National Safety Month: Workplace Safety

June is National Safety Month. As a manufacturing company, safety is something we hold in high priority.  Below, we’ve listed some ideas on how you can keep safety top of mind in the workplace.

Ways we’re participating in maintaining a safe workplace

Be Healthy- MTM is committed to the overall safety and health of our employees. For example, MTM employees stretch twice a day to help promote overall health and wellness and to reduce the repetitive motion injuries, sprains, and strains. We also have a wellness committee that brings in speakers for luncheons to discuss different health topics to help educate people on how to better their health. We offer after work training with a certified trainer (our CEO), to help those with back pain and to help anyone interested to strengthen their backs and core.

Watch out for Dangers- MTM has a Safety Committee that periodically audits each building. Every day our safety managers tour our facilities looking for hazards and opportunities to educate our employees to improve safety. Our safety managers are certified through the Oklahoma Safety Council and are CPR instructors.  Currently, 100 employees are CPR trained.  MTM has a trained Hazmat Team of ten members who are also First Aid and CPR trained and attend annual training at a nearby technology center. We have 4 AEDs across the campus. Our emergency plans are available for all employees to see on the company intranet.  We are always looking to ensure we follow or exceed all OSHA guidelines and regulations.

-MTM Compliance Coordinator Kevin Manley

According to the 2014 census of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Fatality rate has increased for the first time since 2010.

Of those who were included in this census, the occupational injuries were 4,821 people who amounted to more than 13 people per day.

As you can see from these numbers workplace safety is something we all should be paying more attention to.

Ways you can participate in National Safety Month

Recognize high safety performers in your organization- You can give on-the- spot employee recognition as a way to help your employees to value safety more in your business. Some safety achievements to award could be accident-free man-hours or miles, training completion/ safety certifications and more.

Perform safety drills- No one likes to stop work and go to an assigned meeting place for a drill but performing these on a regular basis will certainly help should an emergency take place.

Stay current with safety training- Every company should provide up to date training opportunities and initiatives. Another free resource to help with this is the Department of Labor’s Youtube page. They provide a lot of free training videos including OSHA-powered examination videos and general training videos including Respiratory Safety, Heat Illness and more.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you to create a custom recognition program to increase safety awareness in your company, we’re here to help.