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Modernizing PPE for workplace safety     

By Tito Warren

Cultivating a positive safety culture: a long-term investment

Safety remains a top priority across many industries and companies. In collaboration with company leadership, safety professionals are the primary architects of safety culture, or shaping an environment where employees not only comply with safety protocols but actively advocate for them. A safety culture places a high level of importance on attitudes, beliefs and values, which come to life through communication and commitment by all workers.

While a variety of factors influence the development and maintenance of safety culture within an organization, core components of safety culture include:
    • A vision for safety: How can an organization continuously protect workers on the job, mitigating risk and harm? What systems can be implemented in both the short- and long-term in the pursuit of zero incidents?
    • The proper equipment: Organizations have an obligation to identify and provide PPE customized to each work site, and a safety culture encourages proper and ongoing PPE usage by employees.
    • Safety training: What training protocols can be created to yield safe performance? How often should trainings take place?
    • Setting performance standards: Establish standards of performance and put systems in place to manage hazards.
    • Accountability and opportunistic dialogue: How can an atmosphere in which open communication about potential hazards be encouraged, and the reporting of workplace risks be viewed as a proactive step toward prevention? For example, rather than working around a hazard and risking incident, a company with a positive safety culture encourages workers to report hazardous conditions with an understanding that fixing the issue may result in loss of productivity to prevent an accident later.
    • Evaluation: Review safety errors and hazard reports and actively learn, adapt and modify behavior based on lessons learned. Determine actions that require retraining or the evaluation of equipment.
    • Investing in health and safety: Time, money and resources are needed to build and continuously foster a safety culture.

Rethink “the way it’s always been done”
    As your company safety expert, consider reframing your thinking from “the way it’s always been done” to “what can we implement that will ensure the best outcome for my workers and the organization?” This is especially true when thinking about your PPE program, which is a key component of a workplace safety program.
    PPE programs play a pivotal role on worksites by proactively addressing potential hazards. From manufacturing floors to construction sites, the implementation of a comprehensive PPE strategy ensures that employees are equipped with the necessary protective gear to mitigate risks associated with their specific tasks.
    Taking a look at how different types of PPE programs work, in a reimbursement program, employees are responsible for purchasing their own PPE that meets the safety standards set by the company. After purchasing gear, employees can submit their receipts for reimbursement up to a predetermined dollar amount. When employees purchase PPE on their own for reimbursement, it introduces the risk of inconsistent product quality and compliance with safety regulations, posing challenges for a company in maintaining consistent protection and ensuring adherence with safety standards.
    Alternately, through the implementation of a managed PPE program, an organization takes proactive measures to ensure the provision and management of safety gear for its employees. By collaborating with reliable safety providers, a company carefully selects a diverse variety of PPE options that adhere to their safety standards and cater to specific job requirements. Managed programs are adaptive, evolving in tandem with changes in the workplace environment and industry regulations. They ensure that employees are not only equipped with the best gear but also possess the knowledge and awareness to use it effectively. This proactive approach significantly reduces the likelihood of accidents, reinforcing the resilience of the organization's operations.
    A managed PPE program provides more oversight of the PPE that employees are using to perform their job duties and may enhance your safety culture through compliance, versus a reimbursement program.

Safety is a strategic imperative
    Safety culture is good for business. While the behaviors outlined won’t come to life overnight, organizations that foster positive safety culture can both prevent accidents and see continuous improvement, with employees feeling empowered to contribute to the ongoing enhancement of safety protocols.
    In the ever-evolving landscape of safety, PPE programs are a key component to safety culture. Safety professionals are not just guardians of compliance but builders of company reputation. The implementation of a well-thought-out PPE program is not a mere obligation; it is an investment in the core assets of any company — the health, safety and well-being of its workforce.