June 24, 2024 National Safety Month: Taking Safety Seriously

Today’s employees expect places of work to put their interests first, and there is no greater interest than safety.

June marks National Safety Month, an annual reminder to take workplace safety as seriously as possible. In the manufacturing sector, the threat of preventable injury and even death is all too real, so the stakes are high.

How high exactly? In any given year, there are thousands of preventable work deaths in America, not including the hundreds of homicides and suicides that occur annually but are not measured in the preventable injury estimates. And work-related, medically consulted injuries run in the millions.

The workplace can be a dangerous place, making it all the more important for manufacturers to stick to best practices that protect workers from undue harm. Today’s employees expect places of work to put their interests first, and there is no greater interest than safety. Everyone should feel safe on the job—no exceptions, no matter the job.

I have worked in manufacturing for two decades, specializing in a high-volume, high-product mix. Most recently, I have led the Pittsfield operations for Puritan Medical Products, a Maine-based, family-owned business that has emerged as one of North America’s largest swab manufacturers. Over time, Puritan has come to identify and value the best practices that put worker safety first and the leadership team—of which I am a part—takes personally the well-being of our fellow co-workers on an individual, human level.

Puritan has proven to be an industry leader on the workplace safety front. Between 2022 and 2023, Puritan managed to cut slip-and-fall incidents in half (with only five recorded this year), while also reducing repetitive motion incidences by roughly 33 percent during that time (only one in 2024). This year is now expected to be the company’s safest year to date.

We are proud of that, although there is always more work to be done. We can never lose sight of the best practices, despite recent progress. And the same goes for all manufacturers.

So, what are the best practices? It is a mix, but certain protocols stand out. First and foremost, communication is vital. It is integral to collaboration—employers and employees integrating safety into a healthy culture. In the healthiest workplace cultures, employers and employees identify safety as a critical value, with supervisors and their workers developing trust.

Communication takes many forms, but weekly supervisor safety discussions are key. So are monthly employee safety meetings and annual training sessions. At Puritan, we allocate four to eight hours per employee every year, including presentations that tell right from wrong.

When there are questions about safety, supervisors need to feel comfortable answering them, so that workers find comfort in the responses. Again, trust is vital.

But workplace safety is not just a weekly, monthly, or yearly priority. It is a daily priority, and that’s why it is important for employers to establish protocols that are clear and compelling on a regular basis. Daily instructional videos have helped our employees learn more about proper lifting techniques, so moving heavier weights does not have to result in unnecessary strain on the body. Manufacturers can also organize stretching exercises, which we offer four times a day for injury prevention purposes.

Policies need to be evaluated and re-evaluated on a regular basis too. For example, today’s workplace presents unique challenges when it comes to technology. Smartphone usage is at an all-time high and phones can distract workers from their tasks, increasing the risk of harm. On our production floors and in our warehouses, unless there is a necessary and documented exception, cellphones are strictly banned. The reason for this is clear: A distracted worker is a less safe one, especially on a production line or when heavy objects are involved.

Unfortunately, even when best practices are adopted, accidents do happen. Emergencies cannot be avoided entirely, although risks can be mitigated. You just never know for sure, so you prepare for the worst. In our case, we have emergency response teams (ERTs) stationed at every plant, ready to mobilize in case of injury or worse. There is no excuse for an ERT to have the day off—not when injuries are possible, albeit unlikely.

Let’s say there is a worst-case scenario: An injury happens. Not only must manufacturers respond efficiently and effectively, but they need to also make data collection a top priority. Real-time incident reporting and monthly tracking cannot fall by the wayside. After all, employers can’t be left guessing about their workplace safety metrics. The laggards need to know how far they’re falling behind, while the leaders should know what happens to be working. Only through an official monitoring process can manufacturing firms and other employers figure out what to keep, what to change, and how far to go with their changes for the sake of workplace safety.

Now is the time to take workplace safety as seriously as possible—because it is serious. This National Safety Month and every month, let’s make it a non-negotiable.

Troy Lord is a site director at Puritan Medical Products, based in Guilford, Maine.

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