Are you someone who spots a corner turned up on a mat at a restaurant and straightens it out? If so, you are one of my people.
During the month of June, we celebrate National Safety Month. It’s a great time to recognize the men and women who devote their lives to keeping people safe. One such individual is Julie Reynolds of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation; she is a tremendous advocate of safety & hygiene in the workplace. Another safety hero of mine is Bob Momany, President of the Safety Council of Northwest Ohio who is a flowing fountain of safety training and knowledge.
A great lesson was learned from Bryan Johnson of Miami Industrial Trucks at the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce Annual Safety Conference held recently in April. Bryan asked “who has the right-of-way at a pedestrian crosswalk? Is it the pedestrian or the vehicle that is approaching the crossing?” We, of course, all answered “the pedestrian” which is how the rules are written. But does “right-of-way” mean anything to the oncoming truck that doesn’t see the pedestrian who is looking down at his phone? Keen awareness of your surroundings cannot be understated as a measure of safety!
During the month of June, we celebrate National Safety Month. It’s a great time to recognize the men and women who devote their lives to keeping people safe. One such individual is Julie Reynolds of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation; she is a tremendous advocate of safety & hygiene in the workplace. Another safety hero of mine is Bob Momany, President of the Safety Council of Northwest Ohio who is a flowing fountain of safety training and knowledge.
A great lesson was learned from Bryan Johnson of Miami Industrial Trucks at the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce Annual Safety Conference held recently in April. Bryan asked “who has the right-of-way at a pedestrian crosswalk? Is it the pedestrian or the vehicle that is approaching the crossing?” We, of course, all answered “the pedestrian” which is how the rules are written. But does “right-of-way” mean anything to the oncoming truck that doesn’t see the pedestrian who is looking down at his phone? Keen awareness of your surroundings cannot be understated as a measure of safety!
Many aspects of safety are technical in nature. The safety professionals I have met in my 30+ years in the workers’ comp industry have greatly impressed me with their extreme, in-depth knowledge and their fearless insistence that safety be priority one, no excuses. They live and breathe this stuff.
We owe a great amount of gratitude to those who study, read, learn, teach, and employ safe practices daily. Keeping up on OSHA standards for silica dust, noise level, lock-out/tag-out and so many other necessary standards can be a challenge. Being a resource for your employer and your fellow employees is a vital role to play.
Remember when a pandemic surprised the world very recently? Our safety professionals became knowledgeable, often learning on the fly and changing up safety procedures on a weekly, daily and sometimes hourly basis. Watching the now famous “Wine with DeWine” press conferences, often held in the middle of the workday, caused our eyes to immediately turn to our safety gurus and ask, “OK now what do we do?” That was a thankless task that they certainly didn’t sign up for when deciding to specialize in safety.
So, apart from achieving a Certified Occupational Safety Specialist (COSS) training degree behind your name, what can we as general workers in the world do on our part to promote safety?
Simply stated, pay attention!
Do you consider these calls to action to be reasonable? Do you value the life of those around you, including your own life? If the answer is yes, welcome to the world of safety awareness. And, if you are inspired to be a source of safety knowledge for others and your organization, check out this course on Employee Safety being featured this month through the Toledo Chamber’s Center for Training & Development. And perhaps achieving that COSS degree is in your future. I hope so. Because we need people who are looking out for each other.
And even if we just strive to get to the level where we promote safety awareness in ourselves and others, it’s this state of mind that helps keep us all engaged in keeping the people safe.
Ken Finley is an Ohio workers’ comp and unemployment resource for Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce members. Next month he will celebrate 28 years working for V+A Risk Services and their 2,500 clients. Ken enjoys speaking to groups about workers’ comp programs and provides clients with premium forecasting and policy solutions. Ken is a long-time member of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce Workplace Regulations Committee and a proud graduate of the University of Cincinnati (Go, Bearcats!). He enjoys reading, running and following his Cincy sports teams and lives with his wife, Jenny, in the family farmhouse in Pemberville.
We owe a great amount of gratitude to those who study, read, learn, teach, and employ safe practices daily. Keeping up on OSHA standards for silica dust, noise level, lock-out/tag-out and so many other necessary standards can be a challenge. Being a resource for your employer and your fellow employees is a vital role to play.
Remember when a pandemic surprised the world very recently? Our safety professionals became knowledgeable, often learning on the fly and changing up safety procedures on a weekly, daily and sometimes hourly basis. Watching the now famous “Wine with DeWine” press conferences, often held in the middle of the workday, caused our eyes to immediately turn to our safety gurus and ask, “OK now what do we do?” That was a thankless task that they certainly didn’t sign up for when deciding to specialize in safety.
So, apart from achieving a Certified Occupational Safety Specialist (COSS) training degree behind your name, what can we as general workers in the world do on our part to promote safety?
Simply stated, pay attention!
- Put that phone back in your pocket while walking.
- Drive the posted speed limit.
- Reduce your lane changes in construction zones.
- Don’t assume that pedestrian crossing is safe to cross until you have looked both ways, twice.
- And carefully straighten out that mat to keep a potential nasty trip and fall from happening.
Do you consider these calls to action to be reasonable? Do you value the life of those around you, including your own life? If the answer is yes, welcome to the world of safety awareness. And, if you are inspired to be a source of safety knowledge for others and your organization, check out this course on Employee Safety being featured this month through the Toledo Chamber’s Center for Training & Development. And perhaps achieving that COSS degree is in your future. I hope so. Because we need people who are looking out for each other.
And even if we just strive to get to the level where we promote safety awareness in ourselves and others, it’s this state of mind that helps keep us all engaged in keeping the people safe.
Ken Finley is an Ohio workers’ comp and unemployment resource for Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce members. Next month he will celebrate 28 years working for V+A Risk Services and their 2,500 clients. Ken enjoys speaking to groups about workers’ comp programs and provides clients with premium forecasting and policy solutions. Ken is a long-time member of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce Workplace Regulations Committee and a proud graduate of the University of Cincinnati (Go, Bearcats!). He enjoys reading, running and following his Cincy sports teams and lives with his wife, Jenny, in the family farmhouse in Pemberville.
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