1. Public Works Leadership Skills “Safety”
APWA
Public Works Institute
Public Works Leadership Skills “Safety”
Hi, thanks for your time in being with me today. I know we’re getting to the end of the day so I’ll do my best to keep things on schedule and interesting.
I’m here to talk a bit about safety, but first two ground rules. #1, I am not a degreed Industrial Hygienist or a licensed OSHA Inspector. I’d really encourage each of you to educated yourself on safety and make informed decisions within your operations.
#2, I’d like for this to be a conversation. If you have a comment or idea please feel free to bring it up. Some of the best information comes from your discussions and input.
October 27, 2015

2. Safety Needs A Leader! BE VILIGANT ABOUT SAFETY
- Monitor and Respond to Safety Concerns and Complaints
REVIEW ACCIDENTS & NEAR MISSES
- Identify Root Causes For Future Prevention
ENCOURAGE COMMITMENT TO SAFETY
- Enforce Compliance
ENCOURAGE COMMUNICATION
- Between employees and With Their Supervisor
ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO BE SAFETY LEADERS
- Train Others to Recognize Hazards
- Educate Others on OSHA & Local Safety Rules
Read from the slide.

3. Why….?
Why, you ask….?
Well, because this stuff happens even under the best safety programs. Imagine how our work environments would be if no one lead the charge…..

5. These aren’t examples of bad employees
These aren’t examples of bad employees. I’m sure each in their own mind was trying to do the right thing to get work done. But that’s the catch – its just so darn easy to become focused on getting the work done and forgetting about safety.

6. Because Safety’s First… Right?
I’m sure these folks didn’t start their job saying; “Let’s figure out a way to be unsafe today!” I bet if you asked them they’d all say Safety’s First….., so what happened?

7. Willingness & Ability Working Safely…, Takes:
Working Safely really takes two things I think.
First, you have to be willing or have the desire to be safe, and believe it or not, not everyone does.
Second, you have to have the ability to do so.

8. “Willingness” Attitude – Do I Care……? What Do I Care About?
When we talk about willingness I am referring to attitude – do I care.
Identifying whether your rule driven or committed. Are you safe because there’s the threat of violating a rule and getting into trouble or are you safe because you believe in it. Being committed is the key because it means you work safely regardless of whether someone is watching.
What about your tolerance for taking risks. Some folks are more open to taking risks. Think about the mindset of a mountain climber, parachutist or race car driver.
Commitment versus Compliance

9. Do We Send Mixed Messages? “Do it fast! – Oh yeah, be safe too”
“Ability”
Educated, Trained & Knowledgeable
Properly Equipped/ Staffed
Physically/ Mentally Capable
Encouraged & Supported
Are you able to be safe. Are you trained to recognize an unsafe situation, (hazard recognition). Are you knowledgeable about the rules and what is required?
How many in the room know what the formula is for calculating silica exposure? Do you know what its based on – a percentage of the total volume of air born particles.
Are you physically fit to do the job? If someone is having a bad day or just isn’t feeling well is that the person to assign the more safety sensitive job?
Everyone needs to be encouraged to be safe or the reflex to return to being focused on getting the work done will retake its hold.
Do We Send Mixed Messages?
“Do it fast! – Oh yeah, be safe too”

10. FEDERAL OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration
Federal OSHA – organized by regions around the US. Authority over work under Federal OSHA rules.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Organized under the Department of Labor.

11. Code of Federal Regulations
CFR 29 –
Part 1910 & 1926
Kansas & Missouri – Federal OSHA
No State OSHA
Federal OSHA rules are Code of Federal Regulations. Part 1910 and 1926 deal primarily with construction and field work such as that which most public works organizations deal with. Employees working in an assembly plant for example will likely be covered by other CFR parts.
Some states have their own OSHA regulations. These are more strict than the Federal Rules. Kansas and Missouri do not have state OSHA, they rely on Federal oversight.

12. Code of Federal Regulations
Contains
Specific Rule Requirements
&
General Duty Clause
“General Duty To Have a Safe Work Environment and Perform Work Safely”
Rules cover two basic things – There are specific rules such as the safety rule on the use of hard hats. There is also the “general duty clause” which in essence says when its not covered under a specific rule and someone get’s hurt then there’s something you didn’t do or could have done to prevent it because you have the general duty to keep employees safe at work.

13. Examples Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200)
“Employee Right-to-know” - Employees need to be informed of harmful physical agents, infectious agents and hazardous substances which will be encountered in the workplace. Requires annual refresher training in addition to initial training.
Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL’s) (29 CFR )
“Air Contaminants” – Allowable exposure to certain airborne substances such as Chemicals and particulates, (e.g., Hydrogen Sulfide, Solvents, Dust, “Silica”)
These are some examples of specific rules.
Confined Spaces (29 CFR )
“Confined Spaces Permit” - Documented basis for the determination that all hazards have been eliminated prior to entering a qualifying confined space.

14. SAFTY PROGRAM
Commitment – Safety is as important as any other part of the organization’s business.
Accountability – Everyone is responsible for Safety
Involvement – Safety involves everyone, everyone is encouraged/ expected to be apart of safety.
Hazard Recognition – Educate and train to know how to identify hazards.
Hazard Control – Empower employees to eliminate or reduce their exposure to hazards.
Investigate – Conduct accident investigations and safety audits to identify root causes and preventing them from reoccurring.
Training – Regular, repetitive training. Hold regular safety meetings to share safety information and be a reminder of safety.
Evaluation – Track and regularly evaluate safety performance. Adjust safety program targets to meet needs.
So what goes into a Safety Program. How do we start creating a safe work environment? Here’s an example of an 8 step outline.
“read each one and briefly descirbe”

15. Near misses happen frequently, are we paying attention when they do?
Almost every accident can be traced back to a pattern of subtle signs telling us it was bound to occur at some point. We often don’t heed the warnings near misses give us because nothing happened. Why wait for something to happen – its easier, when an accident happens we no longer have a choice. Acting when there is a near miss gives us the choice to prevent an accident rather than react to one.

16. SAFTY Initiatives Weekly Tool Box Meetings Monthly Safety Meetings
Organization Level Safety Committees
Safety Reminders – posters and planned events
Safety Goals and Objectives
Random Safety Audits – Work Sites/ Facilities/ Work Tasks
Regular Review of Safety Performance – Prevention is the Key
Train/ Remind, Train/ Remind and Remind and Train Again
Remember though that to be affective a safety program needs folks to act on it. There must be actionable items that go along with it otherwise it just becomes another unused manual that sits on our desks.
Go through each initiative and ask the group for their comments.

17. Thorough Descriptive Analysis Of A Job Task
Job Safety Analysis
Thorough Descriptive Analysis Of A Job Task
Itemized list of steps for a task
Equipment or tools required
Knowledge, skills or training required
Protective safety equipment required
Dangers / hazards the task step may involve and need to be mitigated.
Job Safety Analysis is an example of getting folks to think about hazard recognition. By writing them out folks begin thinking in those terms and it can help them realize the safety issues associated with performing a task.., and what can be done to make a job safe.
The link shown on the slide has a power point presentation on job safety and hazard recognition.

18. JSA EXAMPLE Here’s another example.
How about we try to write one of these out for using a wheel barrow.
As a group what would we come up with?

19. Street Repair Public Works Activities
Heat, Noise, Chemical exposure, Slips/Trips/Falls, Egress onto and exiting equipment, Being struck by equipment or Traffic. Foot/Toes being crushed, abrasion to hands, dehydration, head being struck by falling or swinging overhead object, airborne dust/debris.
Accidents – backing vehicles, moving skid steer equipment, hitting overhead lines, unpredictable motorists?
Examples of things to consider for street repair…
Anything missing?

20. Sewer Repair Public Works Activities
Heat, Noise, Chemical exposure/ deficient breathing atmospheres, Slips/Trips/Falls, Egress onto and exiting equipment, Being struck by equipment or Traffic. Foot/Toes being crushed, abrasion to hands, dehydration, head being struck by falling or swinging overhead object, trench excavation cave in, airborne dust/debris.
Accidents – backing vehicles, moving/ swinging backhoe or skid steer equipment, hitting overhead or underground utilities, unpredictable motorists?
Sewer Repair – same thing anything to add?

21. Street Light/ Signal Repair
Public Works Activities
Street Light/ Signal Repair
Heat, Noise?, flying overhead debris (broken bulbs), Slips/Trips/Falls, Egress onto and exiting equipment, Being struck by equipment or Traffic. Foot/Toes being crushed, abrasion to hands, dehydration, head being struck by falling or swinging overhead object, falling from lift platform, electrocution.
Accidents – backing/ moving lift truck, unpredictable motorists?
Here’s thoughts on Street Light or traffic signal repair

22. Snow Plowing Public Works Activities
Hypothermia, Noise?, Slips/Trips/Falls, Egress onto and exiting equipment, Being struck by equipment or Traffic. Foot/Toes being crushed, abrasion to hands, head being struck by falling or swinging overhead object?, chemical exposure?, exhaustion?
Accidents – backing/ changing lanes/ moving through intersections, low hanging tree branches, mailboxes, parked cars, unpredictable motorists?
Snow plowing?

23. What are You Seeing? Hearing Protection (Ear Plugs)
Eye Protection (Safety Glasses
Head Protection (Hard Hat)
High Visibility Apparel (Safety Vests)
Silica Exposure – dry concrete sawing
Trenching egress
Trench shoring/ shield
Atmosphere testing/ monitoring
Traffic Control – (understandable)
Hand signaling – (too many/ non standard signs)
When I travel around to different locations and different jobs here are some things I’ve noticed that we aren’t always good at?
What do you all see as safety items that we could work on?

24. Be Committed - Care to be Safe because it’s the “right thing to do”
Lead A Safe Work Environment
Be Committed - Care to be Safe because it’s the “right thing to do”
Be Competent - Educated/ Knowledgeable in recognizing hazards and the dangers they involve.
Be Empowered/ Engaged - Take action when needed to eliminate or reduce recognized hazards.
So, in summary;
We need to be leaders in our safety programs. We need to be committed –
To be competent…
To be empowered and engaged that when something doesn’t seem right we act.

25. After All… It Can Be a Complicated World LEL’s and UEL’s
PEL’s and STEL’s
Time Weighted Averages
Read the slide
Fall Protection – Slip Protection – Fall Prevention

26. And a Dangerous One!
Read the slide

27. Questions?