds of dog food and 40-pound bottles of water (I am 5' 4 1/2" and weigh 120 pounds) but I work out routinely and am involved in strength-building sports activities. Several of my male (much larger) counterparts cannot lift these loads; it is an individual thing.

Each lifting situation must be evaluated by a professional, or a sufficiently trained supervisor; and the individual must be evaluated by a trained safety or health professional.

One size (or weight limit) does not fit all.

Margaret Carroll

Q) How do you know if you are OSHA-compliant within all you departments?

A) OSHA publishes compliance checklists. Numerous others are available, too. Become knowledgeable. Take some classes on OSHA regs. Call the OSHA outreach or training bureau in your state or region and ask for advice. If you really want to keep people from getting hurt, OSHA is a great resource.

Jay A. Sprankle, CSP, manager, safety & environmental services, Rhone-Poulenc Ag Co.

While total compliance in all departments is certainly a goal, the fact is that unless the site is very small and uncomplicated, absolute, total and assured compliance is probably not going to be accomplished. The standards are many and complex and activities in all departments are constantly changing. Plus, if your efforts are devoted to assuring that complete compliance occurs in all departments, you can lose your focus on safety. "Compliance with OSHA" and "Safety" are related but are two different things. What to do? Identify the significant hazards and their risks in each department. Determine which OSHA standards address those hazards and risks. Focus on getting in compliance with those standards through education and motivation. Compliance, like safety, is a process, so expand your education and motivation efforts to include more OSHA standards as additional hazards and risks are identified.

Tom Lawrence, CSP, P.E., principal, Risk, Reliability, and Safety Engineering

We require each physical operation in the company to conduct monthly (most weekly) walk arounds by the plant-wide labor-management safety committee, plant management, and safety supervisor. Findings are compiled, work orders issued and the status of corrective action is provided in mandatory monthly safety reports sent to plant, division and corporate management.

Jeff Meddin, CSP, Dallas, Texas

Staying OSHA-compliant throughout all departments is only accomplished by having a continuing auditing process. Trained, efficient auditors will keep everyone up to speed on compliance issues.

Bob Brown, Blue Collar Safety, Houston, Texas

Interactive software programs are available that walk you through a series of questions and answers. They help you fill in the gaps in your safety program and achieve compliance. Still, in any program you need to ask these questions:

“Where are we now?”

“Where do we want to be?”

“How do we get there?”

This includes assessing your current safety climate and management support; records reviews; hazard assessments; employee involvement; teaching/training/working to the standards; and constant reassessment and auditing for program effectiveness.

The resources are readily available: OSHA guides, training aids, programs, even hiring outside consultants to review the existing safety programs.

If there was a magic wand to wave to achieve compliance, this all would be easy. But to achieve and maintain compliance requires a concentrated effort. Too often, the lone employee who is given this responsibility in addition to other tasks is easily overwhelmed. Try team-based approaches, where fresh ideas and inputs spur the questions and answers that make your safety system work.

Charlie Kline, senior consultant, J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc., Neenah, Wisc.

Q) How do you train employees about ergonomics-related symptoms without triggering a rash of non-work-related claims?

A) We focus on the prevention side of ergonomics — how to lift properly, how to set up your office — and less on the symptoms side. When we do discuss symptoms we look at cause and effect on specific body parts. When we analyze a workstation we use a “body part discomfort checklist” and map it to symptoms to see if they match. We also warn about workers’ comp fraud for those potential malingerers who may try to abuse the system.

Mark D. Hansen, CSP, P.E., director, quality, health, safety and environmental, Weatherford International.

Initially we provide training to everyone. Internal studies showed over 80 percent of our back and sprain-strain cases were due to material handling problems, with a minor amount coming from computer work stations. We addressed material handling and during our computer retraining (Y2K updates) we trained the supervisors and gave everyone information on "Setting up Your Workstation Properly." Special problems or complaints were addressed prior to modifying the workstation or purchasing ergo products.

Jeff Meddin

Teach employees the basics for prevention and the “80 percent solution” — standard routines for work set-up, lifting, material handling in general, office workstation set-up — and let them have some power in the situation. Let employees identify what they think they need to change, and have a trained professional check on the solutions to verify. We have been teaching people to lift properly for eons, and we don't generate rashes of back injuries; same with machine tool safety, etc. Most office situations can be handled by purchasing proper equipment, along with proper (one-time) set up by knowledgeable persons, and then rechecking with employees to make sure the set-up is working. This works better than allowing a not-quite-right solution evolve into an employee complaint (and trip to medical).

Margaret Carroll, CSP, P.E., principal member of the technical staff, safety engineering, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M.

Some people want to exploit any apparent weakness in a system, and the proposed OSHA rules will certainly encourage people to claim the workplace is the cause of their injury. With the standard of having an OSHA recordable as a trigger (a very low level aggravation can cause an illness to become an OSHA-logged illness) it will be difficult for most companies to control these claims.

This is where open communication and rigorous incident investigation is paramount. The incident investigation gives the employer an opportunity to both learn and instruct. The employer must understand all hazards in the workplace, and how they may contribute to cause and effect. The employee can be taught how to identify workplace stressors, and report potential problems before an injury occurs.

It is only through the active involvement of everyone in the process that a system can be created that will, in essence, predict where injuries may occur and encourage solutions before a problem arises.

Doug Poole, safety consultant, DuPont Safety Resources, Wilmington, Del.

Q) How do you get supervisors to comply with safety regulations, especially when they aren't used to doing so?

A) As leaders within their organizations, supervisors have a special responsibility to model safe work practices for other employees.

• First, supervisors must have the knowledge and skills necessary to work safely. This means that supervisors must be well trained and educated, both in the safety procedures and in their special responsibilities as leaders.
• Second, the formal and informal consequences within the organization must be aligned to support working safely. Following safety procedures is not optional, therefore supervisors who shortcut safety procedures must be subject to disciplinary action, which is management's responsibility.

A culture should be created where employees routinely provide feedback to their peers and supervision in a way that helps develop and sustain safe practices.

Ultimately, supervisors are employees, too. The challenge is to create alignment between the formal systems and the organization's cultural practices in a way that supports the safe work practices of everyone.

Terry McSween, president, Quality Safety Edge, Missouri City, Texas

The first thing you have to do is determine whether the supervisors are new to your organization. If they are, you need to provide extensive training on the business’ safety program and policy. But if the supervisors aren’t new employees, you need to ask yourself a few questions:

• Could management be the problem?
• Is line management setting the right example through their daily activities and are they accountable?
• Is management saying, “We believe in compliance, but hurry up and get everything done and don’t let anything get in your way”?

If management is sending these mixed signals, you need to get a true commitment to compliance from every manager and be sure they demonstrate that commitment every day.

If management isn’t the problem, meeting one-to-one with supervisors can help. Let them know there’s a “perception” they’re not complying with safety regulations, and get their feedback on this perception. Ask them for suggestions. Work with them to formulate a plan to achieve compliance, and let them know anything less than full compliance is unacceptable.

But don’t be too critical. Find opportunities to praise or reward supervisors for their successes, and be sure to provide positive reinforcement for all the good things they’re doing to improve safety.

Bruce C. Cole, CSP, safety consultant, DuPont SHE Excellence Center, Wilmington, Del.

Q) What are some ways to prevent workers' compensation fraud?

A) The best thing to do is to manage the cases. If workers know you're going to follow-up on injuries and aggressively pursue suspected fraud, they'll be less likely to commit it. Don't be afraid to challenge the workers’ claims, and don't always rely on what your carrier agrees to. Insurance carrier case workers are overworked too.

Jay A. Sprankle, CSP, manager, Safety & Environmental Services, Rhone-Poulenc Ag Co.

Set up claims oversight teams at each plant/division to work directly with the claims adjuster to keep injured workers on the job. If time away from work is necessary, then someone from a level of management should stay in constant touch with the injured worker by phone and through the treating physician.

Jeff Meddin, CSP, consultant, Dallas, Texas

First get back to basics… ask yourself a few questions:

• Why is this person out on comp?
• Did a hazard go unrecognized? Unreported?
• What is motivating this individual to garner illegal wages? Dissatisfaction in the workplace, or is it the start of bass fishing season?

You need to constantly assess and audit the workplace to discover hazards and correct them before someone gets hurt. But in the event an employee goes out on workers' compensation, you need to continuously follow up with the injured employee. Make that person feel needed and give that worker a sense of accomplishment by being your employee, and comp fraud decreases.

Charlie Kline, senior consultant, J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc., Neenah, Wisc.