Greetings all! I have avoided chiming in on this discussion, but I do have some comments to offer. Safe performance of work has to be taught as a value not a priority. Priorities can be manipulated, values cannot. Management must have the perspective that we will do it safely, or we will not do it. Management, down to the supervisory level, owns the processes. HES personnel are valuable resources to help management understand how to do things safely, but the bottom line is that the line organization is the owner of the work and is ultimately responsible for everything from setting the example by confirming the wearing of PPE to creating safe work processes and assuring that personnel are trained and competent to do the work with a focus on doing it right, thus safely. I do not want to see HES professionals become enforcers of safety rules, as that is not their job, and only serves to distance them from the workforce they are there to assist. When there are problems to be solved, line management is to be held accountable. No one should be passing it to HES to implement a solution, although they will be involved. This must surely be more difficult in Academia, as it is almost a monumental task to get management to understand this in industry. I have been associated with very few companies that actually take this to heart, but what a difference it makes! I do believe we are missing the boat on teaching college graduates who enter either area and do not have this most basic understanding. You can shape the attitudes of those just entering the workforce, but changing the attitudes of those who have been doing it another way for many years can be almost insurmountable, depending on the person. But like you, I believe we must keep trying to make a difference, and I am doing my part, one company at a time. Regards! Raymond L. Cook, Jr., MSIH, CIH, CSP Pesident & Principal Consultant Apex HSE, LLC http://apexhse.com 832.477.4454 1 Cor 1:18 -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Ralph Stuart Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 7:43 AM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [DCHAS-L] safety culture in academia & industry 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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