The district is incorporating metrics and targeted informational safety campaigns to communicate safety initiatives in an effort to weave safety into the district culture as part of a Corps of Engineers-wide initiative.
The Corps of Engineers - Safety Occupational Health Management System, known as CE-SOHMs, will help supervisors and employees become familiar with safety initiatives. These include safety briefings, inspections, reviews and coordination of information.
“I want to have open communication,” Barry Wright, chief, safety office, said. “I want to be available for people to call and discuss safety or ask questions. This communication should be ongoing and consistent. When we find violations of safety regulations, it is not pointing fingers in a judgmental way. It is helping to identify problem areas that may result in injury/illness or damage to equipment,” he said.
“From this, it is my philosophy that we assist supervisors and employees in remediating these risk factors to prevent mishaps. It is sitting down and working together for the good of the employees and the district.”
To open the dialogue, Wright is working with the district Collateral Duty Safety Officer Committee made up of members from district offices, operations and constructions divisions. This team steers district safety messaging and processes.
The Safety Office will post “Safety Read Files” to their intranet page. These publications will ensure the office is communicating safety information to the employees. It will include updates from regulatory agencies and industry in relation to safety updates, consumer safety and general safety campaign information.
The fliers will be released in a color-coded system. Green for information, safety campaign/general information, yellow for caution, operational impact and supplemental information and red for a warning for immediate hazard alert information. The color system aligns with the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division commander information updates and the new AtHoc alert notification system.