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Safely Working from the Ground Up Reviewed by Gary McCoy
“S
10.88”
afely Working from the Ground Up” by David Shafer is a useful book for someone who wants to start from scratch to implement a safety program at their company or is looking for help in improving what is already in place. The book is easy to read and aimed at those with safety responsibility at their company, but do not necessarily have any formal education or training on the subject. In the book Shafer introduces The Safely Working Project, which “is focused wholly on employees and their health and well-being in the workplace. The Project promotes useful guidance that does not depend on a safety professional or staff to facilitate in the workplace.” Shafer writes, “The Safely Working Project envisions a path to workplace safety that is driven by employees and supervisors. This is fundamentally different from the traditional safety program, where an EHS professional manages workplace safety. So, instead of top down safety, Safely Working endeavors to succeed from the ground up. We’re turning safety upside down.” Shafer’s goal is to turn the concept of “safety” into “safely working.” He describes it as a mindset change from reactive safety, based solely or corrective action or the mishap of the day, to a positive workplace culture and organizational value. He introduces “Safe 6,” a method for helping employees get the job done safely utilizing the words, “recognize, prepare, inspect, control, operate and guard.” 1. Recognize all the dangers — know the task 2. Prepare the workspace — get ready 3. Inspect and check the equipment — eliminate the unexpected
4. Control conditions and remove dangers — make it safe 5. Operate and complete the task skillfully — use sensible care 6. Guard against mishaps — keep your eye on the ball As I dug deeper into Shafer’s website, http://safelyworking.net, I noticed that earlier this year, Shafer unveiled his new and improved Safe 6. He explains that he changed No. 5 from “operate and compete the task skillfully” to “engage and execute skillfully.” He said the word “engage” says so much and better
reflects the approach and philosophy of The Safely Working Project. There are many good concepts in this book that would help any spring company toward developing a positive safety culture. n Have a favorite business book you would like to tell us about or review? Send your suggestions to Springs managing editor Gary McCoy at gmccoy@fairwaycommunications.com.
SPRINGS | Winter 2022 | 59
