SOFE-AFE resources - Worldwide IT certification Updated: 2024

Safety training and education is a key component of high-quality safety programs and efforts to reduce collisions, injuries, and claims. Expanding and improving your safety training and education in 2024 to engage workers will likely result in fewer incidents.
By David Biderman

Leaders in the solid waste and recycling industry frequently say that “nothing we do is more important than safety.” But when push comes to shove, companies and sanitation departments often do not provide sufficient or adequate education and training that provides employees with the tools to prevent collisions, injuries, and claims.

Solid waste and recycling employers frequently must make difficult decisions about how to deploy resources. With a new year starting, let me suggest that providing more and better safety education and training is not only a great investment with immediate ROI (return on investment), but it is also the right thing to do. Solid waste collection employees have had one of the highest workplace fatality rates in the U.S. for more than a decade. There are tens of thousands of collisions and injuries annually. Each collision, injury, and claim is an expense, many of which are preventable. These events are not good for the industry’s reputation and make it more difficult to recruit and retain employees.

Developing a Strong Safety Program
Safety education and training in the solid waste industry currently ranges from “here’s the vest, don’t get hurt” to weeks of initial classroom training and ride-a-longs. In my new role as a consultant, I see that many companies and local governments want to Improve their safety education and training, but lack the internal resources or expertise to do so. Some provide non-waste-related educational materials to their workers, and then wonder why their drivers and helpers are not engaged in their safety program or their claims are increasing.

A strong safety education and training program in the solid waste industry should include the following components:

1. Initial Training—A new employee should receive training on all of the safety hazards associated with the tasks they will be performing. This training should have both classroom and field components, and, ideally, include periodic reviews or tests to make sure that the new employee understands the training.
2. Refresher Training—On at least an annual basis, every frontline solid waste employee should receive some sort of training on the key safety hazards associated with their jobs. For example, a helper should be reminded about how to lift properly, the importance of wearing high-visibility clothing, and not using their cell phone while on the job.
3. Safety Meetings—Solid waste employers should hold periodic safety meetings, ideally on a monthly basis, to review leading safety hazards, recent incidents, and to remind employees about the importance of working safely every day. These meetings also provide valuable opportunities to listen and respond to workers about their safety concerns.
4. Communications—Companies and sanitation departments should be communicating frequently and consistently about the importance of workplace safety, not just at the monthly safety meeting. These communications play a critical role reminding frontline workers about safety issues and hazards. Remember, not every worker attends each monthly safety meeting.

Documenting all these program components is important from both a human resources and OSHA compliance perspective.

Internalize Safety Messaging
Over the past few months, I have spoken at dozens of safety meetings at solid waste companies and sanitation departments. When I participate in these meetings, I focus on three items: (1) informing the attendees they work in the 7th most dangerous job in the U.S.; (2) reminding them of the key safety rules, including staying off their cell phone, wearing a safety belt, and complying with applicable safety rules such as speed limits; and (3) their health and safety is important to their spouses, children, and families.

Although most frontline solid waste collection employees are aware that their job can be dangerous, they are typically amazed that it is on a federal top 10 list. And though they usually know most of the safety rules, very few know the ANSI Z245.1 guideline on when a helper should not be on the riding step. Also, they freely admit not everyone wears a safety belt or stays off their cell phone all the time.

Reminding workers that they need to be safe for their families is a great way to help employees better internalize safety messaging and reduce unsafe behaviors. Pictures and videos are often more powerful than words, and showing photographs of an overturned garbage truck or a truck rear-ending another vehicle is a great way to keep workers paying attention during a safety meeting.

At the End of the Day
Every day in the solid waste industry brings new challenges. A truck breaks down. Heavy rain delays the route. A fire occurs at a recycling facility. The focus on daily operations can distract companies and municipal solid waste agencies from developing robust safety education and training programs that help protect employees from injuries and the communities they serve from harm. It should not. Nothing we do is as important as having a happy and healthy productive employee go home to their family at the end of each day. | WA

David Biderman is the President of Biderman Consulting, LLC in Fairfax, VA, and the former Executive Director of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). He can be reached at
[email protected].

Mental health and safety are being increasingly recognized as vital focus points for leaders in the construction industry. Firstly, there’s a clear duty of care involved if employees and members of your staff experience psychological and emotional pressures on the job. Mental unwellness can also seriously disrupt projects.

This is why it’s so important to help your workers to build mental resilience. By giving your staff the tools to thrive, you’re likely to see a boost in worker satisfaction and retention. Not to mention that it helps build the kind of culture of safety that positively impacts your business’ success.

Let’s look at how to approach this practically. What strategies should you use to enhance mental health and safety?

Maintain and Communicate Safety Protocols

In this case, adopting a solid set of construction health and safety protocols provides a secure environment and shows you’re prioritizing wellness. A couple of the key elements of these protocols include:

Responsible parties: Your health and safety protocols should outline that everyone has a role to play in maintaining wellness. However, it should also highlight specific members of staff who are responsible for different aspects of health and safety, including mental health. This gives workers clarity on who to contact in the event of concerns and issues.

Training processes: Solid staff training is key to safe functioning on a construction site. Your protocols must outline the types of education required for each role, how this is delivered, and how frequently they should occur. It’s also wise to include training on maintaining health matters, including coping mechanisms for mental wellness.

From here you need to communicate your protocols to your workers. Produce clear documentation, perhaps hosted on the cloud so your staff has access to it wherever they are. Work with leadership to ensure discussions about these protocols are part of everyday working practices. This sets a great forum for conversations about mental health to take place.

Adopt Burnout Prevention Measures

When staff are subject to relentless workplace stress and excessive demands, they’re likely to experience emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. This could result in both acute symptoms and the more serious long-term effects of burnout. Alongside mood swings and loss of motivation, workers might wind up living with gastrointestinal distress and high blood pressure, among other conditions.

This is not just problematic because it affects workers’ quality of life and workplace engagement. In construction, their experiences of burnout-related fatigue could put themselves and colleagues at risk of injury.

So, how can you boost resilience in the face of burnout in construction? Some of the actions you take could include:

Promote work-life balance: Spending too much of their life at work, particularly with overtime under crunch conditions, can contribute to staff members’ burnout. Make it a point of policy to promote a healthy work-life balance. Aim to assert hard boundaries on maximum working hours. Perhaps offer flexible scheduling options if it’s practical.

Maintain open communication: It’s vital to make certain that your staff feel comfortable about raising concerns about working conditions that contribute to burnout. Make it clear that there are no consequences to staff who want to express that they feel performance expectations are too high. Use this as an opportunity to find solutions together.

Wherever possible, make avoiding burnout a mutual responsibility. When staff recognize the signs of burnout, this enables them to be more vigilant of these in themselves and their colleagues.

Provide a Range of Mental Health Resources

Peer allies: Colleagues can be invaluable sources of mental health support. They understand the nuanced pressures of the construction industry and how this affects mental and emotional wellness. Initiating a formal peery ally program can bolster this by highlighting dedicated colleagues for conversations and support. You’ll need to provide these workers training on how to provide psychological support and direct colleagues to other resources.

It’s also essential to be open to your staff’s suggestions here. They’ll have insights into the types of challenges they face on a daily basis and what resources are likely to be useful to them. Create channels for suggestions and be transparent about assessing and implementing these.

Conclusion

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Almost $4 million in state grants are going to 16 community and non-profit organizations to expand Minnesota’s workforce.

The money is from two funding programs, Southeast Asian Economic Disparities Relief and Getting to Work grants. 

The Southeast Asian Economic Disparities Relief fund program awarded $475,000 in competitive grants to help four nonprofit organizations increase training capacity within the communities they serve.  The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) says the grants will fund training programs that provide workforce recruitment and development, job creation, and community outreach.

Receiving a $475,000 grant for specific workforce development training programs are: 

-          Workforce Development Inc. in Rochester will provide training and support in the following job and functions: forklift operation, welding, manufacturing, food and beverage service safety, and Certified Nursing Assistants.

-          CAPI USA in Minneapolis will provide training for the following jobs and job functions: nursing assistants, property maintenance (boiler operator and pool operator licensing), and Information Technology support training.

-          Karen Organization of Minnesota in Roseville will partner with Adult Basic Education and local employers to provide incumbent workers with tailored literacy development, resulting in promotion and wage increases.

-          Hmong American Partnership in St. Paul will provide health care-related training in medical terminology, medical office procedures, CPR/first aid and basic life support, and Information Technology-related training.

“DEED’s grant enables the Hmong American Partnership to empower low-income Southeast Asians in the seven-county metro area with skills and opportunities for economic advancement that can transform their lives,” says Hmong American Partnership President and CEO May yer Thao.  “We are honored to steward these funds in developing our clients’ talents and helping employers access this valuable, skilled workforce. Together, we are creating professional opportunities that strengthen both Southeast Asian communities and our overall economy.”

Getting to Work grants are awarded to organizations to establish and operate programs that provide, repair or maintain motor vehicles to assist economically disadvantaged individuals ages 22 and older in obtaining or maintaining employment.  Grant recipients must also offer workshops or counseling services covering courses such as financial literacy, credit counseling, budgeting for vehicle ownership, vehicle maintenance, and repair training.

Grant recipients are:

“The Getting to Work program covers a significant gap by providing vehicle repair support for those with financial needs, and the results are quickly felt by the Minnesotans we serve,” says Theresa Flinck, Tri-County Action program director of family resources.  “The program helps people who have jobs to maintain their employment without lengthy disruptions when they need vehicle repairs, makes the search process more effective for job seekers who need reliable transportation for interviews, and helps many households remain connected with their communities through family activities that would otherwise be on hold due to vehicle repair needs.”