Got safety?
(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)
When was the last time you had a third-party auditor review your OSHA programs and procedures at your establishment? Have you ever?
I’m sure you’ve had plenty of those third-party food safety audits mandated by your customers that has revealed, at one time or another, Swiss-cheese holes in your purportedly stalwart food safety programs. The very same can apply to your OSHA programs.
Keep in mind that you have USDA inspectors meandering everyday around your facility, monitoring your food safety programs while keeping you on your regulatory toes.
However, when the time comes for you and an OSHA inspector to stroll flatfooted around your facility, you may find yourself spiraling backwards via your regulatory heels, and it’ll be too late to safety-certify this person or fully implement that OSHA program.
If you’re an owner or plant manager, I’m sure that the safety and welfare of your workers remains a top priority of your company. However, accidents and deaths happen; even at USDA establishments that have commendable OSHA programs in place.
Do you really know that your employees are following lockout/tagout/blockout procedures at twelve midnight?
Are your maintenance workers safety trained and qualified to conduct repairs to your refrigeration system?
Do you have employees from each shift trained for CPR and first aid that is supplemented by a blood-borne pathogen prevention program?
Are those long-term sanitation employees really wearing their personal protective gear?
Does your company conduct mock plant evacuations at least once a year?
Are employees who operate forklifts safety certified?
Does your company hold documented safety meetings for all employees?
Are all of your employee’s safety trained and documented for all assigned jobs?
If you can’t answer yes to all of these questions, then you more than likely need to do more.
Hiring a qualified industrial safety consultant, even an OSHA on-site consultant to help evaluate your unique operations is a good starting point towards eliminating preventable accidents and injuries, while saving your company money and, most importantly, protecting the lives of your company’s most valuable asset: your employees.
Regardless if the regulatory spotlight is highlighting food safety or OSHA safety; it’ll always remain prudent for companies to conduct pre-event audits rather than post-event audits and those proverbial daisy-chained future preventive measures.
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