The formal safety meetings are announced and preplanned in order to provide employees with information about safety week, training issues, regulations, hazard protection and many other important issues.  Informal meetings are often a short seminar about one particular issue and are a very effective way to address a specific job or task that needs attention.

It is a well known fact that a safety meeting is an excellent way to encourage safety awareness among employees.  When fellow employees get together and discuss the various issues and hazards they have encountered, together they can discuss ways to eliminate the hazards and increase each other’s knowledge in the process.

Holding a safety meeting is a great way to get employees actively involved in safety awareness and is a great way to get feedback from each other.  A safety meeting is another way of getting employees to share information about common workplace hazards and to work together to come up with a solution to address the issues brought forth.

By holding a safety meeting you are getting your employees to become aware of how to properly use protective equipment, lifting techniques and any other safety procedures.  It is also a good time to address safety hazards before they develop into larger problems.

Having a safety meeting is another way to present new safety rules, equipment and preventative measures.  It is an excellent way to talk about new rules and to refresh workers about the rules that are already in place.

A safety meeting is an excellent way to keep employees apprised of information about accident causes and types, as well as how to avoid them.  Safety meetings are a way for the company to maintain accurate accident statistical information and an important tool in tracking ways to prevent common workplace accidents.

Basic elements of safety meetings include advanced planning, proper preparations, adequate supervision and documentation.  Sometimes selecting a particular topic for a safety meeting is not such an easy task, sometimes you can choose the topics if you review new laws and industry standards, review new company policy and procedure information, evaluate current industry safety standards and asking employees which topics they want to see addressed.

The best time to hold a safety meeting is first thing in the morning when all the workers are fresh and aware.  Review the information and present any safety issues in an interesting and thorough manner, make sure the meeting begins and concludes at the projected times and present an agenda for the next meeting.

Safety meetings are an effective tool in keeping workers aware of the latest safety information in the industry.  By keeping employees up to date on current and new industry safety procedures and rules, an employer will find workplace accidents are dramatically decreased, which results in substantial cost savings for the company.

Every year, businesses who observe the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines receive awards and recognition.  OSHA is a an agency of the US Department of Labor.  It was formed to educate workers about the important of safety in the workplace.  It was set up under an act by Congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon, on December 29, 1970.  OSHA has set standards for safety in the workplace to prevent injury, illness or death.

These honors are recommended on the basis of fellow industry workers, business associations, participating in certain programs, and OSHA research.  There are also state and local awards that are given as well.  This program is open to all organizations and is not restrictive to size or any particular industry.

It is common knowledge that prevention of accidents is going to save money by decreasing a company’s liability.  To reach the status of one of America’s Top Safest Companies, a business must illustrate that they have done the following:

• Have a comprehensive training program regarding safety topics for their employees
• Lower than industry average illness or injury rates
• Managerial support and cooperation
• Employee involvement
• Working solutions to ongoing safety issues
• Effective communication to your employees about the importance of their safety

To ensure that guidelines enacted by OSHA are observed there are several key elements that must be considered.  Workplace safety is an issue that effects everyone in the company and should be treated with seriousness.  Workplace safety used to be just a category for management to deal with, but now it has become apparent that every worker needs proper training to be responsible and safe.  To make the workplace a safer environment the focus should include these elements:

• Managerial leadership
• Employee accountability and communication
• Safety procedures, guidelines and protocols
• Safety programs and goals
• Safety objectives clearly outlined
• Inspections of the workplace on a regular basis to ensure compliance
• Program review and audits if necessary
• Identifying and controlling any potential hazards
• Ongoing training and awareness exercises

Every business in the United States must by law have a clear and concise safety plan outlined.  Employers are also required by law to provide documentation for their safety policy and plans.  They must be able to prove in writing that each worker has received and understands the safety guidelines.  This ensures that the company is in compliance with OSHA guidelines.

OSHA updates it laws and policies regularly, so it is important for the employer to have the most recent and up-to-date information on hand.  Keeping employees updated through training will ensure that  they understand and it will address areas where they may need additional education.  The training should be as hands-on and user friendly as possible, for the benefit of those who learn more by doing than from teaching.

After employees receive their safety training, an employer should ask questions to see if the training was beneficial.  This could include taking a worker survey and gathering opinions, by doing this it allows you to see where your program could use room for improvement.  Employee feedback can prove vital for future improvements being made to current safety training programs.  Employers may consider adding computers and visual adds to their safety training programs in the future, this will save time and money for a company lacking the financial resources to retain a trainer.

There are several benefits to a company having a safety policy enforced.  It reduces worker death, injury or illness, prevents property damages, legal liability, worker absences, and payments for workers compensation benefits.  This all falls hand-in-hand with the principal of saving money.  But, when you get down to it, workers practicing safety in the workplace can end up saving a life and that is priceless.

1. Hazard Communication: This is a very important topic, detrimental to the health and welfare of your workers. By law, you must have a complete list of all hazardous materials used on your job site. This is called a Material Safety Data Sheet, or MSDS for short. This list must be posted in a location where it is accessible to all employees. Employees must also be safety trained on how to use personal protection equipment. Violations of this nature are just one of the many reasons why companies are fined.
2. Training: Your employees must be properly trained, but sadly this is not the case for many companies. Employees need to know how to do their job properly; tool safety, operating equipment, and how to use personal protective gear, along with many other things, are all important job requirements. When you hire an employee, by ensuring they are properly trained it saves you time and money.
3. Training Requirements: In any industry, properly trained employees are essential to the health and welfare of your employees, as well as to how effectively a business operates. Have a regular schedule for safety training meetings, and train each employee according to their job function. Each employee should receive training in fall prevention, handling hazardous materials, proper equipment required, using respirators, and having a Material Safety Data Sheet on each job site. OSHA has outlined the guidelines that dictate safety training in their manuals.
4. Head Protection: Protecting your head is important and you should always wear a hard hat on the job site. There could be any number of materials flying through the air at any time, or you could simply walk into something and injure yourself. Workers not observing the hard hat rules will be fined and cited for a violation, this will cost your company money.
5. Wiring Design and Protection: OSHA guidelines dictate that an employer must have either a ground fault interrupter (GFI) or assured equipment grounding conductor program. Ground fault electrical shock is a very real and common hazard on construction sites. Unsafe or improperly installed electrical equipment being used, improperly trained workers, or environmental conditions causing an unsafe work environment all factor into causing electrical accidents.
6. Ladders: You should never use a ladder that is damaged, rickety, missing rungs or unstable in any way. However, many workers in reality do not think about this on the job site. By law, you are not allowed to do any “work”, from a ladder. You are only allowed to use a ladder to get from the ground to a higher height and back down again. You need to be trained and observe the rules, to protect yourself.
7. Aerial Lifts: In the job place, you may be tempted to take shortcuts to save time. This is never a good idea when you think about all the consequences that can likely occur when you disregard personal safety. Only people who are trained and qualified should be doing hoisting and lifting responsibilities. You are required to work wearing hoisting gear that involves ropes, hooks, hook balls and blocks, netting, slings, cradles, shackles and various other items. Before you attempt to begin any lifting operations, you must hold a safety meeting and make sure each worker understands and has reviewed the “Lift Plan”. This would be a detailed plan outlining the entire process, as well as providing a visual guide for what can be expected to happen.
8. Fall Protection: The issue of fall protection is something that OSHA (as well as responsible employers) takes very seriously. Fines and citations may spring from a variety of issues. Working with heights can be a very dangerous and scary proposition. Failing to properly install or construct safety equipment, improperly trained employees and unsafe work practices, all combine for some of the main reasons a business can be penalized.
9. Specific Excavation Requirements: Things like excavation requirements can change daily on a job site and you need to keep all of your employees abreast of the safety rules and regulations. Not having proper work permits, not meeting access or exit contingencies, and not performing daily safety inspections are just a few reasons why a business is fined.
10. General Requirements: The world of construction changes on a frequent basis and this fact alone poses many issues regarding employee safety. If your project is running on time, you will find workers of all trades, working in close proximity to one another. There are on-the-job hazards from which accidents can happen, such as hand and power tools, and heavy equipment operation. There are also risks involving; falling, being electrocuted, air contamination issues, or not having a proper fire evacuation plan. All of these situations posed are extremely dangerous and may even cause worker fatality, if proper safety guidelines are not in practice.

The extra time and attention that a safety program entails can be lifesaving. It creates a safe environment for your workers and minimizes company liability at the same time. This is why it is so important to have a written safety program in place, whether you have one or one hundred employees. By practicing work place safety you can avoid accidents and OSHA fines.