Category Archives: EHSQ Community

Project Management Checklist: Your Steps to Success

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Project Management Checklist

As famously stated by author Joy Gumz: “Operations keeps the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.”

While that seems pretty logical and relatively simple, not everything is as simple as it looks. To highlight this, studies show that only 58% of business leaders claim to fully understand the value and applicability of project management. Translation: that leaves room for opportunity.


The Added Layer of Complexity in Safety Projects


From an end-goal perspective, most objectives of safety projects are similar to those in other aspects of business: delivering it on time, staying on budget and managing customer expectations, whether internal or external.

However, what makes safety projects that much more challenging is ensuring that worker safety will always be priority number one. Frankly speaking, that is no easy feat.


Must-Do’s for Safety Managers
… Read more...

Directly from the Source: How to Best Transform EHS Today’s Return to Work Survey Results into Action Plans

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There’s something to be said about hearing something directly from the source. No presumptions, no exaggeration—just pure, unadulterated facts. It’s for that very reason that surveys and focus groups play such a critical role in business in general and in EHS in particular. While this applies to most initiatives, this is especially true for return to work (RTW) programs, as they were developed quickly in response to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19.

For these programs, capturing employee feedback, particularly in the early stages post implementation, is critical. This is not only to improve processes where areas of improvement have been identified but also to course-correct where action plans are not working. Essentially, creating closed-loop processes will differentiate evolving RTW ones from their static counterparts.

To explore this further, we will look at the latest survey-focused report published by EHS today, Safety Professionals Prepare for the Post-Pandemic Workplace.


EHS Today’s Safety
… Read more...

Introducing Expert Connect: Our Monthly New Knowledge Exchange Forum

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As the saying goes: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

That’s precisely the idea behind Expert Connect, our virtual event series designed to provide attendees with an exciting experience based on the exchange of ideas, experiences and industry knowledge. This is a true testament to our continued focus on trying to provide our customers, prospects and community with a breadth of experiences.

“There’s something refreshingly different, yet impactful, about learning through free-flowing dialog,” says Scott Gaddis, Vice President and Global Practice Leader, Safety and Health at Intelex. “It lends itself to heightened collaboration and ideation, which is ultimately our end-goal.”


Learning through Dialog: Expert Connect in a Nutshell


Now that we’ve provided context, let’s take a look the key details.

Each session will:

  • Be facilitated by a moderator from Intelex, an industry expert and a panel of specialists.
  • Consist of
… Read more...

Learning through Proven Methods: Driving Business Resiliency by Applying Best Practices in Lean

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Despite juggling competing priorities, building resilient systems and processes within their organizations continues to be top of mind for business leaders today and is anticipated to be so for the foreseeable future. As such, the first logical step is to turn to existing methods and approaches that have been proven to be effective—of these, lean is a strong contender.


Starting from the Beginning: The Definition of Lean


Defined as “a way of providing maximum customer value while minimizing effort, equipment, time, and waste in the production system,” lean is based on five principles:

  1. Value is defined according to the customer’s perception of it.
  2. Organizations must map the entire value stream and eliminate anything that doesn’t contribute to customer value.
  3. Products and services must flow smoothly to the customer with no interruptions.
  4. Customer requirements pull value upstream along the process.
  5. Perfection with no waste is the goal of the production system.
… Read more...

Safe + Sound Week: Redefining Health – Achieving Completion by Incorporating Mental Health

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In the words of acclaimed poet Robert Frost: “the best way out is always through.”

While that saying can be applied to many different things, I found it especially relevant to that of the perception of mental health. It is an area which not only has been underestimated or downplayed for years, but also has been deemed unsolvable. In recent years, it’s become more than evident that neither of these schools of thought are accurate.

Full disclosure: I’m not a professional in the mental health field. I am, however, a professional in the ESHQ software space and the H in EHSQ represents health. Recently, EHS practitioners are learning “health” now includes mental health.

More importantly though, this topic hits home for me. In my close network of family and friends, two people have been afflicted with mental health-related issues. As such, I’ve seen firsthand how it not only impacts them … Read more...

Putting Work-Related Falls Behind Us: The Application of Key Fall Prevention Practices and Guidelines

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We’ve all seen videos and cartoons that feature silly slips and falls: Lucy pulling the football away as Charlie Brown aimed a kick; someone slipping on a banana peel; people slipping and sliding on icy surfaces; someone falling off a ladder, arms flailing wildly as they try to catch themselves. The truth is, falls are no laughing matter.

Workplace-related falls are the third leading cause of workplace death in the United States. Equally as alarming is the fact that they made up 22 percent of total unintentional deaths in 2018. There are similar trends north of the border, with over 40,000 Canadians experiencing similar injuries.


Keeping Things in Check: OSHA-Mandated Regulations


From a regulatory perspective, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published regulations to address these issues. Organizations are required to provide fall protection “at elevations of four feet in general industry workplaces, five feet in shipyards, six … Read more...

Making Worker and Pedestrian Safety a High Priority: Guidelines to Use When Developing a Robust Walking-Working Surfaces Program

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As the saying goes: “Safety isn’t expensive, it’s priceless.”

Falls on level – slips, trips and falls – can be some of the most debilitating and expensive injuries workers can suffer and contribute to a surprising number of worker deaths each year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that “on average, slips, trips and falls cause nearly 700 fatalities per year.” As such, it’s become increasingly clear that this requires attention as well as improved practices and programs.

OSHA’s Standards and Recommended Practices


Designed to protect workers from injuries caused by problematic walking-working surfaces, OSHA updated its existing standards in 2017 and now include training and stricter risk mitigation practices and procedures (e.g. more inspections). Organizations ultimately are responsible for ensuring that they develop walking-working surfaces programs.

Effective Walking-Working Surface Programs: Insights and Tactical Recommendations by Industry Experts


With over 25 years of experience under his belt, Scott Gaddis, … Read more...

Your Business Continuity Toolkit: A One-Stop Destination to Drive Business Agility

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As the age-old adage goes, “a goal without a plan is only a wish.” Interestingly, that saying is just as relevant and powerful today as it has been in the past.

As businesses continue to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders are faced with developing long-term strategies, all while addressing immediate needs and challenges. This is where the business continuity model and framework come in.

For this very reason, it’s become even more critical to provide decision-makers with key industry-specific, actionable recommendations through processes and toolkits – to save them time and give them the bandwidth needed to tackle pressing issues that require their attention.

The Definition of Business Continuity


As defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO), business continuity management is “a management process that identifies potential threats and provides a framework for building resilience and capability for an effective response which safeguards the interests of … Read more...

Strengthen Your Organization’s Workplace Safety Program by Incorporating Electrical-Focused Checklists

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Protecting workers, particularly around hazardous energy, is an important aspect of workplace safety. Electrical and lockout/tagout hazards can be deadly or cause serious, disabling injuries, so it is important to train workers and follow standards and company guidelines about working around electricity and energized equipment.

Intelex Technologies and Predictive Solutions have developed ‘Don’t Be Shocked: An Electrical Safety Checklist‘ to provide insight into managing electrical hazards. As reported by The Electrical Safety Foundation International, there were 160 worker fatalities related to electricity in 2018. During that same period, there were 310 recordable electrical injuries in the construction industry alone. These numbers only reinforce the need to refine, expand and enforce safety-related guidelines in the workforce, and the free checklist can help you do that.

The Backbone of Most Workplace Safety Programs: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Key Standards and Controls


To ensure that they are compliant to … Read more...

Ready2Return Conference: An In-Depth View of the Respond-Themed Sessions

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Now that our Ready2Return conference has wrapped up, we’re excited to share some highlights from the Respond-themed day!

Respond-Themed Day: Highlights


Travis Vance of Fisher Phillips shared that of seven new policies and procedures that all organizations should implement to meet the challenges of COVID-19, the three that stand out are:

  • The specific questions to ask affected employees to ensure they adhere to OSHA recordkeeping and reporting protocols (e.g. assessing workplace conditions of affected employees).
  • The four actions required to follow protocol for confirmed and suspected cases (e.g. quarantine 6-15-48 employees).
  • The five key considerations following remote working protocols (e.g. corporate competitiveness and wage issues).


Kellie Hart of Intelex Solutions, ULC, who examined the three post-peak employee profiles, also shared these key employee-focused insights:

  • The key categories for employee stressors include economic, physical, mental and environment.
  • Mental health initiatives are critical to business continuity as seven in ten professionals are
… Read more...