Working Safely
By: Steve Sayer
( Editor’s note; Many of you know Steve Sayer as a friend or neighbor here in Aliso Viejo. He was asked by meatingplace.com to write on safety issues for their online blog. Meatingplace.com is an on-line community for red meat and poultry processors
in North America. Membership is FREE. Meatingplace.com is published by the Marketing & Technology Group.)
Some of those same synonyms have been expressed when meat and poultry companies finally perceive the supposedly furtive, behind-the-scenes, stealthy, clandestine, privy or, behind the veil benefits that a well-managed and pro-active occupational safety and health program can bring to their companies.
Management becomes shocked when they finally hatch open, one by one, a steady stream of industrial safety epiphanies that clearly reveal the exceptional wide and expansive benefits that industrial safety programs convey; (besides preserving and adding monies to their bottom line) and wonder out loud why they didn’t know about such benefits eons ago.
The many benefits of a pro-active industrial safety and health program have always been there just waiting to be mined and put into action – but have been largely ignored and overlooked by many. There are a number of reasons why; innocent ignorance and other seemingly more important priorities like; … “let’s get to it next week.” Sound familiar?
Despite the industry at hand, well-organized and thought-out industrial safety and health programs will boost your company’s production. It will also improve product quality, while augmenting important employee morale. There exists a treasure trove of secondary effects such as:
Protecting your workers welfare and that of plant visitors
Better working relationships between management, workers and ultimately your clients
Nominal lost production time
Less time away from work due to stress, sickness and duvet days
Increased worker retention
Improved employee willingness to learn and develop new and existing skills and working knowledge
Preserving company property and equipment
Lowering dramatically workers compensation bills and associated X modification ratings
Improved employee loyalty
What are some of the benefits you’ve seen regarding occupational safety and health programs at your establishment?
How about some of you meat and poultry companies operating under OSHA’s elite Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) status and reaping daily dividends from the hush-hush treasure chest of industrial safety? I’d like to hear from you.
Steve Sayer
Aliso Laguna News
Columnist
