By passing the Occupational Safety and Health Act on April 28, 1971, Congress promised every worker in the United States the right to a safe job. However, the number of work fatalities continues to climb. Every April 28th on Workers Memorial Day, we remember those workers who suffered from preventable workplace fatalities, as well as those who suffered from exposure to hazards that caused illness, injury, or other long-term effects.
The chart above shows the number of fatal work injuries between 2013 and 2022. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a total of 5,486 fatal work injuries in 2022. That means that 5,486 employees never returned home to their families due to accidents that likely could have been prevented by implementing safe work practices.
How Can We Fix This?
There are many EHS Managers, support staff and employees that work hard every day to protect their employees, and STEP thanks each and every one of them. Here are five suggestions that we believe can assist your teams with keeping everyone safe at work:
Integrate a Safety and Health Program to help prevent workplace injuries and illnesses, improve compliance with laws and regulations, and reduce costs meaning significant reductions in workers compensation premiums.
Conduct pre-placement physicals to screen applicants and gauge their ability to physically perform the work expected of them.
Train your employees to improve their skills, knowledge, and confidence in their performance. This increases job efficiency, effectiveness and safety. Train them to understand the risks involved with their job tasks and why taking extra steps can ensure safety not just for them, but their coworkers as well. Safety is a team effort!
Good housekeeping can prevent serious health and safety hazards and reflects how your company looks to outside contractors, visitors, and employees. The layout of the facility should have clear foot path markings, be clean and free of debris, and have stations for cleaning up spills.
Don’t take shortcuts because even the small ones can lead to missed safety procedures, lack of quality in the work, and inflates the sense of how long it actually takes to the work during a shift. Make sure all instructions are clear and organized to prevent any undue mishaps and encourage workers to value safety over their completion rate.
For over 35 years, Safety Training & Environmental Protection has been dedicated to working with our clients to prevent workplace injuries and ensure that every employee is safe at their jobs. We help develop programs and provide training for your employees that is adapted to their specific needs at your facilities. If you need assistance with training or developing your facility’s safety program contact us today.
Want to conduct a hazard assessment at your facility? Click below to download a FREE copy of our PPE Hazard Assessment form to make sure your employees are using the right PPE for the job they are performing! If you would like for us to help you with your PPE Hazard Assessment, don't hesitate to contact us!
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