“Prevention through Design”, an article written by Fred A. Manuele in the October, 2008 issue of Professional Safety Magazine addresses the new initiative by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to include safety prevention in the design and redesign of buildings. The initiative was founded on the need to “create a sustainable national strategy for prevention through design.” (NIOSH). It talks about the need for graduates of business, architecture and engineering to have basic knowledge of occupational health and safety, and that one of the best ways to prevent occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities is to design out or minimize hazards and risks early in the design process. (NIOSH)

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In the 2008 September issue of Occupational Hazard Magazine Terry Mathis wrote an article titled “What Does Safety Success Look Like?” As defined by the article, safety success is “a reduction in the failure rate of accidents”. Terry said that the accident rates can fluctuate due to many factors that can be hard to pin point. It is more productive to look at what makes a safety effort successful rather than looking at its failure’s. Mathis gave a few simple steps that can help maximize a company’s safety success:

• Be Proactive
  • Go beyond minimal traditional safety efforts by doing research on the latest technologies.
• Get Focused
  • Focus on the most dangerous situations and how to prevent liabilities. After narrowing down a more specific safety plan, instill it within the company by creating acronyms or easy to remember phrases.
• Take a Transformational Approach
  • Instead of striving for modest gains, work toward those precautions that can truly transform the accident rates with minimal effort.
• Get Workers Involved
  • Get employees opinions, management efforts can be effective but limited if worker involvement is decreased. Workers will support what they can help create.
• Clearly Communicate the Strategy
  • Make safety a value not a priority. Workers tend to perceive priorities by the quantity of communication about one priority or another. It is most effective to have communication that does not waive or bend.

The article sets a new standard for safety success in the corporate world. Implementing the best safety products and program is the first step to maximizing your company’s potential.

Mathis, Terry. “What Does Safety Success Look Like?” Occupational Hazards. September 2008: 43-44.