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82 SEPTEMBER 2016 COATINGSPROMAG.COM Industry Insight I n today's workplace, it's very easy to take safety for granted. Generally speaking, employee safety in the workplace is the primary consideration during daily operations, with production processes and procedures being tailored to fit within company safety guidelines. is has not always been the case, and we still have a long way to go toward the ultimate goal of an injury-free workplace. Let's take stock of the progress the safety industry has made. Then Before 1900, records of safety in the A merican workplace were limited. Early laborers were working w ith animals, hand tools, and ladders. Industrialization introduced engines, machines, and elevators, greatly increasing the dangers faced by the A merican worker. By and large, accidents were considered "cheap" from a liability standpoint, which meant that operations developed w ith little regard for safety. After the Civil War, life and accident insurance companies emerged and expanded, as work safety became more relevant to the public's concerns. In 1908, Congress passed employ- ers' liability laws, which increased the average cost of an incident from $200 to $2,000 (approximately $5,000 to $50,000, in today's dollars). e increase in accident costs to employers initi- ated the long-term decline in reported accidents and injuries as companies began to implement safety procedures, including the requirement of hard hats and safety glasses on worksites, accord- ing to the Economic History Association. In the 1960s, the emphasis on production outweighed protection, which led to rising injury rates, then led Congress to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration in 1971 and 1977, respectively. Together, OSHA, employers, and safety professionals have had a dramatic effect on workplace safety. It is estimated that from 1970 to 2009, workplace fatalities declined from 14,000 to 4,300, as employment doubled to include more than 130 million workers, according to OSHA. Still, even with the progress in workplace safety, there are more than 4,000 workers being injured on the job annually. Now How do we lower this number? e first step is increased diligence from both employers and employees. Companies need to be proactive in their approach to safety in the workplace by encouraging all employees to follow proper safety guidelines. Employees need to take responsibility for their actions because their safety depends on it. Safety is everyone's job. Many safety professionals today focus not only on recordable accidents that happened but also near misses (unplanned events that didn't result in injury, illness, or damage, but had the potential to do so). W hen you deter- mine how and why these near misses occurred and take corrective action, you may be able to prevent similar — or more serious — incidents from happen- ing in the future. e second step is increased innovation. A lmost without question, the main reason for employees avoid- ing or improperly using protective equipment can be linked to comfort. If the equipment is not comfortable, the employee might not wear it (or might wear it incorrectly). e oldest known helmet, for example, dating from 900 B.C., was made from leather and bronze. Today, based on feedback from users asking for lightweight materials to reduce fatigue but still provide superior protection, head protection materials range from lightweight plastics to various types of synthetic fibers. Comfort can drive compliance. e final step is adoption. A ll of the innovation and diligence is for naught if we don't break out of our comfort zones and aren't open to change. We may be content using the same gear on which we were trained because it's what we know, but how much do you think today's worker would enjoy spending 8 to 10 hours on site with a 10-pound (4.5 kg) conglomeration of leather and bronze on his/her head? Employers can encourage their crews to use their personal protective equipment (PPE) properly and consistently. It's only effective when in use! Priority #1 In today's workplace, we have the products available to not only keep workers safe but to keep them cool and comfortable in their PPE. At the end of a long day, coming home safely to friends and family is the highest priority. CP Photo courtesy of Bullard By Nick Bozzuto, Product Manager for Respirator y Protection for Blast and Coatings at Bullard Workplace Safety: Then and Now