What Senior Editor Stefanie Valentic learned while reporting from the 35th annual conference in New Orleans.
The 2019 Safety+ Symposium in New Orleans hosted nearly 3,000 attendees for a week of celebration, education, networking and rejuvenation.
This year, the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA) revamped its 35th annual conference, featuring a new logo, enhanced workshops and a 1980s-themed celebration.
From mountain climbers to safety experts to OSHA educators, the well-rounded education offerings drove home the importance of safety management systems, leadership support and risk mitigation.
VPPPA utilized technology to spread its mission, including live streaming of workshops and broadcasting the symposium's entire opening session on Facebook Live. The SafetyPro podcast streamed live from the conference Media Center. In addition, this is the first year a professional general session production team has been on hand at the Safety+ Symposium.
"I may not be with you for the next 35 years, but let my vision of commitment, collaboration, diversity and inclusion and the uncompromised focus be the guiding light that illuminates the road ahead so that our children and their children's children get to live in a world that is a better place at work and at home," President J.A. Rodriguez told attendees in his opening address.
Here are quotes from 10 influential experts who spoke throughout the week in the Big Easy.
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Every business should have an emergency response plan, not matter if it is an office environment or a plant, said Greg Duncan, EHS & sustainability content manager for VelocityEHS.
Duncan explained to VPPPA Safety+ attendees about how continuous improvement and technology work hand-in-hand when it comes to effectively preparing for a chemical emergency or situation.
In the United States, most businesses tend to take a compliance-based approach, living to the letter of the law and doing the bare minimum to meet requirements. However, there is not a one-size-fits-alll method to risk mitigation.
"Stopping at just the requirements might not be safe enough for your facility," Duncan told the audience. "We want to take a continuous improvement approach so each time we run through it we're getting better."
Stages to building an effective emergency response plan include planning; organizing and equiping; training; exercises and drills; and evaluating and improving.
There are three keys to preparing for a chemical-related incident, according to Duncan:
1. Know what hazards are in your workplace. Maintain an up-to-date chemical inventory.2. Ensure rapid access to safety data sheets.3. Develop and maintain a strong training program.
Hands-on learning including demonstrations, work simulations, safety drills, performance-based training standards and educating workers about high-risk operations will allow for effective evacuation, improve response times and allow businesses to recover quickly. The key to ensuring a rapid response and plan execution is effective communication with all stakeholder groups.
"There is a lot of people involved in this process," Duncan said. "This doesn't happen in a silo."
Duncan identified 11 mistakes in developing an emergency response plan that potentially lead to poor evacuation times, delays in communication, injuries and fatalities:
Gaps and inconsistencies with chemical inventory and written plans
Gaps in safe work instructions
Poor evacuation plans and maps
Losing track of contracted workers and visitors
Failure to update emergency actions plans
Lack of stakeholder buy-in
Lack of funding for emergency response
Not developing key stakeholder relations
Waiting for the "right time" to plan
Poor/insufficient emergency drills
Weak command and control/leadership
An emergency response plan needs to be available digitally. The benefits of utilizing technology can assist businesses, workers and other stakeholder with digital safety data sheet (SDS) management and access; real-time chemical inventory; automated reporting; chemical storage location mapping; incident management with mobile reporting capabilities; incident analysis; mobile inspections; training; and safety meeting and drill scheduling.
"People find it easy and effective," Duncan said. "It helps to drive engagement that is so critical."
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Safety extends past the eight-hour workday and into the homes of every single worker.
Creating a safe workplace goes above and beyond a company's doors, said Terry Gray during his keynote address at VPPPA's Safety+ Symposium.
The pipefitter and motivational speaker developed the Safety Man Movement as a way to demonstrate the importance of maintaining a safe, engaged workplace as well as exemplifying the core values of safety in everyday situations.
"If you don't get involved, then your work will deteriorate," he told the audience. "If you expect more others, you need to expect more from yourself. Don't tell someone to do something and then not do it yourself. The heart of engagement is execution."
The four "E" attributes of his philosophy comprise of empathizing for people; empowering employees to do the things they need to do to maintain a safe workplace; engaging workers in positive ways; and enlarging or spreading the knowledge and challenging everyone to think the same way.
"I know each and ever person in this room has something you care about that moves your heart, that makes you get up and do what you do," he said.
Embracing these concepts will lead an organization to reach to the next level of safety excellence. Gray broke this down into the M.O.V.E. acronym:
MOTIVATE your members or lose momentum;
OBLITERATE obstacles or lose optimism;
VALIDATE safety values or lose vision; and
ELEVATE engagement or lose everything.
Watch Gray explain the Safety Man Movement in a song he performed at the conference.
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As Labor Day weekend approaches, the National Safety Council (NSC) is reminding Americans about the dangers of drunk driving.
The organization is cautioning drivers to designate a sober driver to prevent becoming one of the estimated 398 deaths and 45,300 serious injuries that will happen during the upcoming holiday weekend.
“Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, and many families will be traveling for those last-minute vacations,” said Lorraine M. Martin, NSC president and CEO, in a statement. “We want that last hurrah to be fun, not fatal. When you are on the roads, be alert, drive defensively and keep one another safe.”
The Labor Day holiday begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Monday, Sept. 2.
An overall national trend shows traffic fatalities are down 3% overall in the first six months of 2019 compared with the same period in 2018. The Labor Day weekend estimate is the lowest the NSC has announced since 2015.
Alcohol continues to be one of the major contributors to fatal roadway accidents during holiday weekend, with 36% of crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver or motorcycle rider.
NSC recommends those visiting family and friends and travel for Labor Day take action in the following ways:
Practice defensive driving, buckle up, designate a sober driver or arrange alternative transportation, get plenty of sleep to avoid fatigue, and drive attentively, avoiding distractions;
Recognize the dangers of drugged driving, including impairment from cannabis and opioids; visit nsc.org/rxpainkillers to understand the impact of the nation’s opioid crisis;
Stay engaged in teens’ driving habits; visit nsc.org/DriveitHOME for resources;
Learn about your vehicle’s safety systems and how to use them; visit MyCarDoesWhat.org for information;
Fix recalls immediately; visit ChecktoProtect.org to ensure your vehicle does not have an open recall;
Ask lawmakers and state leaders to protect travelers on state roadways; the NSC State of Safety report shows which states have the strongest and weakest traffic safety laws; and
Get involved in the Road to Zero Coalition, a group of more than 900 organizations across the country focused on eliminating roadway deaths by 2050; visit nsc.org/roadtozero to join.
Additional traffic fatality information can be found on the NSC's website.
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Gary Guller spun a tale of trials, tribulation and perservance to a packed room of Safety+ attendees during the VPPPA symposium's second day in New Orleans.
The inspirational speaker described what it took to lead a group of physically and cognitively challenged individuals to scale Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain located in Nepal. Guller's presentation resonated with the crowd of safety professionals, many who are responsible for leading a team of employees to build a safe workplace.
"I knew that if I had the right people on my team, and we came together on this goal and vision, I believed we could accomplish this," he told the audience.
At age 20, tragedy struck Guller when he lost his arm and a close friend during a climbing expedition. He credited his grandfather for pushing him to keep exploring after the treacherous experience.
"I'll never, ever forget what my grandfather said. He said, 'Gary, you ned to relight that candle you had as a kid. If there's not a person in the world that climbed mountains with one arm, be the first," Guller recalled.
Later, during a motivational speech in Dallas, a man in a wheelchair asked Guller if he could join him on his adventures. This inspired Guller to take a full team of 30 individuals, a majority who had physical or cognitive challenges, and a support staff of 350 Sherpas, doctors and others to climb the world's tallest mountain in the Himalayas. After spending two years of meeting with CEOs, the flood gates opened to fund the expedition.
"It was a collective force of people achieving something, raising awareness and inspiring others," Guller said.
On April 6, 2003, Guller led the largest group of people with disabilities to reach Mt. Everest's base camp at 17,500 ft. Shortly after, he became the first person with one arm to arrive at the mountain's 29,029 ft. peak. The video details Guller's final ascent to reach the "top of the world."
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A former Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) worker who was placed on administrative leave and terminated in retaliation for cooperating with OSHA must be reinstated.
The employee raised nuclear safety concerns regarding technical specification surveillances, and participated in an investigation by the TVA’s Office of General Counsel of a chilled work environment.
“This order underscores the U.S. Department of Labor’s commitment to protect workers who exercise their right to raise safety concerns without the fear of retaliation,” said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA's Atlanta-area regional administrator, in a statement.
An OSHA investigation uncovered that TVA terminated the employee for cooperating, violating Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act (ERA).
The agency ruled that the company must pay the worker $123,460 in back wages and interest and $33,835 in compensatory damages to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses and health insurance costs, as well as other expenses.
In addition, TVA must pay the attorney’s fees of the complainant; clear the complainant’s personnel file of any reference to the issues involved in the investigation; refrain from retaliating against the complainant; and post a notice informing all employees of their whistleblower protections under the ERA.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of ERA and more than 20 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, motor vehicle safety, healthcare reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, and securities laws. For more information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.
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Imagine a world where there are no workplace fatalities or debilitating injuries or diseases.
J.A. Rodriguez, Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association (VPPPA) chairman, gave a boisterous State of the Association address at the 35th annual Safety+ Symposium in New Orleans.
"We are the champions of safety management system excellence and the facilitators of collaboration, membership and the protection of workers, and our new logo is a testament to that commitment," he told the crowd of roughly 3,000 attendees.
VPPPA has been on a path of accelerated growth for the last year, first with the complete revamp of its Safety+ Symposium and a new association logo. Rodriguez detailed the list of achievements the organization has celebrated throughout the past year.
The organization saw the launch of its National VPPPA Mentor of the Year Award. It also has utilized technology to spread its mission, including live streaming of workshops and broadcasting the symposium's entire opening session on Facebook Live. VPPPA's The SafetyPro podcast streamed live from the VPPPA's Media Center for the first time. In addition, this is the first year a professional general session production team has been on hand at the Safety+ Symposium.
Rodriguez said the association's new logo represents VPPPA's commitment to continuous progress, growth, superiority of solutions, deliverance of the best in safety management system excellence and to innovation. VPPPA strives to create integrated partnerships and create offering to generate successful business outcomes "all the while protecting what matters most...every worker, everywhere."
Going forward, Rodriguez highlighted four initatives as part of its 2022 strategic plan: demonstrating value, growing strategic partnerships, enhancing global presence and being the resource for safety management system excellence.
"I may not be with you for the next 35 years, but let my vision of commitment, collaboration, diversity and inclusion and the uncompromised focus be the guiding light that illuminates the road ahead so that our children and their children's children get to live in a world that is a better place at work and at home," he said.
Rodriguez continued, "A time and a place where we no longer need to morn workplace fatalities or disabling injuries or crippling diseases. A time and place where worker health and safety is beyond being a priority, beyond being a value, beyond being memorialized by a catchy slogan, but rather has transformed into a slice of the overall management system that is embraced and celebrated for its contributions to risk reduction, success of the overall enterprise and as a positive influence to our overall global economy."
That, he concluded, is his vision for VPPPA's next 35 years.
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Kirk Bagnal, Domtar’s global director of safety, environment, health & sustainability, has worked to greatly reduce injuries while integrating six manufacturing plants the company has purchased over the past five years.
The former U.S. armor officer and paratrooper is in pursuit of a culture of safety excellence at Domtar's nine locations across North America and Europe.
Bagnal will explain how he is creating Domtar's newest safety leaders at the 2019 Safety Leadership Conference session titled "Cultural Transformation Across Global Locations - A Case Study."
The special case study will explore in detail the practical approach taken across global locations to strategically improve both safety performance and culture and the lessons learned along the journey.
Read more about his Safety and Risk Management track session in his Q&A with EHS Today.
EHS Today: Can you offer us a short description of your presentation and describe how it relates to safety leadership?
Kirk Bagnal: The Cheshire Cat said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” This is so true in life, business, and certainly when considering your Safety Strategy. Following, Shawn Galloway’s “STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence” model and Paul O’Neill’s Alcoa model for “how to work together… beginning with employee safety," Domtar has built a highly collaborative, forward thinking, strength-based team that has developed and executed a strategy for safety which has resulted in the integration of six businesses which were purchased by Domtar over the past five years. Not every part of the journey has been smooth but it has yielded a 77% improvement in total injuries while eliminating all severe injuries and has served as a model for other business disciplines like quality, reliability, and continuous improvement to follow. At the core of this strategy is a relentless focus on living out our mantra of "People First -- Safety Always" which serves as the guide for all that we do.
Why is the topic of your presentation of interest to you and why is it important to SLC attendees?
Bagnal: As leadership expert John Maxwell states, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” He couldn’t be more correct… as we have seen in our journey towards a culture of safety excellence. We have established as our number 1 goal in safety to create more and better safety leaders… and we are excited to share with everyone “HOW”!
What are the takeaways you hope to leave with attendees?
Bagnal: 1. Understand and be able to articulate the definition of a Safety Leader.2. Understand and be prepared to apply key principles to create more and better Safety Leaders.3. Provide “watch-outs” and “pitfalls” on trying to build a safety management system without first developing a sound safety strategy while creating a dynamic and robust Safety Leadership Development Culture.
Please share an example of a personal or professional experience you’ve had related to safety leadership or the topic of your presentation.
Bagnal: When my company president asked me if I was interested in moving from my plant manager role into this new position responsible for the safety of all of the people in our company in eight locations including Europe, I was overwhelmed… to put it mildly. We didn’t have a strategy, we didn’t have a team, and I had 100% responsibility with ZERO authority. I immediately realized that I needed to change, and I needed to establish a team to build a strategy for creating “Safety Leaders”. Thus, our journey began. Through any conversation, you’ll find that I am extremely passionate about my job – my “calling” – to protect our people, places, and products. What began as an impossible task has turned into an incredible journey full of beautiful stories of people becoming leaders… SAFETY LEADERS.
What do you think are some of the most pressing EHS and risk management issues facing corporate leaders and safety professionals in 2019 and beyond?
Bagnal: I believe strongly that our most pressing issue now… and into the future is priorities. Even the word itself – “PRIORITIES” – is incorrectly stated. You can’t have “multiple priorities”. There really is only ONE priority… and I have to say candidly: “SAFETY IS NOT THE #1 PRIORITY… nor should it be”. You may be wondering how a Global Safety Leader could speak such heresy to the safety leader community. Simply stated, we must realize how our words, our language, and our thoughtfulness in how we use them can shape our culture and our society. Instead of “Safety VS. Production”, we must expect “Safe Production”. Instead of “Safety First”, we must promote “People First”. Words matter. By building a robust…yet easy-to-understand strategy (including a marketing plan to evangelize it), we begin by using our words to engage HEARTS, inform HEADS, so that our people in our organization can execute with their HANDS.Therefore, if “prioritization” is our most pressing issue, let’s put that issue to rest by making people our #1 priority and our #1 goal to “Create more and better (safety) leaders”. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the most effective way to get it done.
Do you have any additional insight you would like to share?
Bagnal: Whatever the size business you are operating within and whether you are in the manufacturing, distribution, service, or even not-for-profit business, Safety Leadership is essential for any immediate and sustained success. Although training and classroom development are a critical part of building a resource base for leadership, the ONLY way to become better at leading… is simply by leading. All organizations can benefit from how to go from a “Leader-Follower” model for safety to a “Leader-Leader” model for safety.
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Lloyd Industies Inc., a Pennsylvania-based fire protection equipment manufacturer, is feeling the heat after a federal judge ruled against the company for retaliating against its workers.
The decision comes after a jury determined that owner William P. Lloyd illegally fired two employees following an OSHA inspection.
“The court recognized that all employees have a federally protected right to speak out against unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, to participate in U.S. Department of Labor investigations, and to be compensated if they are terminated in retaliation for exercising those rights,” said Regional Solicitor Oscar L. Hampton III, in Philadelphia. “The significant punitive damages sends a strong message to this employer and others that deliberately violating these laws will not be tolerated.”
In 2014, OSHA conducted an investigation of the Lloyd Industries subsequent to an incident in which a worker suffered the amputation of three fingers. After the on-site investigation was initiated, Lloyd immediately terminated the employment of worker who was injured. Shortly after the agency completed the workplace examination, the company fired another worker for cooperating after OSHA assessed penalties for health and safety violations.
On April 2, a jury found that the acts of retaliation were in direct violation of Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania awarded a total of $1,047,399 in lost wages and punitive damages to the two former employees.
The court's findings state Lloyd Industries “deliberatlely flouted" the act and granted a landmark $500,000 in punitive damages, the highest monetary value ever awarded under the act.
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has awarded $1,047,399 in lost wages and punitive damages to two former employees of a Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, manufacturer after a jury found the company and its owner fired them in retaliation for their participation in a federal safety investigation.
On April 2, 2019, a jury determined that Lloyd Industries Inc. and owner, William P. Lloyd, illegally fired the employees because they participated in a 2014 inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The inspection followed an incident in which one of the employees’ co-workers suffered the amputation of three fingers.
In addition to punitive damages, the judge granted the former employees $547,399 in front and back pay and prejudgment interest as well as additional amounts to compensate for the adverse tax consequences of their receiving a large, one-time payment.
The judge also ordered that Lloyd Industries and William P. Lloyd post an anti-retaliation notice at the plant immediately, and never again violate Section 11(c) of the OSH Act.
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View the latest products from EHS Today's July/August 2019 issue.
EHS Today's print edition highlights the latest personal protective equipment, software and safety products ranging from footwear to training.
Our July/August 2019 issue features innovations from Ergodyne, Tingley Rubber Corp., Bally Ribbon Mills, Malta Dynamics, Kee Safety and Alfa Laval.
To view product descriptions and photos, use the arrows to move back and forth through the slideshow.
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