It’s the season for property maintenance.  Workers behind mowers or with a string trimmer in hand are common sights across the nation.    Training for staff assigned these jobs is usually weighted toward equipment operation and safety.  However, knowing “what” you are “mowing” can be just as important. 

Workplace Safety and Injury Prevention can be like trying to build a puzzle without the picture on the box.  All the pieces connect together, but in order for it to be a seamless picture, they have to connect in a particular way and order.  As a safety professional, you may have all the pieces but not the big picture on the box, or you have the picture but can make the pieces fit together.

Joining Peter on the podcast to help paint a picture of the workplace injury prevention puzzle is Terry Dussault corporate Environmental Health and Safety professional and founder of Yellowknife Consulting Services in Southern California. 

On this, our 100th episode of the MEMIC Safety Experts Podcast, I spend an hour with MEMIC President & CEO, Mike Bourque, as we talk about what has changed during our 30 years in business, how MEMIC continues to innovate around workplace safety, and why a carrier's role in workplace safety should be as a partner with the employer and the agent. Check it out on memic.com/podcast.

Injury management is a key part of the workplace safety equation and getting the injured employee the appropriate level of care quickly and seamlessly is at the heart of the process.

On today’s episode of the MEMIC Safety Experts Lara Heal, Senior Director of Managed Care at MEMIC and Jared Payton, Direct of Claim Services at MEMIC join me to discuss MEMIC’s workplace injury tirage tool, First Call, how it works and why your business should enroll.

Continuous process improvement for your safety program can challenging.  However, with the right perspective, it can be integrated effectively and create an environment where quality and productivity thrive over the long term.

To help provide that perspective is Sean Fields licensed professional engineer and certified Six Sigma Blackbelt with Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance.

References mentioned during episode:

• https://quantumlean.wordpress.com/
• https://www.okalliance.com/
• https://www.beehivefund.org/

For some, a workplace inspection can be associated with a visit from OSHA or another certifying agency. Others may find them tedious and disconnected from expectations. However, workplace inspections can be a useful tool to connect what a business expects to the reality of the work being done.

On today’s episode of the MEMIC Safety Experts Podcast, Rod Stanley, Director of Region 1 for Loss Control at MEMIC and I dig into the process and workflow of inspections and how they are an effective part of managing safety, quality, and productivity.

Did you know that the average OSHA Voluntary Protection Program worksite has a lost workday incidence rate at least 50 percent below the average of its industry? Curious about what it’s like to go through the VPP process?

On today’s episode of the MEMIC Safety Experts Podcast, Bob Thompson, former employee of a chemical manufacturer shares his experience of working on the volunteer team that brought the chemical plant into VPP compliance.

Ever wonder what a Safety person does all day?  Could be Training, or Safety by Walking Around, or completing a Deliberate Risk Assessment Worksheet, or even Relationship building.

On today’s episode of the MEMIC Safety Experts Podcast Tobi Bledsoe, talks how his experience in the Navy prepared him to be the Safety Office for the US Army’s Pacific 10th Support Group.

Not all workplace violence happens with a weapon.  Sometimes it can be verbal or even psychological abuse from a customer or a fellow employee.  Regardless of the tool, violence at the workplace is on the rise.

On today’s episode of the MEMIC Safety Experts Podcast Corey Jones, Owner of Safetyman Consulting and former shift commander of the SWAT team in Mount Laurel New Jersey joins me to discuss the problem of workplace violence and what you can do to prepare for and prevent it.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that in 2020 there were nearly a quarter million work related musculoskeletal injuries that resulted in days away from work with the average number of days away being 14 (1) .  Statistics also show that warming up properly can also increase performance and reduce the potential for injuries during physical activity. (2)

On today’s episode of the MEMIC Safety Experts Podcast Clayton Cartwright, Physical Therapist and Safety Management Consultant with MEMIC and I stretch the classic definition of a workplace stretching program and explore the benefits of one that is well executed.

1. https://www.bls.gov/iif/nonfatal-injuries-and-illnesses-tables.htm#dafw
2. https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-10-75