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Safety Management: Tight Budget? Don't Slack Off on Safety; Tips for Success Published in the June 2009 issue of the Cal/OSHA Compliance Advisor Hiring freezes and layoffs. Reduced bonuses and work hours. Mandates to cut budgets by a certain percentage across the board, by whatever means necessary. In times when getting the corporation through the immediate future becomes the paramount goal, how can a safety program—whose benefits may not be fully realized for months or even years—continue to work effectively? Fortunately, there are ways to identify and improve workplace safety that don't involve large outlays of cash. It's time to dust off some of these ideas from the safety manager's toolbox and make sure you're using them to full effect. Constraint: "I can't hire a consultant right now." Solutions: Make use of free expertise. This may come from: Workers. The people most familiar with what they do, and how it affects them, are your workers themselves. Get out in the workplace and ask them which issues are affecting them right now. This is, after all, one strategy that a good consultant would use to identify potential workplace problems. For example, workers' aches and pains may help you identify an ergonomic issue. Production complaints may indicate that maintenance is suffering, which is also a potential safety problem. Colleagues. Network with fellow professionals to find out what they're up to. Even if you can't make it to a major conference this year, you may be able to meet up with other safety managers at local meetings. Government agencies. If you need advice or assistance in solving a safety problem, check out the safety and workers' compensation agencies in California and in other states with their own agencies, such as Texas and Washington, as well as federal OSHA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and even international agencies. Many have extensive resources freely available online. Constraint: "I can't buy new equipment." Solutions: Purchases of new equipment or large-scale renovations may have to be delayed during hard economic times. To cope with situations where newer, safer equipment isn't in the company's budget, try: Protecting workers with administrative controls. If you're trying to control a hazardous exposure—such as exposure to noise in a workplace where buying quieter equipment will have to wait, or exposure to dusts in a workplace where more powerful ventilation isn't in the cards right now—you may be able to rotate jobs to keep workers' exposures within regulatory limits. Upgrading instead of replacing. While new machinery may come with effective guards built right in, or new diesel rigs may come with emissions controls already installed, you may be able to achieve the same results for less with a retrofit or upgrade. Looking into grants and loans. There are state, federal, and private programs that provide grant money and loans for economic development, especially for small businesses. It may require recasting the problem, but you may find money that you can use to get the job done. For example, although your bucket truck simply isn't safe to use anymore, you may need to cast its replacement in business rather than safety terms. California maintains a page of links to grant and loan programs for business. Constraint: "Training just isn't in the budget." Solutions: Some training that isn't a regulatory requirement may fall by the wayside in a bad economy, both because there are no funds to pay outside trainers and because it's difficult to justify sparing a pared-down workforce from production tasks for training. Provide workers with important safety information creatively, by: Training "live." If you observe a safety problem that could be addressed by training, take care of it on the spot. For example, if you see workers lifting improperly, call an impromptu training session and quickly go over proper body mechanics. It's no more interruption of their day than gossiping over the latest episode of "Survivor." Assigning mentors. Informal training by experienced workers is an important learning experience. Make sure that new workers know who they can ask for information, and that experienced workers know that it's acceptable—expected, even—for them to look out for their peers. Doing "double duty." Incorporate training into the part of the day where a task would naturally fall. For example, while workers are putting away their safety gear and changing, do a quick review of how to properly store and care for personal protective equipment, or why it's important not to track contaminants home from work. Quick reminders in an appropriate setting may "stick" better and do more good than long sessions in a classroom.