Ontivity Resources

Welcome to our first safety meeting of 2024, I hope that everyone had an enjoyable and restful holiday season.   As we get back into the swing of things after the holidays and much-deserved time off, we want to discuss a few key areas that will help drive our commitment to safety to the next level. 

Today’s topics are centered around 3 topics that need your laser focus in 2024. 

• ALWAYS REPORT ALL GOOD CATCHES AND NEAR-MISSES

• INCREASE YOUR FOCUS ON PREVENTING SPRAIN/STRAINS AND LACERATIONS

• CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON SAFE DRIVING PRACTICES

ALWAYS REPORT ALL GOOD CATCHES AND NEAR-MISSES.

To start this key point, let me give a brief description of what a good catch and near-miss are.  A good catch is recognition by an employee of a condition or situation that had the potential to cause an incident but did not cause one due to corrective action and/or timely intervention by the employee. A near miss is an event during which no property is damaged, and no personal injury is sustained, but where – given a slight shift in time or position – damage and/or injury easily could have occurred.  Now let’s talk about why it is critical to report them.  These types of events are a warning sign that a piece of equipment, safety policy, or procedure, is not working properly.  Reporting these events will enable us to investigate and share results, so everyone can learn and take action to prevent them from happening again or maybe even help remove the hazard from the workplace completely.  In 2023, our near-miss and good catch reports were lower than desired, and we need your help to drive them up in 2024.  The next one you report could make all the difference.  Our challenge to all the crews in the field is to report 1 good catch each week as your contribution to our core value of safety!

INCREASE YOUR FOCUS ON PREVENTING SPRAIN/STRAINS AND LACERATIONS.

The two most frequent injuries for our family member companies in 2023 were sprains/strains and lacerations.   We all need to work together to drive the frequency of these injuries down with the intent of eliminating them from our workplace.  When cutting remember to use the right tool and PPE to protect yourself from lacerations.  A pocketknife should never be your first choice for cutting nor should you use a tool that has dull blades.  Remember to always stabilize materials that are being cut, bent, or drilled.  It is tempting to try and hold something in one hand while trying to cut it with a tool in the other. However, this is a safety shortcut that can go badly.  When you break down our sprain/strain injuries there are a few key things that we all need to work into our daily routines.  One, before you start working do some warmup stretches to get the blood flowing and loosen your muscles.  The short time it takes you to stretch could save you from being out of work for long periods.  Never lift more than you are capable of and make sure you are on a stable surface before attempting any lift.  There should be no shame in asking for help from your coworker and no job is going to suffer if you take a few extra minutes to get a mechanical advantage aid or wait for your coworker to help.  Lastly, pay attention to slip or trip hazards in the work area as these can lead to sprain/strain injuries.  Again, it only takes a few extra minutes to look for and remove these hazards from the workplace and can make all the difference.

CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON SAFE DRIVING PRACTICES.

Our last topic for today’s call is one that we saw great improvement on to close out the year.  We must continue with the positive trend and work to eliminate unsafe driving practices from our daily lives.  We talk about safe driving quite frequently on these calls due to it arguably being the greatest risk our workers are exposed to, day in and day out.  There are many instances when automobile accidents leave people unable to continue with their jobs or even work at all anymore. Always come to a complete 3-second stop at all stop signs.  Anything less is not a full stop and depending on where you are could cause an accident or land you with a ticket.  We must always obey the posted speed limits, if that means you must move over to the dreaded slow lane, then so be it.  Speeding, especially when pulling a trailer can be a deadly risk.  The old saying may sound cliché, but it is true.  Slow down and arrive alive! One last comment on this topic is to stay focused when operating a motor vehicle.  Always be aware of other drivers and anticipate that they are not going to see hazards ahead of them and react late.  Always give yourself an out and ignore those text messages until you are in a safe position to respond.

Believe it or not, it is “your choice” if you are going to contribute to a safe workplace.  It is your choice whether you take that shortcut or do the job right. It is your choice whether you follow the safety rules or not.  However, the result is “not” your choice.   Don’t be the person who says, “Oh, yeah I saw that earlier and knew someone would end up getting hurt”.  If you choose to take that shortcut, you are giving up “your choice” for a zero-harm workplace.

If you would like more information on this topic or any other safety-related topic, please reach out to the Ontivity safety team at safety@ontivity.com, and we will get you taken care of.