Security products manufacturer and marketer Emedco recently celebrated one year without any Occupational Safety and Health Administration-recordable incidents, an achievement the company is attributing to its employee health and safety program.
Emedco – which employs about 150 people and is located in Buffalo, New York – was previously one of the worst performing facilities owned by global manufacturer Brady Corporation. Its safety committee implemented the changes by analyzing past injury records and consulting maintenance staff.
Pascal Deman, vice president and general manager of direct marketing for Emedco, tasked the committee with improving the company's record. Not only did he want the company off the list of worst performing facilities, he also challenged committee members to make it the safest plant in the entire corporation.
"This has been a tremendous effort over the last few years of all the employees in the Buffalo facility," said Deman. "There is zero compromise on safety in our workplace."
Henry Jacobi, director of operations at the company, called the improvements "exemplary."
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the company's improving performance was echoed on a national scale.
In 2009 – the last year for which statistics are available – 35,300 reportable workplace-related injuries occurred an incident rate of 3.9 percent. This was a decrease from 46,500, with an incident rate of 4.9 percent that was reported the previous year. The most common forms of occupational injuries were sprains, strains and tears.
The Utah Labor Commission will do its part to decrease workplace injuries by distributing $300,000 in grant money to companies that wish to improve their workplace safety. The grant money may be used to develop protective training, implement safety programs or improve existing measures, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
“This is a great opportunity for an employer or other entity to augment its safety program budget and provide additional means to reduce workplace accidents for its employees,” Utah Labor Commissioner Sherrie Hayashi told the news source.
Applications must be submitted to the commission by April 25, and businesses, community-based organizations, nonprofits and educational institutions are eligible to participate. The grant money will be provided by the state's Workplace Safety Account.
