It’s That Time of Year Again – 1/9/23

Safety E-quick Tip

OWYN Safety Mgmt Platform

It’s That Time of Year Again

It’s 2023, can you believe it? Another year behind us and I don’t know about you, but 2022 just flew by.

But now that 2022 has come to an end, it’s time to think about how you’re going to handle workplace safety and compliance in 2023.

And with the costs associated with workplace accidents and OSHA citations on the rise, you may want to put some real effort into it this year, that includes all of you employees. If you’ve been hit by OSHA citations in the past, you know what they have cost you.  This year they’re going up around 8% with the cost of living.

The cost of living has cut into everyone’s way of life, making it more difficult for someone’s family to stay ahead of the bills if they’re laid up because of an accident.  I know what you might be thinking, “That’s what workers compensation is for.”

But I can tell you, it won’t replace that paycheck, not at today’s costs.

And for the business owners it’s getting tougher to find help, especially skilled help, so you need to keep your employees working safe.

Everyone has a reason to work safe in 2023 so why not make this year the one where everyone works together to make it the safest year ever, protecting your employees, company reputation and profits?

Here’s a thought, why not keep workplace safety and compliance simple in 2023?

Meeting workplace safety and compliance can be tough, but if you keep it simple you just might be able to keep it rolling right through those busy times.

Here are 5 things you can do to get started.

1. Look over your current Safety Program and make sure it’s up to date with current OSHA requirements. 
2. If you don’t have a safety program, get one. Don’t try to do it on your own – there are plenty of options online that will get you going.
3. Training has become easier than ever with the advancement of online training and the fact that everyone has a cell phone. Set your employees up to take a safety orientation once a year and focus on a few of those hazards they are exposed to on a regular basis.
4. Find about 10-15 Safety Meeting/Toolbox Talks relevant to the hazards your employees are exposed to and do them at least once a week. Keep them short (5-10 minutes) and repeat as needed to ensure employees get the message.
5. Perform regular and frequent safety inspections, and if you find employees working in an unsafe way, focus your efforts on that specific hazard.  That’s when those safety meetings can really help.

Today there is plenty of safety information available online, so you don’t have to develop everything yourself.  The only thing you must do is decide what will work best for your employees and company.

If you are looking for help in deciding what to do you can visit our new website.

Or give us a call at 888-475-5353 and we’ll see if we can help. If we don’t have something you think will work for you, we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction, even if it means sending you to one of our competitors.

Employee QuickTip

It’s a new year, a great time to change those old habits, like hopping a ladder, or old ways of thinking like, “I’ve done it this way for the past X years and never been injured” and “it will just take a minute.”

It only takes one time to put you in the hospital and laid up for months where you’ll have plenty of time to aske yourself the same question over and over and over again, “why did I do that?”

Don’t put yourself in that position in 2023.

Employer/Management QuickTip

Good employees are hard to find.  You need to protect them, sometimes from themselves.

When I was a contractor, I often found that it was my best employees who took the greatest risks to get the job done. Remind them that you need them to be around to work tomorrow to get the next job done.

Have you received your first Safety E-QuickTip or just want to look at past issues? Check out our Safety E-QuickTips Archive Page .

If you know of someone or a company that might benefit from receiving Safety E-QuickTips, please take a moment to share this with them so they can sign-up today.

Thanks for Reading and Please – “Have a Safe and Happy New Year”.