Building a Facility Maintenance Crew Safety Culture

By: Richard Beemer, President Safety Services Consulting
Noel S. Wheeler, President & CEO CLP Resources, Inc.
Reprinted with permission from Facility Safety Management Magazine

It’s an entirely new world for today’s facilities managers and their maintenance teams. The realities of increased security, bioterrorism and biohazards have resulted in greater and more costly challenges.

Combined with a rapidly changing world economy, up sizing, downsizing and re-organizing, an environment of fear and stress can develop that adds to these workplace challenges. And for many facilities managers, the combination of all these factors has resulted in more safety risks and hazards, which has driven risk management and workers’ compensation costs even higher.

If the current business climate pushes companies to focus primary energies on costs and benefits, statistical trends, efficiency, productivity and quality, then shelving or decreasing emphasis on safety and health issues may occur. However, this is not an option. More than ever, protecting the well being of each individual must remain the primary concern.

While managers recognize that the pressure for greater production and profits can contribute to an environment ripe for possible accidents and injuries, they should remain focused on the overriding need to increase safety awareness and training. The decline in workplace accidents over the past decade proves that investing in a workplace injury and illness prevention program is one of the best and most cost effective ways to protect both human and physical assets.

One does not have to go beyond the headlines to know that the direct costs of workplace injuries and illnesses (medical expenses and workers’ compensation benefits) are skyrocketing. However, the indirect costs may be even greater than the direct costs. Figure 1 shows what losses could be incurred from one lost workday.

Building A Safety Culture

With the current health and workers’ compensation insurance environment, safety training and compliance are critical. Assuring that all employees share the attitudes, beliefs and thinking that lead to safe behaviors both on and off the job is the ultimate goal.

A critical component to maintaining a safe and healthful work environment is the development of a comprehensive safety program. Research has shown that such programs significantly reduce the costs associated with workplace injuries and illnesses. The most dynamic safety programs are typically well-defined, well-documented, results driven, participatory, active and address compliance, hazard identification, accident reporting and investigation, hazard mitigation, training, communication and program documentation.

Such a holistic, integrated safety program increases trust, opens communication and fosters personal responsibility and participation at all levels. Effective communication of safety information is vital to the program’s success.

Once all employees are trained in safe work practices, specific instruction is then provided for each job assignment. Safety training should also occur whenever new substances, processes, procedures or equipment are introduced into the workplace that may create new hazards. Training programs should encompass the Occupational Safety and Health Standards (Part 1910 of CFR 29) as well as all applicable local, state and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules and regulations.

For example, maintenance crew training in conjunction with a comprehensive, written safety plan where all objectives, supporting activities and responsibilities are detailed, administered and measured, typically encompasses the following elements:

Whether the employees are permanent crew or are outsourced through a staffing service or related contractor, the same safety program standards must be met. In fact, one of the best criterion in supplier selection for such services is to check the companies own workers’ compensation modification rate, their safety program, record and practices, and their risk management programs. Additionally, review the hiring and screening processes used to attract and retain skilled workers.

It should be equally important to each facility manager that regardless of the source of the crew member, safety and skills are still basic elements. Furthermore, check that companies establish and maintain an employee-driven safety culture with defined expectations and programs, and that all safety program efforts are management-led and management-supported.

As maintenance crew managers, the key challenge will be to develop ways that continually involve and motivate employees – whether the individual is a part of the permanent or temporary staff - while clearly demonstrating the company's core safety values. In most cases the cost of a safety-based incentive program for crews will be far less than the cost of workers’ compensation, loss of productivity, missed deadlines and client dissatisfaction.

Facilities managers remain as the catalysts for positive reinforcement and incentives that encourage employee involvement. And, they serve as the champions to help resolve safety issues or concerns.

Re-Energizing the Safety Effort

Under some conditions such as times of limited resources, expansion or merger, a corporate safety program may require revitalization or revamping. Facility managers are then tasked to seek the advice of experts who are trained and skilled to recognize what is unsafe and have the expertise to correct it...whether it is within the program, training, processes or culture.

The costs associated with taking these corrective actions may be far less than the costs associated with inaction. A respected safety colleague outside the company often brings a fresh perspective to the facility, its people and its programs, while helping to drive down long-term costs associated with risk management and workers’ compensation.

What are some of the actions that may be taken during a safety and health audit?

Back on a Safe Track

Once the safety program is clearly on track, the program goals and responsibilities can effectively work to maintain a safe and healthful place of employment: by providing and enforcing the use of safety devices, personal protective equipment and safeguards; adopting and using methods and processes adequate to assure work performed is safe; and taking every reasonable precaution to protect the life and safety of employees.

Another critical aspect of the program will be to provide the workers’ compensation administrator with timely information and assistance to meet legal and company requirements for risk/claims management. This will mean investigating every incident and unsafe practice/condition thoroughly to determine cause and prevent recurrence. By encouraging the proper attitude toward job safety performance and conducting regularly scheduled training, employees will experience, expect and participate in a safe and healthy culture every day.

The Full Benefits Realized

The full value of a dedicated safety program has many rewards. Imagine the successes being realized as medical and workers’ compensation insurance costs are lowered, lost days are less, productivity is up, morale is high, fear and stress are reduced and all employees make safety job one.

The long-term benefits to achieving the proper focus on safety awareness and training for a facility maintenance crew are many. Some are summarized below:

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Reprinted, with permission From Facility Safety Management, July 2003 issue, Copyright © 2003 - Facility Safety Management. All rights reserved.

About the Authors
Richard Beemer, President of Safety Services Consulting in Carson City, NV, was contracted by CLP Resources, Inc. to augment their corporate safety program and team by assisting in safety training at their more than 45 offices nationwide. For the past 20 years, Beemer has worked with clients across the United States, Canada, South America, the Virgin Islands and Aruba. He has safety management and investigative experience across numerous industries and disciplines including commercial, facility maintenance, clean room, heavy industrial, mining, superfund and refinery/petrochemical.

Holding more than 25 different safety-related certifications, Beemer is sought for his outstanding ability to train workers and managers alike in all aspects of a unified safety program including best practices in risk management. His clients have included such diverse companies as General Electric, Chevron, FMC, Jacobs Engineering, MEI Corporation and Air Products Corporation as well as local municipalities and cities across the U.S.

Receiving his formal education at Louisiana State University in environmental science and toxicology, Beemer continues his studies through certification courses through OSHA, the National Safety Council and the Associated Builders and Contractors. He holds memberships in the American Safety Society, the American Society of Safety Engineers and the World Safety Organization.

Noel S. Wheeler, President and Chief Executive Officer for CLP Resources, Inc., joined the company in 1999 with the goal of building the company’s national capabilities in skilled trades outsourcing. Wheeler brought a successful 30-year career in the global outsourcing and staffing industry, including building three substantial staffing companies through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.

Prior to joining CLP Resources, Wheeler was at Fluor Corporation, a Fortune 100 engineering and construction company, where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Fluor’s staffing subsidiary, TRS Staffing Solutions, from 1994 to 1999. Originally an internal staffing division for Fluor, under Wheeler’s direction, TRS expanded into a commercial enterprise with $500 million in international sales.

Wheeler also headed the International Division of Kelly Services, Inc. as senior vice president from 1985 to 1994. Under his leadership, the International Division grew to more than 200 branches in 15 countries with revenues of $600 million. Prior to joining Kelly Services, Wheeler established his own successful staffing company in Canada, providing professional staff to the natural resources and oil and gas industries.

Previous staffing experience was obtained with Drake International, Inc, an international staffing firm, where Wheeler began as Financial Controller and from 1968 to 1980, held various operations positions including branch manager (Melbourne, Australia), area manager (Asia/Pacific/Africa), managing director (Europe) and division president (North America).