Lately, I've been doing a fair amount of management training in the past few months. What I often see is safety folks, both full-time and part-time, who are struggling to do the compliance thing and a management team that is perfectly happy to let them struggle. Essentially nothing has changed in the 44 years I've been doing occupational safety. The problem is most basic---no one wants to see people hurt but neither do they see safety as a core element of their company culture.
Many of the workplace safety problems we face can be easily avoided with knowledge, ethics and a modicum of legal savvy. After 38 years in the corporate and consulting safety business, it’s time to share some wisdom acquired from mistakes and observations.
Corporate emergency management is a big deal at least for the 72 percent of companies large and small that actually have a plan to deal with emergencies. But it’s rare that one finds a flawless response to the disaster of the moment. So what goes wrong?