Manage your risk with a Total Safety Management program

Managing risk in your workplace is beneficial to both your employees and your organization. The fewer risks your workers take in doing their jobs, the fewer chances there are for accidents and injuries, and therefore, fewer injury claims for employers and missed time from work to hamper the ministry.In a perfect world, risks would be reduced to nothing, workers would never get injured and we would never file claims. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Accidents happen even in the safest workplaces. The keys are to identify and manage the risks on your premises, and educate workers on the steps they need to take to stay safe. An effective safety management program called Total Safety Management can help to keep everyone on your premises safe while reducing your organization’s injury claims and exposure to liability.What is Total Safety Management?A Total Safety Management program includes risk identification, risk control, employee education and training. It includes everyone who is involved in your ministry, from organizational leadership, executive and religious staff, to employees, volunteers, and students—the more people who are involved in safety, the better. The program looks at the big picture to see your organization’s overall risk and what needs to be managed.A Total Safety Management program includes these benefits:

Management/Leadership Commitment—It is critical to have leadership involved.

Employee Focused, Results Oriented based on Performance—Doing everything possible to keep everyone safe who comes into your facilities/ministries.

Defined Supervisory and Employee Safety Responsibilities

Accountability at all Levels—Supervisors and managers are held accountable for their safety efforts as well as employees.

SMART Goals and Objectives: Specific, Manageable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Frame. Don’t be afraid to set specific goals and objectives. Reducing claims by 10-15% might be achievable.

Specific Well Defined Safety Rules and Procedures. Having policies and procedures in place for at least all your major risks.

Targeted Employee Training based on Risk and Exposure. For instance, in a portable ladder safety program, provide hands-on training for employees who use ladders. Don’t just hand them a copy of the company policy.

Completion and Analysis of a Risk Assessment based on Ministry and Operations. Schools will have some different risks than retreat centers.

Well-Functioning Claims Management System. When claims inevitably occur, it is important to have a well-functioning system in place.

Key components of a Total Safety Management programNobody knows the risks your organization faces better than you do, but you might still overlook some potential risks. Risk Identification involves assessing your risks and analyzing your past claims. Take a walk through your premises and look at your overall risks. Look in places you may not think to look. What safety risks are associated with your ministry? Look at past performance to see what claims you might see down the road. If you have 10 slip, trip and fall claims a year, it should tell you something isn’t working. Ask yourself what you are not doing and what needs to be done to reduce those claims.You can’t have Total Safety Management without Risk Control. These are the measures you put in place to reduce your overall risk exposure. Risk control measures include:

Development of a Safety Program/policies

Establishing safety rules

Developing employee and supervisory safety responsibilities to include accountability

Required training based on risk

Safety awareness initiatives

Accident/injury management

Training based on risk means looking at your specific ministry and deciding when and if safety training is necessary. You may not need a slip, trip and fall policy in Arizona, but in the Midwest in winter, you probably do. Is the training provided to employees at the time of hire, and annually thereafter?Safety awareness initiatives can include forming a safety committee, producing flyers on workplace safety, emailing safety tips, and even having company safety fairs.Accident/injury management ensures that procedures are in place for employees to report accidents in a timely manner. Supervisors should know what they are responsible for in terms of reporting accidents. A return-to-work program should be in place for employees.

What answer best describes your organization’s Total Safety Management efforts and activities:

Fully established and implemented across all ministries
Partially established and implemented across all ministries
Mostly an informal approach with some policies and procedures in place
In need of major improvement

Getting started with Total Safety ManagementWhether your ministry is a provincialate, high school, retirement home, retreat center, or something else, a Total Safety Management program is vital to the success of your mission. The bigger and more complex the ministry, the more difficult it is to develop, but it’s not impossible. If you have multiple schools or convents, is there a consistent risk control approach throughout those ministries? It’s good to compare locations to find out what one is doing well that the other may not be.Ask yourself who is at risk of injury and examine your claims experience. Identify the potential risks. Are they slip, trip and fall, or lifting and exertion-related incidents? Are you seeing ergonomic injuries such as Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD) due to sitting in awkward positions, or more environmental/operational injuries due to accidents with ladders or other tools?What are your company safety efforts and what is being done to prevent employee accidents and injuries? Your first step might be to form a safety or risk management committee. This can help get the flow of information moving. Getting the right people on the committee can produce some great ideas.If you have a safety program in place, does it include written safety rules and responsibilities for employees, and are there designated safety responsibilities for supervisors in place with accountability measures? It is critical to have supervisors trained and know what they are responsible for in order for the program to be successful.Any Total Safety Management program should include safety inspections, which should include a self-inspection checklist. While inspections are not a substitute for training, they identify risk potential and issues that need to be managed.When accidents occur, having policies in place for accident investigation/injury management/return to work can help to eliminate confusion. Make sure there are designated individuals who investigate employee injuries. Let everyone know who follows up and determines if corrective action is needed. Employees need to know what their responsibilities are as to when to report injuries and to whom. Are supervisors doing an investigation right after an accident occurs or waiting until the next day? Your policies should be clear as to what they should do and when.Completing an annual safety audit/review is a great way to see what your organization did well and what needs improvement. Develop and customize an internal audit form using your Total Safety Management activities. Then review each item and evaluate your organizational efforts.

Let us helpIf you don’t have a good safety program, it’s hard to have a successful ministry. While developing a Total Safety Management program might seem like an overwhelming endeavor, Christian Brothers Risk Management Services is here to help you every step of the way.We have resources and toolkits available for you to download from our website that will help you get started and develop a plan that is right for your ministry. We can also help you develop a plan, or assist with inspections and identifying potential risks. Email us or call us at 800.807.0300.For a full presentation on the Total Safety Management program, view the on demand webinar.