Off-The-Job Safety
Section VI
Conclusion
Employees and families must have a 24-hour safety attitude and know safe practices before they can be expected to take actions that will avoid accidents.
Also, they must be periodically reminded of the wide range of safety hazards they face in everyday life. Without these reminders all of us tend to become complacent.
Achieving safety awareness can only be done through a comprehensive off-the-job safety program. Of course, no organization can provide enough information to an employee to guarantee a risk-free life. Even the most experienced and well-educated person won't anticipate every hazard, but they will discover the most critical safety problems.
Once employees have a true understanding of safety fundamentals, they can start to develop their personal safety programs. As a result, they often find that they need and want more information.
You are probably skeptical as to how much impact you can have on the behavior of employees and their dependents away from work. We need only look at heart disease, cancer, and AIDS to see how behavior can be changed through comprehensive education programs. We can't change everyone's behavior, but we can change enough people to have a significant impact on the death and overall accident rates.
What then can you do?
First, determine off-the-job accident costs. For-profit companies should divide that amount by the pre-tax margin to obtain the amount of revenue required to pay for accidents. This information, and knowledge of the benefits derived from an off-the-job safety program, will help obtain the management support that is vital to the success of any safety program.
Second, develop an information program for and with employees and families. Put a structure in place that uses the talents of all groups in the organization.
Third, furnish material to employees regularly on a wide range of topics, and encourage employees to review the material with their families.
It's time to turn the spotlight on this long neglected part of our health care crisis. Off-the-job accident prevention is truly a win-win program, an opportunity for employers to do the right thing—and make money doing it.
References
Accident Facts, Chicago, National Safety Council, 1996
National Center for Health Statistics, Washington, D.C., 1997
The Off-The-Job Safety Program Manual, Chicago, National Safety Council, 1984
John C. Myre, ARM, is the owner and publisher of Safety Times, 1265 Rogue River Ct., Chesterfield, MO 63017, (636-536-2875). Safety Times focuses on the prevention of off-the-job injuries. After a 34 year career in financial and risk management organizations at Southwestern Bell Corporation, he founded Safety Times in July, 1992.
