CoatingsPro Magazine

JUL 2013

CoatingsPro offers an in-depth look at coatings based on case studies, successful business operation, new products, industry news, and the safe and profitable use of coatings and equipment.

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safety watch It's Never Too Late to Be Safe By Carl Potter, CSP, CMC, and Deb Potter, PhD, CMC C an you believe that we're over halfway through 2013? At this point, you've probably already attacked several coatings jobs. You may be continuing to look for new work to get you through the rest of the year. You may even be trying to juggle a family vacation in there, too. Even with all of the time and effort that you're spending on procuring and finishing jobs, there's no excuse for letting your safety initiatives get slack. Take the time now to reset your goals, start fresh, begin a new chapter, or take any number of other actions to start over. We call this "resetting the counters." Although you may have made the changing of the calendar year a time to set forth company-wide safety goals, take the time now to re-assess your company's safety initiatives. Take stock and stay on track. Some companies set a goal of "X" incidents, signifying a reduction in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) reportable injuries. Others set goals of "zero injuries" or "zero incidents." These goals are great to motivate people to work safely, yet sometimes the goals seem too lofty for employees, which means it may be time for you to change your approach to safety. A Personal Goal for Safety One way to approach safety goals is to ask employees to set their own personal t a rget s . Wit h i n t hei r work g roup, employees can share their personal targets. The target can be anything that applies to your company — from setting a goal for number of zero-injury days to conducting pre-job briefings or inspections and attending safety meetings. Consider this: Most employees are going 24 CoatingsPro g July 2013 One way to approach safety goals is to ask employees to set their own personal targets. to target zero injuries for every work day. It makes sense, since no one wants to get hurt. And regardless of the number of employees in the organization, the approach will work. But they must first have a goal to take ownership of in order to make this happen. A team of employees can share their individual goals and develop a collective team goal. This will help them be accountable to one another and to look out for each other. The key is to keep the goals personal and to have the employees set the goals themselves. Whether your team is working on a tank, floor, ship, roof, or some other coating project, your organization may have a specific area of focus to reduce

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