Safety Fitz assists companies in their Health and Safety Programs.
How can someone like me assist you and your company? To answer properly I need to answer a couple of things.
First, what is it that I do? I like to call myself an Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Consultant. My philosophy on industrial safety is shaped by many years in positions where the health and safety of my employees was paramount in that job. From my earliest role as a Foundry Supervisor to my last role as a Human Resources / Health & Safety Manager a deep concern for the health and safety of my employees was instilled within me. My approach today is help, mentor, coach, and recommend methods and tasks for you to take to ensure the health and safety of your employees.
Second, I need to know what you want from your Health and Safety Program. How do you feel the health and safety of your employees fit into your overall organizational objectives, goals, and mission? I will urge you to think of employee Health & Safety (H&S) not so much in terms on goals but in terms on company philosophy, mission, and vision. I am confident that as we work together you will come to see the difference. It is an important distinction but is a big topic to discuss here. A topic of another article!
However, in the short term it really comes down to what is driving you to call me in to assist you. For example, do you merely want to reduce costs, or would is your primary objective to reduce injuries? Although they affect each other they are not apples to apples. While both objectives are important, our programs to bring improvement may differ in emphasis. It is important to ensure you understand the differences. As an example, if injury reduction is the objective we may concentrate on lacerations. Lacerations are usually the top source of injury in manufacturing.
Yet, lacerations are commonly cheaper in terms of cost then other injury types. In the real world the average cost of a laceration is under one thousand dollars. Again, in the real world one rotator cuff tear of a shoulder may cost more than fifty thousand dollars. In this example, fifty lacerations equal the cost of one rotator cuff tear. Consequently, if cost is our primary objective, we may not want to concentrate on what causes lacerations but on what causes rotator cuff tears. My approach is to consider all those objectives and implement programs to address numbers and cost.
Third, I really try to consider why you are calling me in to discuss how I may assist you. My preference it to develop long-term relationships with my customers. However, sometimes a customer wants me to just quote a short-term relationship. Those usually are one time training situations. If that is the case, I will make my quote appropriate to the customer’s wishes! Conversely, if the customer wants me to assist more long-term, I think it best to perform an HSA (Health & Safety Assessment) to serve as a baseline. The HSA tells us both where the customer’s program is in relationship to where they want to go. The HSA tells us the Present State of the customer’s H&S Program and we can then quickly compare that to the customer’s vision of a Future State. By a comparison of the Present State and Future State we can map a strategy to get there.
In Lean terms, this concept is Value Stream Mapping. Comparing the Present State to the Future State promotes strategic thinking on our H&S Programs.
Often my customers wear multiple hats within their organization. They usually have titles that do not include the words health and or safety in them. However, they are people charged to run the safety program in their organization. I can always relate to these people as in my lengthy career in large organizations I held titles like Operations Manager or Human Resources Manager. Nevertheless, I always had the responsibility for the safety program in my organizations. I certainly bring considerable experience to people that now find themselves in similar situations.
One of the things I might do is to train your employees to give them the tools to keep themselves healthy and safe. I have knowledge of what the law requires (OSHA), consensus standards (like ANSI, NEC, NFPA, and ISO, created by experts), and what I call, “recognized (by professionals) common health & safety practices.” The latter being practices and methods that go above mere compliance with the law. Subsequently, all these laws, standards, and practices work in symmetry to ensure employee health and safety (H&S).The area I most enjoy collaborating with customers is interacting with their employees. One of my favorite tools to assist employers is training their employees. I love to train and relish every opportunity to do it! I offer three types of training:
Direct Training:
In what I call direct training I train employees tasks to perform their jobs in healthy and safe manners, with recognition of OSHA, consensus standards, your company policies, and good common safety practice. For example, I teach a course on the safe operation of Powered Industrial Trucks or Forklifts. When the course is complete the employees on that course will safely operate your company equipment. This type of training is best in smaller organizations or for those that do not wish to devote their own resources to training.
Train-the-Trainer (TtT) Training:
The second type of training I offer is “Train-the-Trainer” (TtT) training. In this type of training, I provide skills to employees to train other employees in job tasks. Using the example above instead of teaching direct operation of PIT skills, I will train employees to train other employees in the operation skills of PIT operation. TtT offers the best value to customers. First, overall, this form of training is cheaper and stretches the organization’s training dollars. Secondly, TtT expands teamwork within the organization which improves the teamwork culture of that organization. Most importantly, TtT expands the number of employees seen as experts on a subject in an organization. I recommend TtT in larger organizations and/or those that are interested in culture enhancement. It offers more value than Direct Training.
H&S Leadership Skills Enhancement:
The third type of training I provide in what I call H&S Leadership Skills Enhancement. This form of training enhances the roles of the leaders in an organization to protect the employees. One of these types of training is training the leaders in hazard recognition. One of my major tools in this area is the OSHA Outreach Program. Commonly these programs are the OSHA 10-Hour Program for General Industry, and the OSHA 30-Hour Program for General Industry. The 10-Hour course I recommend for supervisors and safety team members. Conversely, I recommend the 30-Hour course for the principal leaders in an organization.
Furthermore, I have extensive manufacturing and Lean experience, and offer various courses in leadership, especially supervisory skills. I started my career as a foundry supervisor so have a unique experience and relate very well to those supervisors and managers. I always design my training around the organization.
Sometimes a company brings me in as a “new fresh set of eyes.” Sometimes customers are well versed in H&S issues and conditions. These customers are looking for another set of eyes and hands. Because they have other duties, they need assistance to get out in the plant and see and work on H&S issues. I offer supplemental time to do those things. Often as an outsider I see things that are missed by local management. While a site manager myself I was often surprised at the things I missed in my organization outsiders would find. I may also implement new H&S policies and procedures. I also review and edit existing company H&S policies and procedures to maintain ISO compliance.
Frequently I come into an organization to on-board someone in the H&S role that previously had little experience in the field. My preferred method is to collaborate with the person and organization intensely and as the person becomes accustomed to the role back off as the person learns the role. Eventually we develop what I call a Maintenance Agreement where I might visit once a month or once a quarter depending on customer wishes.
I also perform accident investigation and stress that these accidents find root cause, Further, I make recommendations to implement remediation of the root causes. The process for problem solving I use is a Lean Philosophy called PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act). As an experienced HR professional, I have extensive experience with Workers Compensation and claims management.
Regrettably, sometimes, accidents are severe enough that employers must notify OSHA per 29 CFR 1904.39. If requested, I function as a liaison with OSHA and offer guidance to the organization through a possible Informal Hearing in the event of OSHA citations. I also assist clients through OSHA Inspections and resulting citations. If the organization wishes to pursue a citation beyond an Informal Hearing, I recommend legal counsel.
I can do all the other typical tasks other H&S Consultants perform. Consultants have strengths based on our education and training, but primarily experience. My experience is exclusively in manufacturing. Work in management positions in ferrous foundries, heavy and light machining, forming, and bending, assembly, coatings, logistics, and food production has broadened my perspective. I pride myself in customizing my programs to the customer’s needs and requirements. I look forward to assisting your organization to keep your employees healthy and safe.
For a deeper look at my services please feel free to contact me. I have several sources of additional information I can send you and I welcome phone calls!
Keep’em Safe!
My background is described here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-or-fitz-fitzgerald/
Call 920-901-8860
Tom Fitzgerald
You can (and do) do it all Tom, I know that first hand! Keep up the great posts!