One sweeping glance across the Seattle skyline is enough to see that something is happening in the area. If a region’s tower crane count is any indication of economic growth, then companies should pay attention to the Pacific Northwest.

ISHN Magazine sat down with Joe Boyle, CEO of TRUCE, to discuss strategies for eliminating workplace distractions. The following are excerpts from that conversation.

Whether in mining, construction, fabrication and assembly, equipment installation and repair, or other industries, there is a shortage of skilled tradesmen/ technicians to do essential work.

According to OSHA, businesses spend almost $1 billion per week on costs related to occupational injuries and illnesses. “In today's business environment,” according to OSHA, “these costs can be the difference between operating in the black and running in the red.”

Be careful, pay attention, watch what you’re doing, follow the rules... and you won’t get hurt!” Not exactly the most positive form of communication, is it?

“Today we’re going to talk about something bigger than PPE, policies and practices. Something we’ve never discussed before. Can’t really fit it into a toolbox. It’s called life.

We do what we do to obtain, avoid, or escape certain consequences. Consequences we work to obtain are termed "positive reinforcers." Consequences we attempt to avoid are "negative reinforcers."

It wasn’t until recently that we started understanding that people with different personalities tend to naturally pay more attention to safety attributes like work environment, people, equipment, processes, etc. based on their personality tendencies.

The use of prepaid reward cards to recognize employees is a growing trend. According to one study, 87 percent of U.S. firms that use non-cash rewards are now using gift cards, spending more than $24 billion annually on those cards.

Assessing personality types or styles goes back thousands of years. Rob Fisher, a human factors expert, says in ancient Asia, “fire,” “wind,” “water,” “earth” and other terms were used to capture the different personalities of different people.