Author Archives: Scott Gaddis

About Scott Gaddis

Scott Gaddis leads the integration of the Intelex EHSQ Alliance in thought leadership and building partnerships with top influencers in EHS, working with professionals across the globe to deliver a platform for sharing information and collectively driving solutions that mitigate workplace loss. Scott has more than 25 years in EHS leadership experience in heavy manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and packaging. Before joining Intelex, Scott served as Vice President, EHS for Coveris High Performance Packaging, Executive Director of EHS at Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Global Leader for Occupational Safety and Health at Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

Holiday Safety Tips for the Workplace

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A frontline worker and a fork lift at a warehouse during the holiday season

The holiday season, marked by joyous celebrations, brings a unique set of challenges for workplace safety. As weather conditions change and people socialize in smaller spaces, it’s essential to navigate potential hazards and prioritize the well-being of employees. From difficult road conditions to the impact of fatigue and distractions, employers and frontline workers alike must be proactive in maintaining their safety systems.

In this Q&A guide with Intelex VP of Health and Safety Scott Gaddis, we delve into specific safety considerations and insights during the holiday season. Reflecting back on years of experience, Gaddis notes that there was always a spike in injuries and illnesses going into the holidays as workers were eager to take time off and enjoy the festivities, leading to costly distractions.

Let’s explore key questions surrounding workplace safety and discover proactive measures to ensure a safe and joyful holiday season for all.

Julia Guerra Slater: Are

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Enhanced Compliance: OSHA’s 2024 Updates to 300 and 301 Forms for Accurate Safety Reporting

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Two EHS professionals considering health and safety data

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has amended the regulation 29 CFR part 1904 for occupational injury and illness record keeping. Under the amended regulation, organizations in certain industries with more than 100 employees must now electronically submit Form 300-Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses and Form 301-Injury and Illness Incident Reporting once a year. This rule becomes effective on January 1, 2024. 

Organizations will also be required to submit the company name when submitting Form 300 and Form 301 data. OSHA intends to publish some of the data on its public website, as it believes the information will promote informed decision making for employers, workers and customers relating to the organization’s safety record. OSHA believes this approach will provide incentive for organizations to increase their efforts to reduce injuries and illnesses. It is important to note that OSHA will not post information that could reasonably identify individuals … Read more...

Slips, Trips and Falls Prevention: Using the Hierarchy of Controls and Continuous Improvement

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Fall protection has been OSHA’s most frequently cited safety and health standard for 13 consecutive years. In 2023 alone there were 7,271 violations. These seemingly innocuous incidents can lead to serious injuries, impacting both the well-being of workers and the operational efficiency of organizations. To address this critical issue, organizations must adopt a proactive approach, leveraging strategies such as the Hierarchy of Controls and embracing continuous improvement methodologies.

In this three-part series dedicated to fall prevention strategies, Scott Gaddis—Vice President, Global Practice Leader, Safety and Health at Intelex Technologies, ULC—provides his expert insight into the risks associated with pedestrian safety in the workplace and what employers need to do to mitigate them. Part I looks at common types of slips, trips and falls and how they occur. Part II discusses how risk assessment can help prevent slips and trips in the first place. Part III below examines how the hierarchy … Read more...

How Risk Management Can Prevent Slips, Trips and Falls

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Graphic of a frontline worker putting away a cable that could trip someone in the workplace

Fall protection solutions are essential to keep workers safe and ensure productivity. In 2020, the National Safety Council reported 127,680 work-related injuries that required days away from work. These are preventable injuries that are emotionally and financially debilitating for workers, and result in a financial loss for organizations and the wider economy.

In Part I of this series, Scott Gaddis, looks at how falls on the same level happen in the workplace and the impact they can have on workers. In Part II here, Scott examines the role of risk assessments in helping to prevent slips, trips and falls. Part III examines how hierarchy of controls can contribute to continuous safety improvement in fall prevention.

Risk Assessment to Prevent Falls on the Same Level

The objective of risk assessment and analysis is to understand the level of risk associated with the hazards found in the work environment as well as … Read more...

Why Slips, Trips and Falls Continue to Cause Serious Workplace Incidents

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Graphic of a frontline worker slipping in a warehouse

Slips, trips and falls, or falls that happen on the same level, can be some of the most debilitating and expensive injuries workers will suffer and contribute to 700 worker fatalities each year. It is particularly hazardous in the construction industry, accounting for 378 of the 986 construction fatalities recorded in 2021. To address this concern, the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction is held each year to encourage employers to stand down from work and discuss workplace hazards relating to trips, falls or other job safety concerns.

In this three-part series dedicated to walking-working surfaces, Scott Gaddis—Vice President, Global Practice Leader, Safety and Health at Intelex Technologies, ULC—provides his expert insight into the risks associated with pedestrian safety in the workplace and what employers need to do to mitigate them. Part I below looks at common types of slips, trips and falls and how they occur. Part … Read more...

Compliance or Risk Auditing: What Is the Best Approach?

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Companies need audit management to understand the safety management system and evaluate compliance with internal requirements and external regulations.

Safety program audit management provides confidence to organizations that operational risks are measured through sufficient identification, control, monitoring and governance. Audits are conducted to better understand the safety management system and evaluate the level of compliance with internal requirements and external regulations. Such audits utilize audit protocols to understand problems to correct any deficiency before a loss or a compliance issue is experienced. 

Safety auditing is conducted usually for the following reasons:

  • Ensuring compliance to the requirements of internal, international, and industry standards & regulations, and customer requirements
  • To determine the effectiveness of the implemented system in meeting specified objectives (safety, quality, environmental, financial)
  • To explore opportunities for improvement
  • To meet statutory and regulatory requirements
  • To provide feedback to senior management

Compliance Versus Risk-Based Audting

There are two main channels of thought when … Read more...

Lucky #7: Tips to Develop a Laser-Focused Safety Vision for 2022

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A great safety process begins with a great safety vision.

When an organization believes in a vision, or in this case – a safety vision – it will elevate individual values to that of the shared vision. What it means to me as a safety professional is that I have a chance to capture an employee all day/every day, at work and at home. It fosters a partnership that extends past the employee-manager relationship and opens the door to new ideas and increases engagement while adding shareholder value.

It also allows me to challenge the organization when decisions are contemplated that threaten the success of the endorsed safety vision. Simply put, a great safety process begins with a great safety vision that is so real you can latch on to it and leverage it for success. It creates energy and a passion for making change happen. It inspires individuals and … Read more...

Key Principles and Technologies to Implementing a Robust Safety Program

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Creating a workplace that is striving to achieve and sustain safety performance success begins with one critical question: Is safety your organization’s principal value?

Achieving safety and health success is measured in various ways and with an ample set of metrics that quantify and qualify success. However, I would venture to guess that most organizations still look to a specific number of measures to define overall success: Metrics that measure loss, the time between failure, the duration of loss and the severity of the loss.

The reality is, most organizations still want to understand that loss and its severity are improving with time, and that’s okay. Yes, I said it: it’s okay.

Creating a workplace that is striving to achieve and sustain safety performance success begins with one critical question: Is safety a core value or better yet, is it the organization’s principal value? To define it in terms of … Read more...

The 5 Basic Principles of HOP (Human and Organizational Performance)

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Conversation is imperative for HOP and most critical to success. Active listening and learning (worker-to-worker and worker-to-management) is necessary to understand where failure and loss is possible.

Human and Organizational Performance systems, better known as HOP, have garnered much recent discussion and interest by many organizations, who see it as a better approach to improving safety performance. The premise of HOP is the idea that human error is inevitable so perhaps through better process systems management and analysis, organizations might lessen the effect of human error through the promotion of defenses that reduce risk.  

It is with this thinking that organizations can build management system robustness by understanding how workers perform their daily work tasks and then understanding what the gaps or errors are within the management system and close the gaps through what is commonly referred to as defenses. 

Conversation is imperative for HOP and most critical to success. Active listening and learning (worker-to-worker and worker-to-management) is necessary to understand where failure and loss is possible. It requires looking back at past events where loss was experienced, reviewing the present where errors are armed and ready to strike, and it’s an eye into the future to identify certain job tasks that promote the chance of loss.   

HOP is about experience and communication and seeks to understand the information gathered and insights … Read more...

The Labor of the Safety Professional

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Garment Factory fire killed 146 workers in New York City in 1911 and sparked protest marches across the country as workers demanded safer working conditions.

One of the joys of age is the ability to look back with more experience and, hopefully, more wisdom. I began my career as a safety and health professional in 1989. Worker safety and safe working conditions have been top of mind for me for more than 30 years.

It does not escape me that things have changed a lot in our profession these past three decades and, without a doubt, will rapidly change going forward. Yet, our work is still the same: As safety and health professionals, our core duty is to return people – our colleagues and the workers entrusted to our care – back to their families every day. We do more than that, but if we aren’t protecting … Read more...