<font color=red>ON THE ROAD</font> Five Steps to a Cost-Effective Safety Program

No one wants to have high occurrences of injury on the job. But what are the incentives to keeping the workplace safe, especially when it means spending more for those safety measures? Three industry professionals answered these questions Nov. 2 at the educational session “Cost-Effective Safety Programs,” moderated by Barbara Mulhern, safety specialist for the Professional Landcare Network at the Green Industry Expo in Columbus, Ohio. Here are five steps the safety specialists recommend:

1. Work toward employee buy-in. If the employees feel as if they’re a part of a safety problem, they’ll be more likely to buy into it, says Erin Maurer, safety committee co-chair at Lied’s in Sussex, Wis. “The lowest level of employees have to be included,” she said. “It’s more effective if they know the ideas didn’t come from ‘management,’” she said, adding including them in education about regulations and safety checks will make them feel like they have ownership, and will make them more likely to work toward a safe workplace.

2. Work with your insurance company. Miles Kuperus, Jr., president of Farmside Landscape & Design in Wantage, N.J., found that he had to rid his insurance agent of the notion that all employees in the green industry were careless and unconcerned with safety practices. He did this by showing his agent a copy of the training manual, safety incentive programs, weekly safety tips and other materials the company uses to promote safe-minded employees. Because of that, the company is seeing a 10 percent savings each on its Workers’ Compensation and on its insurance premium. “Our liability was impacted,” he said, adding, “The insurance agent said you can save upwards of 40 percent.

3. Implement training and incentive programs. Many companies use tailgate safety training--which means giving employees safety tips in a place they’re comfortable, such as the truck tailgate--a few minutes each week to help inform workers of proper practices. There are other ways to gain compliance as well, shared Shane Vosberg, a safety training manager for Swingle Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care in Denver, Colo. One way is to find time to visit employees while they’re on site and show them in person how to properly prune a tree. Vosberg said Swingle uses an 18-chapter training manual with a test at the end of each chapter to ensure employees are retaining the information.

As an incentive program, Kuperus has an allowance of $250 per employee. If an employee causes an accident or injury, the cost of that accident is deducted from the $250. Whatever is left at the end of the year is theirs to keep. If the employee goes beyond the allowance, money is deducted from his or her bonus.

4. Get lean. More and more businesses are turning to the practice of Lean Management to remove anything that’s considered waste from the business—that means anything that doesn’t add value or a physical change to the company’s product. With this in mind, accidents should be considered waste, Maurer said. Her safety committee spends five days on what is known as Kaizen event, which means continuous improvement. The committee put into place a plan for each day that involved identifying and removing safety hazards in the workplace and then working to make sure the changes stick.

5. Follow through. As Maurer learned, there has to be a process in place to ensure changes are implemented. This can often be achieved by enforcing the rules. If they are broken, follow through with the punishment, Vosberg said. Make employees aware of the company’s expectations so everyone’s on the same page, he added. Also, make sure avenues of communication are open if the employee has input or feedback.

Most importantly, Vosberg added, stress the fact that there is something at stake besides the bottom line. “The savings can’t always be measured in dollars,” he said. “There are lives involved.”