June 13, 2017
In recognition of OSHA’s Safe + Sound Week June 12-18, we’re sharing some of the practices in place at Texas Mutual that create our safety culture. To unite your workplace behind safety, we encourage you to participate in this weeklong event with resources from OSHA’s Safe + Sound Week that best fit your workplace, provided below.
OSHA recognizes the three essential pillars of any effective safety and health program as management leadership, worker participation, and a strategic approach to finding and fixing hazards.
Take the lead on safety At Texas Mutual, we know that a foundation in safety is best driven by management. We are in the business of keeping workers safe and that goes for own employees as well. One example of leadership working to create safety of culture is our recently introduced phone-free driving policy. Texas Mutual CEO Rich Gergasko unveiled the new policy by sharing his commitment to go phone-free any time he is behind the wheel, and asking employees to do the same
To demonstrate management leadership this week, visit OSHA Safe + Sound Week for resources on:
- Delivering a safety and health message
- Establishing a visible presence to promote safety and health
- Formalizing and publicizing your commitment to safety and health
- Taking a commitment to safety and health beyond your organization
Empower your employees At Texas Mutual, we energize our employees on their first day on the job by sharing our vision of safety in the workplace. Employees can volunteer to be a part of our Verified First Responder (VFR) team. This team steps up in a time of emergency such as a tornado warning to help with directing employees to a safe location or if an employee needs emergency medical attention by coordinating with paramedics.
OSHA Safe + Sound Week has resources to engage your employees on safety and health through:
- Listening and asking for feedback
- Empowering workers with safety and health information
- Recognizing workers for contributions to safety
- Partnering for safety and health planning
Find where you can improve Outside of Texas Mutual’s VFR team which conducts a monthly facility walk through, we also emphasize the motto “See something, say something” for all employees to report hazards when they see them so they can be promptly addressed. We also conduct annual ergonomic surveys and employees can easily report concerns online, to their supervisor, or by calling facilities or safety personnel.
Try one of OSHA’s approaches below on finding and fixing hazards:
- Spotlight hazards and controls
- Create challenges, contests and competitions
- Evaluate safety and health processes and systems
- Conduct analyses to identify hazards
With the resources above, you have the tools to create an event in your workplace to show your commitment to safety. If you’re ready to make it happen, be sure to promote your event and get your certificate of recognition for participating in OSHA Safe + Sound Week.