June 14 is Safety Stand-Down Day. ISRI members will shut down operations for at least one hour to participate in safety education. Different companies will cover different safety topics, conduct a variety of trainings and possibly have walkthroughs of their facility to see what is safe and what might need improving. While Safety Stand-Down Day might look a little different all across the country, at its core is this principal: You’re never too busy to do something safely. Do it safely or not at all.
“Safety should be a company’s primary focus every day, but Safety Stand-Down Day is a chance to show the importance of safety on a personal level, for business success, and to initiate open dialogue on safety-specific actions,” said Dr. Ryan Nolte, ISRI’s director of safety outreach. “Every Safety Stand-Down Day, we ask companies to take one hour on each shift to celebrate their workforce and health and safety programs.”
The recycled materials industry has made great strides in reducing accidents in the workplace over the years, but even one accident is too many.
“Since the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act was passed in 1970 to ensure safe workplace conditions around the country, the rate of worker deaths and reported injuries in the U.S. has decreased by more than 60% over the past four decades, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,” said Tony Smith, ISRI’s vice president of safety.
On Safety Stand-Down Day, companies can recognize employees who make the workplace safer and address day-to-day operational hazards. Some of the ways ISRI members have celebrated Safety Stand-Down Day include:
- First aid and CPR training classes.
- Hazard recognition and awareness in the field.
- Mobile equipment blind spot education and training.
- Vehicle inspection education and training.
- Review of your company’s lock-out, tag-out, try-out program.
The ISRI Safety Stand-Down Day site houses a variety of resources for you to use including OSHA’s Safe + Sound campaign. The campaign focuses on three pillars that form a strong health and safety program: management leadership, worker participation, and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards. Please take a few minutes to review how the campaign can help your operations and your business’ health and safety strategy and programming. Feel free to add the following web links and materials to your resource library and files.
“When health and safety information and directives come from senior level leadership, they become more effective across an organization. ISRI encourages company leaders in the recycled materials industry to show their workforce that the health and safety of the worker is of the highest importance,” said Smith.
Let us know how you celebrate ISRI’s recycling industry Safety Stand-Down Day. Send us photos and tell us about what you and your teammates did. Whatever you choose to do we appreciate you working safely every day. For more information contact ISRI’s safety team at isrisafety@isri.org.
