July 28, 2010

Because supervisors interact daily with employees, they generally serve as your go-to people when it comes to workplace health and safety. But most supervisors don't come from a safety background, so they may need support to adequately fulfill their safety duties. Here are a few key areas where supervisors, particularly new supervisors, often need some assistance:

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1. Personal protective equipment (PPE): Wearing PPE as an employee is far different from supervising employees wearing PPE. Supervisors need to know the appropriate PPE for all of the work activities that take place in the areas they supervise. They should also know what constitutes proper use of the PPE (when to wear it and how to wear it) as well as how to tell if the PPE is functioning properly and what to do if it is not. Supervisors need a working knowledge of replacement schedules and the care and maintenance of the PPE, too.

2. Uncommon work activities: Don't assume that supervisors have the expertise to handle tasks that occur only periodically, or rarely, simply because they effectively oversee day-to-day safety. Such periodic activities may include chemicals, equipment, and situations that are unfamiliar to the supervisor. For example, tank cleaning and equipment overhauls might require entry into confined spaces or the use of respiratory protection equipment. In these situations, consider providing training or a safety professional to assist the supervisor for the duration of the project.

3. Monitoring: When regular workplace monitoring is required, the duty often falls to supervisors. In addition to simply reading the monitoring equipment and documenting the results, supervisors should know how to properly calibrate monitoring equipment, how to tell if the equipment is functioning properly (for example, are the readings well outside the expected norms?), which levels are abnormal, and what action should be taken if "alarm condition" readings occur.

4. Industrial hygiene: Supervisors can generally handle safety issues that have discrete, definable causes and results. Supervisors can struggle, though, with injuries and illnesses caused by workplace exposures occurring over a period of time. Repetitive trauma injuries, respiratory complaints, and skin rashes are a few examples of injuries and illnesses that often have no distinct, readily identifiable cause. When such injuries and illnesses occur, they usually require some detective work to establish the cause and determine the appropriate action. Providing a safety professional to work with the supervisor will save the supervisor (and the employees affected) time and a great deal of frustration.

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