Safway Announces Partnership in National Campaign to Prevent Falls
Waukesha, WA (PRWEB) May 07, 2014 -- Safway Group is partnering with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) on a national initiative to prevent falls, the leading cause of work-related injuries and deaths. “We are obsessed with protecting our workers and improving safety performance not just at Safway, but across our entire industry,” said Bill Hayes, Safway Group president and CEO. “Partnering with NIOSH, OHSA and CPWR offers us one more way we can continue to evolve as the access and industrial services thought leader in safety.”
“Developing a strong culture of safety – not just at the company-wide level but in the sub-cultures that exist at our many individual job sites – is the single most important factor in reducing accidents and injuries,” said Paul Amedee, Safway Group’s vice president of Safety. “When safety is infused throughout an organization’s culture on every level, everyone from employees to customers and shareholders wins.”
As a partner in the campaign, Safway has outlined a comprehensive plan with activities aimed at both an internal audience, including all Safway employees, and an external audience, which will include industry associations, organizations, and contractors. To kick-off the campaign, Safway will be participating in the nationwide “stand down” scheduled for Monday, June 2, 2014. “At each of our jobsites, we will be taking time out of the work day to introduce the “Stop Falls” campaign and talk about safety during the stand down,” explained Amedee.
According to OSHA, the leading cause of worker deaths on construction sites was falls, and the top three most frequently cited standards in fiscal year 2013 (October 2012 – September 2013) were:
1. Fall protection, construction;
2. Hazard communication standard, general industry; and
3. Scaffolding, general requirements, construction.
“Falls are the leading cause of death in construction,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, “so it is vitally important for employers to provide the right equipment and properly train their workers. Falls can be prevented and lives can be saved by planning ahead to get the job done safely, providing the right equipment and training workers to use the equipment safely.”
“Safety is our core value,” said Hayes. “Our goal is to be known as not only the safest company but to help improve safety levels across the entire industry, and we have the resources and know-how to make it happen. We are the only company in the industry with our own training university. We have trained more than 40,000 of our own employees and over 40,000 of our clients. We provide experienced, professionally trained on-site safety professionals who deliver expertise in field management, including OSHA, Cal/OSHA and occupational health and safety compliance, and assist in safety promotion and accident prevention on the job.”
In addition, Safway Group and Honeywell Safety Products (Hayes’s former company) introduced the Miller TurboLite Personal Fall Limiter™ in 2013. Designed by Honeywell, at the request of Safway Group – specifically for workers in the scaffold, access and industrial service fields – the Miller TurboLite Personal Fall Limiter (PFL) is the lightest model on the market to help minimize worker fatigue.
“We turned to Honeywell/Miller to help us develop and engineer fall protection equipment designed specifically for our industry,” said Hayes. “This is part of our 100 percent fall protection policy requiring all of our employees who are working at heights to wear protective gear. We want to provide our employees with the best possible fall protection equipment. The Miller TurboLite PFL, combined with the Miller Aircore™ harness and other Honeywell fall protection products, gives our workers more flexibility, while keeping them secure and properly tied off.”
Over the past year, Safway has reduced its recordable injury rate among employees by more than 50 percent, and by more than 70 percent in U.S. refinery/petroleum and power markets.
About Safway Group
With locations across North America and a growing system of distributors worldwide, Safway Group companies deliver efficient, high-performance multiservice solutions – The Smart Way™ – by collaborating, communicating and sharing resources. Offering experience and expertise in access, scaffolding, insulation, fireproofing, surface preparation and coatings, Safway Group companies include CL Coatings, Industrial Coatings and Fireproofing (ICF), Redi Insulation, Swing Staging, Safway Atlantic, Safway Services; Safway Services Canada and Swing Staging. With the largest engineering staff, an exclusive project management system, award-winning safety excellence and a full line of products and services, Safway Group companies design and implement innovative, quality solutions at the lowest installed cost for projects of any size and scope. Safway has been an industry leader since 1936. Safway Group companies serve the petrochemical, oil and gas, power, refining, marine, manufacturing, transportation and commercial construction industries worldwide. For more information, visit: http://www.safwaygroup.com.
PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
Branwyn Rhodes, Safway Group, https://www.safway.com/, +1 414-550-1337, [email protected]
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