Barry had a wonderful sense of humour. What I remember him most for is his meticulous attention to detail and protocol as exhibited in this excerpt from the tribute I will pay him.

… he was a man of precision, care and exactness. Imagine this scene: in the middle of a grass field, with not a single person or other aircraft in sight on the ground or in the air, Barry, having completed the exterior aircraft check and pre-flight checklist, is now sitting in the pilot’s seat with me beside him when he opens the window and calls out in his loudest voice “clear the aircraft”. I suppose to the pilots in the room this may not seem funny, but to a non-aviation individual, this was comical. CLEAR THE AIRCRAFT!

Barry was the type of pilot who could have landed the airplane on the Hudson River (Miracle on the Hudson – gliding the plane to ditch in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan in 2009). Barry was the type of pilot I would have entrusted my life to.

This is the kind of trust and confidence that workers should expect from their employers and supervisors. They are the ‘pilots’ of a business with the responsibility to guide their workers to a ‘safe landing’. This responsibility must never simply be given to an individual because of seniority; this responsibility is a learned position that brings with it accountability, obligation, knowledge and duty. The Occupational Health and Safety Act has specific requirements and defines a supervisor as “a person who has charge of a workplace or authority over a worker”. With the high expectations and legal responsibilities that come with the supervisory position, supervisors must be equipped to carry out their roles to meet Ministry of labour guidelines competently. OHSA S. 27 (1)(2)

One of the first things a Ministry inspector will ask for when conducting a surprise inspection is documentation that a Supervisor has received training to competently carry out their duties. Do they understand the role of the Internal Responsibility System (IRS); do they know how to navigate the Green Book (OHSA and regulations); do they adhere to and enforce the company’s health and safety policies and procedures; do they know how to identify and manage hazards; are they able to conduct an accident investigation and, very importantly, do they have the skills to communicate with employees to keep them safe?

Becoming a competent supervisor does not just happen, it is a learned skill and position that carries with it legal responsibilities that, if not met, can lead to fines from the Ministry, especially in the case of an incident or accident where training cannot be proven with proper training records.

May all workers have a Barry in their lives whom they can trust to keep them safe from harm in the workplace.

Watch for next month’s Blog published in the second week of July

Sincerely,

Carola Mittag

Consultant and Editor for Mentor Safety Consultants Inc.

The post CLEAR THE AIRCRAFT! appeared first on Mentor Safety Consultants - A Safety Co Partner.

Having gone to university, held a professional job for many years and am now happily retired, I still have to do my regular grocery shopping. I shop at a grocery store that has its buggies chained together. To release one of these shopping carts it is necessary to insert a quarter into a slot on the buggy; then, when your shopping is done, you can retrieve your quarter by retuning the buggy to the chained carts. I find it amazing that, no matter the weather, rain, sleet, hail or snow, people conscientiously return their cart to get back their twenty-five cents. Very, very rarely will you see an abandoned cart in the grocery store’s parking lot.

Today, even though a quarter has little buying power, people go to great lengths to get back their coin. I wonder if they ever think back to the times that they just walked by a penny, nickel or dime.

What has all this got to do with health and safety? I thought about a saying that is as old as the hills “The devil is in the details.” Those who return their carts to retrieve their quarters are paying attention to a little, seemingly, inconsequential detail; after all it’s only twenty-five cents.

“It will only take a second”; I’ve always done it this way”; Only this once”; It won’t happen to me”; What can go wrong?”; “But they did it like that”; “It’s only …….”.

How many times have we heard someone say any of these things or thought and said them ourselves? Whether it is workers following written safety procedures, or supervisors conducting site inspections, or JHSC members conducting an accident investigation, the devil is in the details! It sounds like an ominous warning, doesn’t it? But in fact, it is an expression used to point out that one should pay attention to all they do. Even the grandest project depends on the success of the smallest components. It may be the tiniest detail that, if not paid close attention to, could possibly ruin all your efforts not to mention cause injury, illness or even death. It is important to identify the details to avoid tragic consequences.

Safety audits are used to identify weaknesses in safety programs and processes in order to identify corrective actions that must be taken. Safety audits also identify whether or not a company is in compliance with the appropriate safety regulations. MENTOR’s safety audit is a structured process that is used to collect information relating to your company’s efficiency, effectiveness, and reliability. This type of inspection is more thorough than technical inspections or spot-check inspections, as it also involves reviewing your company’s safety documentation in order to determine how the company can improve its total health and safety management system.

People choose their actions, some in great detail and some lackadaisically. The consequences of those choices can mean the difference between a happy healthy future or one with lasting negative implications. Paying attention to details is never time wasted!

Watch for next month’s Blog published in the second week of June.

Sincerely,

Carola Mittag

Consultant and Editor for Mentor Safety Consultants Inc.

The post THE TWENTY-FIVE CENT DRIVER appeared first on Mentor Safety Consultants - A Safety Co Partner.