Back in 2010, I posed the question… do the oxygen and acetylene cylinders that are being used to perform the Hot Work need to be 35′ away from the point of the Hot Work? For those who commented, it was clear they thought I was crazy. “It has never been enforced”, “I have been welding/cutting…...
If you have read any of my posts about safety management and what a safety management system should look like, you know I am all about “walking the talk” and how this simple failure of the senior leadership team is the most effective manner of destroying TRUST and CREDIBILITY within the safety movement. Workers, especially…...
On February 19, 2025, a court sentenced a construction company owner to 48 months’ incarceration and to pay more than $55 million in restitution. Also, he will forfeit real estate and cash/bank accounts. He pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and a willful violation of the Occupational Safety…...
I have uploaded both my 2023-2024 and the 2025 editions of the PowerPoint presentations “Culture of Safety”. These are the presentations I use at the C-Suite Level and when presenting at Company EHS Conferences. Feel free to revise to meet your needs. The presentations were developed using materials from OSHA, The UK’s HSE, and Scotland’s…...
The recent news of Boeing announcing its selection for the Chief Aerospace Safety Officer who has been an executive with over 36+ years with the company. He is not a safety professional nor did the announcement indicate any specialized training or experience in building a culture of safety or even rebuilding a Safety Management System…...
If we have NO records of training personnel on the Elements of our Safety Management System (SMS), but decades of records on Compliance Program(s) training, well then we do NOT HAVE A FUNCTIONING SMS. We may have an SMS on paper and it may be plastered all around the workplace, but if the workforce is…...
This video was produced as a companion product to IL OSHA’s report on the Deming Incident where a 20-year-old maintenance worker drowned in an underground vault during an attempt to repair a water main valve. IL OSHA encourages all municipal water departments that enter confined spaces to supplement their employer-specific training curriculum with this video…...
In February 2023, a 20-year-old maintenance worker drowned in a water main vault that flooded during the attempted repair of a leaking valve. IL OSHA determined multiple contributing factors led to the drowning, including: ➡️ Lack of compliance with several confined space standards. ➡️ Lack of oversight and auditing by management. ➡️ Lack of rescue…...
A fuel tanker was filling the station’s gas reserves when two vehicles began fueling at the pumps. According to security camera footage, not long after, one of the pumps suddenly bursts into flames as a result of built-up static electricity…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member?...
Fire Severely Burned an Employee and Resulted in $350 Million in Damages The CSB released its final investigation report into the November 19, 2023, fire at the renewable diesel facility in Martinez, CA. The incident seriously injured one employee, who suffered third-degree burns over most of his face and body and resulted in approximately $350 million in…...
We MUST never be too confident of our written SOPs/JSAs. There is a good reason why “Administrative Controls” are down on the Hierarchy of Controls. When we think our SOPs/Plans are infallible, our workers will show us a thing or two… And when we investigate adverse events and this leads us to “failure to follow…...
Many workplaces struggle with one of the most critical elements of any attempt to manage safety and health via a safety management system – Incident Investigations. From the struggles of getting personnel to REPORT incidents (including near misses) to management recognizing these reports are GIFTS handed to us! But what normally happens, is we get…...
