CompNotes August08

August 14, 2008

An educational resource for schools served by SFM

Your safety culture is key
in back-to-school success

The students aren't back in the buildings yet, but the hallways are probably bustling with activity. Now is a good time to remind administrators, supervisors and faculty about the importance of safe work practices.

You and your supervisors are ambassadors of your safety culture. Educate them. Clear the way for supervisors to make injury prevention a dynamic aspect of how their departments get work done.

When an accident happens, they are crucial to lessening the impact on productivity and business costs.

Encourage your supervisors to:

1.	Communicate openly. Explain their responsibilities in safety. Encourage them to train on the hazards before employees begin a new task. Give explicit directions.
2.	Watch for risky behavior and give feedback. For example, when a faculty member stands on a chair to decorate her room, tell her to use a ladder instead. Or when a custodian is lifting a heavy or awkward load, demonstrate proper lifting techniques.
3.	Look for unsafe work areas. Do a workplace analysis. This includes physical conditions such as wet floors or burned out light bulbs in dim areas. The key is for supervisors to be proactive in looking for and eliminating hazards.

Use your supervisors to help control business and workers' compensation costs. For help with supervisor training and workplace analysis, contact your SFM Loss Prevention representative at (952) 838-4309.

Advice from SFM's print publication

Injury reporting
Three tips make the First Report of Injury form faster

Filling out the First Report of Injury doesn't need to be time consuming.

Follow these tips on page 4.

Keep an eye out

Even a routine task like replacing ceiling tiles can be hazardous. A custodian fell from a ladder while leaning to remove a ceiling tile that was out of reach. Not taking the time to correctly position the ladder to ensure a safe reach caused the fall and a broken wrist and bruised hip. This injury prevented the employee from working for a few days.

Prevent these kinds of injures by encouraging employees to work safely rather than quickly. Often accidents happen because employees are rushing to get the job done.