Fall 2018 Issue 6
An Effective Way to Impact Safety Culture
ALSO INSIDE: n In an Emergency, Are You Ready? n An Annual Update on Worker’s Compensation n Preparing for a Flood
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25 thAnnual
WISCONSIN CORPORATE SAFETY
Awards
Applications open January 1! WHY APPLY?
•Winning a corporate safety award is an excellent recognition tool and provides opportunities for new business thanks to the prestige and exposure of the award. • This program gives much deserved recognition to your employees for their loyalty, hard work and dedication. • Leading companies like yours deserve the opportunity to be recognized as a leader in workplace safety efforts. • Exclusivity – winning this award places you in an elite group of fewer than 200 Wisconsin companies who have won in the 23 years this program has been honoring deserving organizations. • Nominees and winners alike have received substantial and deserved recognition in the media locally, statewide and beyond. • This awards program highlights significant accomplishments and industry firsts of those companies leading the way for future generations. • The application process allows you to fully assess your organization – a valuable tool because it helps you evaluate your safety program’s strengths and improve upon weaknesses.
The Awards Program is sponsored by:
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www.wmc.org/corporatesafetyaward 9/28/2018 2:16:31 PM
s
Fall 2018 Issue 6
An Effective Way to Impact Safety Culture
6 N AT I O N A L SA F E T Y C O U N C I L In an Emergency, Are You Ready?
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C OV E R STO RY Safety Teams: An Effective Way to Impact Safety Culture
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D I SAST E R SA F E T Y Preparing for a Flood
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WO R K E R ’ S C O M P E N SAT I O N L AW SY M P O S I U M An Annual Update on Policy Changes
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W S C S E E N & H E A R D Table of Contents | wisconsinbusinessvoice.org
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Run. Hide. Fight.
President/Publisher Kurt Bauer
Managing Editor Nick Novak
By Janet Metzger WSC Executive Director
A
bout a month ago, I was driving back to the Wisconsin Safety Council (WSC) office after completing three active shooter trainings for a Madison-based manufacturer. It is a serious subject, and it can be emotionally draining to talk about these situations that unfortunately occur. It is something no one should go through, but the reality is that it could happen. Listening to the radio in my car, reality sunk in. On this same morning, an employee of a technology company in Middleton—just 20 miles from where I was—went into his office and opened fire on his coworkers. Reports were coming through my speakers and it hit me hard. While I was in the same county training more than 200 workers for a situation they hoped would never happen, employees at a different company were actually living through it. My heart immediately went out to all those involved: the workers at that company, the first responders and people who just happen to be in the same area. Thankfully, while some people were injured, the only person killed was the shooter. The Middleton Police and Dane County Sherriff quickly responded and saved a number of lives. This is not always the case, though. The police are not always going to be a couple minutes away—and even if they are, it can still be too late. That is why we offer active shooter training at WSC. We know that people who are better
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Art Direction/Production Kyle Pankow
Contributing Writers prepared have an improved chance of living through this type of nightmare scenario. We teach the “Run, Hide, Fight” method, and in an emergency situation, it could save your life. In an active shooter situation, the first thing you should do is run. If you can safely escape the area, that is your best chance for survival. If this is not an option, stay hidden. Find a place where you can hide—either under furniture or behind something—and stay quiet. In the worst-case scenario that you cannot escape and hiding is not an option, you have to be prepared to fight for your life. Find anything that can be used as a weapon, work with other people around you and attempt to overtake the shooter. This is a last resort, but you need to be ready to take action, if necessary. As I said at the top, this is a situation that no one should ever have to go through. But, as we have found out, it can happen right in our backyard, and we need to be prepared. If you and your team have not had active shooter training yet, I strongly encourage you to reach out to us at WSC. We will come to your facility, and we can train everyone on staff. This also includes putting together an action plan for employees to follow in the event of an active shooter emergency. n To schedule a training, please contact me at jmetzger@wisafetycouncil. org or 608.258.3400.
Janet Metzger, Debby Hersman, Nick Novak, Chevon Cook, Kim Drake
Advertising Sales
Nick Novak, nnovak@wmc.org
Wisconsin Safety Voice is published quarterly by Wisconsin Safety Council. WSC is Wisconsin’s leading provider of safety training and products in the state, serving members of all sizes and every sector of the economy. WSC is a program of the WMC Foundation. WSC 501 E. Washington Avenue Madison, WI 53703 tel.: 608.258.3400 wsc@wisafetycouncil.org Follow us:
WiSafetyCouncil Wisconsin Safety Council @WiSafetyCouncil
wisconsinbusinessvoice.org | From the Executive Director
9/28/2018 2:16:34 PM
2019 Wisconsin Safety Council Annual Conference April 15-17, 2019 Kalahari Resort & Conference Center WSV i06.indd 5
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In an Emergency, Are You Ready? By Debbie Hersman President and CEO, National Safety Council
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rowing up, I worked as a lifeguard during two summers in high school. My training prepared me to give first aid, administer CPR and to rescue someone from drowning. While I spent most of my time as a lifeguard blowing the whistle at people horsing around on the diving boards or telling them to stop running on the slick pool deck, there were two times that
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I performed a rescue. My training prepared me for what was needed at that exact moment in time and I did not hesitate to take immediate action. September was National Preparedness Month. As we focus on emergency preparedness, we shouldn’t forget the common killer hidden in plain sight we almost never prepare for. Car crashes kill 40,000 Ameri-
cans every year, more than one hundred every single day. We are almost entirely blind to this, but any given moment might require one of us to jump into the role of an emergency responder. Would you be ready to take action? In the event of a crash, passersby, passengers and other drivers are often first on the scene before professional first responders can arrive.
wisconsinbusinessvoice.org | National Safety Council
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Trained responders recognize that the first hour after a traumatic injury is the most critical. Did you know that 43 percent of car crash fatalities survive the initial event and are not declared fatalities until after they have been transported to a hospital? What if we could improve those odds? Oftentimes, the deciding factor is what happens during those critical first moments - how quickly treatment is given during what’s known as the Golden Hour. If trauma assistance is provided within that first hour, particularly to stop serious bleeding, it can make all the difference in the world. What if we could get people life-saving help faster? There are many new technology options available now in our vehicles and even wearables that alert EMS about a collision or communicate health information for people with risky medical conditions. But a simple tourniquet or Stop the Bleed kit can be a lifesaver. Imagine if we had a tourniquet in every car, the same way we make sure we carry jumper cables and a spare tire? The Road to Zero Coalition, over 800 organizations committed to roadway safety, collaborated on a report titled A Vision for Achieving Zero Roadway Deaths by 2050. This report lays out three critical ways we can eliminate roadway fatalities. Working collaboratively with government agencies, traffic safety professionals, emergency responders and others, we must double down on proven interventions, accelerate the adoption of potentially life-saving technology, and promote a culture of safety through a safe system
approach in order to move the needle towards zero fatalities on our roadways. That final piece, creating a culture of safety, demands we start paying attention to the hazards which surround us on a daily basis, and taking steps to address them by changing factors within our control. The ability to stop the bleed quickly and effectively after a serious collision is as important as CPR. If we could save a fraction of those who arrive at the trauma hospital after a serious crash, we could save thousands. Every single one of us can be a good samaritan when the opportunity arises just by being ready to lend a helping hand. Ordinary people can make a huge impact with some preparation and training. Trauma centers and other institutions across the country have begun the work of spreading the Stop the Bleed training. As part of the Road to Zero
Coalition, we have also engaged with partners to share Stop the Bleed kits and training. It all goes back to being prepared. You never know when disaster may strike, but we can all take simple steps that can make the difference between tragedy, or a life saved. n This piece first appeared on Medium.com.
For information on emergency preparedness or first aid training, contact WSC at 608.258.3400.
National Safety Council | wisconsinbusinessvoice.org
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An Effective Way to Impact Safety Culture
By Chevon Cook WSC Safety Manager
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W
hen it comes to creating a culture of safety in the workplace, I tend to hear similar comments from many safety professionals. Creating a safety culture requires a team effort. If the employees working on the front lines of your organization are not engaged in safety and health efforts, the chances of creating a positive change in the safety culture are slim to none. I’ve worked in environments with positive safety cultures, as well as reactive safety cultures. I must agree, a team effort is crucial to achieving an organization’s safety and health goals. Many of you may have heard about safety teams before. Some of you may have participated in one. Many articles discuss safety teams and how they can be beneficial. But how does an organization go about developing a safety team? How does an organization determine how a safety team should be used? Building an effective safety team takes a lot of work and patience, but the long-term effects on an organization’s bottom line is worth the effort. A safety team needs to have a purpose if there is any chance of the team helping achieve a company’s overall safety goals. The purpose of the team needs to be identified upfront. The purpose could be broad in nature, such as using a safety team to build an ongoing safety and health process with continuous improvement. The purpose could also be specific in nature, such as using a safety team to work on a machine guarding project, or reviewing
Safety Data Sheets for new chemical requests. Whatever the purpose may be, it has to directly align with the company’s safety and health policy in order for the team to succeed.
Building an effective safety team takes a lot of work and patience, but the long-term effects on an organization’s bottom line is worth the effort. Organizations also need to determine how they want to select the members of a safety team. The size of an organization can help determine how many people to have on the team. An organization of 200 employees may only want 10 safety team members, while an organization of 1,000 employees may develop multiple safety teams to assure adequate coverage. Once the size has been determined, look for volunteers to join, then utilize recruiting strategies to fill the team in as needed. An effective safety team will have employees from all levels of
the organization represented, from managers to supervisors and hourly employees. Once a team is put together, it’s crucial to establish ground rules before holding any meetings or tackling any safety and health issues. According to the National Safety Council, written rules—or operating procedures—will help a safety team effectively conduct its business, as long as the rules address anything related to the purpose of the safety team. Ground rules should cover: • How the team selects its priorities • How the team makes decisions • How team members communicate with each other and with other employees • How the team should conduct its meetings • How team members should behave when they are in their regular work units. Some organizations feel once these steps have been followed, it can be assumed the safety team is successful. The only way a company will truly know if their safety team is successful is to measure their results. What a team decides to measure must also relate to the purpose of the team. If the purpose of the team is to build an ongoing safety and health process with continuous improvement, ways to measure success may include keeping monthly statistics on the number of problems/issues addressed proactively vs. reactively, or track and trend workers’ compensation costs over a specified period of time. If the purpose of the team is to work on a machine guarding project, ways to
Cover Story | wisconsinbusinessvoice.org
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measure success may include tracking the number of incoming machine guarding issues from employees per month, or keeping record of the number of machine guarding issues solved per month. The more a company can show their team’s effectiveness through positive measurement data, the more support the team will receive from employees at all levels of the company in the long run. An organization will be able to tell over time if their safety team is truly effective with their workplace safety and health efforts. According to the EHS Daily Advisor, effective safety teams will display these positive characteristics: • Effective safety teams are focused on the same safety mission • Effective safety teams understand safety goals and commit to achieving them • Effective safety teams foster positive involvement from all workplace employees • Team members cooperate and
depend on each other to identify hazards, follow safety procedures and prevent incidents • Team members constantly communicate by sharing information, giving warnings, reinforcing safety behavior, and talking up safety. Developing a positive safety culture in an organization is an extensive task that requires a lot of time, energy and effort. Developing an effective safety team can greatly aid an organization with this process. If a safety team is developed with a purpose aligning with an organization’s safety and health policy, employees across the board will come to realize the importance of safety to the organization. Employees will become more self-aware of the workplace hazard exposures in their environment, and they will be more proactive in executing effective safety practices and procedures the organization has in place to keep everyone safe on the job. The end result: a positive influence and
change to the organization’s safety culture. Wisconsin Safety Council’s mission is to help organizations achieve their safety and health goals in any way we can. If you’re considering developing a safety team or looking for ways to improve you current safety team, please let us know. Our Team Safety course—developed by the National Safety Council—provides a lot of information on how to develop and incorporate safety teams into your organization. We also offer a variety of safety services aimed at helping with your safety and health efforts. Contact us to learn how we can work together to make Wisconsin the safest state to work, live and play! n Contact Chevon Cook at ccook@wisafetycouncil.org or 608.258.3400 for mor information.
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wisconsinbusinessvoice.org | Cover Story
9/28/2018 2:16:49 PM
Preparing for a Flood
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his year, the state of Wisconsin experienced excessive volumes of rain throughout the state impacting many cities. As many of these areas become submerged with water this begins to impact and interrupt activities such as travel, daily tasks as well as the flowing of some rivers and low lying areas. During the end of summer and beginning of fall, areas in Wisconsin especially the southwestern region received record high levels of rainfall reaching more than 20 inches of rain in just 15 days. The increased amount of water led Governor Scott Walker to declare a statewide emergency. It should be noted that flash floods can occur rapidly and in succession can cause large amounts of damage. The types of damage flash floods are capable of producing include moving vehicles, uprooting trees and destroying roadways. WSC reminds everyone to be conscious of your surroundings when flooding is taking place and to
avoid areas that are submerged in water. In response to the statewide emergency, the Wisconsin Safety Council sent out a news release to highlight the importance of safety and how to react when excessive amounts of water are in your area. The news release offered the following takeaways to help you stay safe during a flood: • Do not walk, swim or drive through flood waters • You can be swept off your feet in as little as six inches of water • Just six inches of water can stall your vehicle, and just one food of moving water can sweep your vehicle away • Even trucks and SUVs can stall or become trapped in flooded areas • If your vehicle is trapped in rapidly moving water, then stay inside; if water is rising inside the vehicle, then seek refuge on the roof
• Never drive around barricades; if a road is a closed find a different route • Avoid underpasses, underground parking and basements • Stay off of bridges over fast-moving water • Listen to EAS, NOAA Weather Radio or local alerting systems for current emergency information and instructions • If told to evacuate, do so immediately. In an effort to better help you prepare for emergencies, WSC offers courses focusing on Emergency Preparedness, CPR/First Aid/AED Basic and/or Instructor Development (Trainthe-Trainer) Courses. We encourage everyone to have a plan in place for emergencies and to practice this plan regularly. Please visit: wmc.org/programs/wisconsin-safety-council/ for more information on these courses and to establish a plan for your organization today. n
Disaster Safety | wisconsinbusinessvoice.org
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Worker’s Compensation Law Symposium
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his year’s Worker’s Compensation Law Symposium held at The Edgewater Hotel in Madison was another highlight for the Wisconsin Safety Council. The symposium brought in close to 100 attendees ranging from a variety of companies and occupations. The one-day event focused on the important and critical issues surrounding the professions of human resources, safety, insurance and health care providers. The three major highlights this year’s symposium included were changes in labor laws, OSHA regulation updates and dealing with opioids in the workplace. The latter of the three has recently gained traction both in the state and nationwide because of the impacts opioids are having in the workplace and at home. The effects it is having on not only those who are prescribed these prescription drugs, but also on loved ones and employers, is leading businesses to be more proactive. Each of these concepts can be tedious to breakdown and perplexing, but this year’s speakers explained these topics in a way that was easy to dissect and understand. Michael Best & Friedrich’s managing partner Charles Palmer brought his expertise and background as a member of the Employment Relations
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Practice Group and also the contributing author to the handbook, WMC’s Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Law: A Handbook for Employers to this year’s conference. Palmer discussed the elements of worker’s compensation from purchasing worker’s compensation insurance down to the process of administering claims and much, much more. Michael Best & Friedrich’s attorney Denise Greathouse shared her background and experience as a practicing attorney in both Illinois and Wisconsin. Greathouse highlighted employment and labor matters in even greater detail. Additional speakers for this year’s conference included Wisconsin Safety Council’s own, Janet Metzger. Metzger is WSC’s Executive Director and she dedicates her time to making sure Wisconsin is the safest state in the nation to work, live and play. Further, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) Director of Health & Human Resources Chris Reader spoke at this year’s conference illustrating the importance of legislation
and its relation to worker’s compensation. Reader works with lawmakers and state agencies to advance pro-growth reforms in a number of areas including employment law, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, education, workforce development and health care. This annual event helps keep WSC members up to date with the latest information pertaining to worker’s compensation, insurance, OSHA regulation updates, changes in labor laws and even one of the most sought after items nationwide, opioids. We look forward to another successful symposium next year and we hope to see you back for more updates and changes impacting you and your industry. n
wisconsinbusinessvoice.org | Worker’s Compensation Law Symposium
9/28/2018 2:16:55 PM
| wisconsinbusinessvoice.org
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WSC’s Ana Hamil speaking during Active Shooter training at ContiTech in Sun Prairie.
Linetec employees in Wausau receiving their Corporate Safety Award winner flag at an event this summer.
WSC’s Janet Metzger presenting at the annual Worker’s Compensation Law Symposium in Madison this September.
WSC hosting an OSHA training update breakfast in September for the construction industry.
Becky Kimmons of Church Mutual Insurance Company (middle) receiving her Fundamental Safety Certificate this summer, joined by WSC’s Janet Metzger (left) and Chevon Cook (right).
WSC’s Janet Metzger speaking to HR professionals about the impact of opioids in the workplace during a breakout session at WMC’s Policy Day in August.
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wisconsinbusinessvoice.org | WSC Seen & Heard
9/28/2018 2:17:00 PM
2018 SAFETY TRAINING Chapter of
The Wisconsin Safety Council, a division of WMC, is Wisconsin’s leading provider of safety training and programming. WSC offers training throughout the year at locations across the state or training at your facility.
WISAFETYCOUNCIL.ORG
OCTOBER 17 RCRA Compliance for Hazardous Waste Generators
NOVEMBER 30 4hr Defensive Driver
OCTOBER 17 DOT Hazmat Transportation Refresher
DECEMBER 3 Job Safety Analysis
OCTOBER 19 4hr Defensive Driver
DECEMBER 5 Incident Investigation: Root Cause Analysis
OCTOBER 23-24 OSHA 10hr General Industry
DECEMBER 13 Team Safety
NOVEMBER 8 Ergonomics: Managing for Results
JANUARY 16 MSHA
NOVEMBER 15 Safety Inspections
FEBRUARY 25 MSHA
NOVEMBER 29 Creating a World Class Safety Culture
All training sessions are located at WSC's Madison location.
Empower Tomorrow From cyber risks to a multi-generational workforce, how are you keeping up-to-date with today’s critical risk and health topics? Our Full Picture webinars bring you insights from Aon’s industry leaders about the latest trends, issues, and solutions impacting the world of risk and people. Visit aon.com/fullpicture to learn more or contact Rob Fleming at 920.431.6288 or robert.j.fleming@aon.com.
| wisconsinbusinessvoice.org
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PRIVATE CLASSES Let the Wisconsin Safety Council train your staff at YOUR location!
FOR STAFF OR OTHERS FROM YOUR COMMUNITY
PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTORS CUSTOMIZED TRAINING
CONVENIENT SAVE ON TRAVEL EXPENSES
FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING
SAFETY INSPECTIONS
Contact WSC for more information on private training sessions at 608.258.3400 or wsc@wisafetycouncil.org.
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