From: Russ PhiferRe: safety culture in academia & industry I really appreciated Mike Wright's perspective on this issue. I too get to see safety from both perspectives, since I have clients in both industry and academia. Mike is correct that academia CAN get it right if they provide their safety professionals and faculty with the time, resources and authority to do so. Some of the safest "workplaces" I know are those schools that have the support of their administration to make safety a priority. The other side is. an accident waiting to happen. The best example I can give is of the college that asked me to review the chemical hygiene plan for their chemistry department. I suggested that once the plan was revised and final that my contact take the plan to the college President to have it signed, to show her support for the Department's safety efforts. The President refused, saying that it was a human resources issue and that someone from that office should sign the plan. This is despite the university's claim to be "committed to the high standards of quality in promoting a safe and problem-free educational environment". If actions speak louder than words, then this school is an accident waiting to happen. The corollary is industrial facilities that don't give their safety professionals the authority to enforce safety rules. One facility where I work, for example, refuses to require supervisors to wear appropriate eye protection when in the plant. What kind of example does that set, when a worker can be written up for a safety violation and a supervisor on the same floor can't? It will take a supervisor getting hurt before that changes. The best facilities, and the safest ones, are those that recognize the value of a strong safety culture and realize that while safety is not a profit center, it affects the bottom line in many ways. There is a reason safety consultants and trainers get many of their new clients after an accident, or an inspection with violations. but by then the damage has already been done in terms of injury, death, financial harm and/or a public relations nightmare. We recognize the value of preventive medicine in our lives; why do so many academic and industrial facilities not recognize the value of preventive safety measures? Russ Russ Phifer WC Environmental, LLC 1085C Andrew Drive West Chester, PA 19380 610-696-9220x12/ fax 610-344-7519 Cell - 610-322-0657 rphifer**At_Symbol_Here**wcenvironmental.com
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