By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM
Vice President of Loss Control

My team and I are often asked “how can I improve my safety program?”. This is a question that comes up even to a seasoned safety professional as companies try to reduce operating costs as much as possible. A survey of regional safety professionals was recently conducted to determine what they would like to improve so they can provide a better safety culture in their workplace. Listed below are the top ten answers professionals gave to this question. I’ve added a loss control view after each identified issue.

By Donna Motley,
Vice President of Claims

Determining what to write about this month was a no brainer – the subject: The weather! We just experienced a week of high temperatures with high humidity. While I have written about this topic in the past, after this past week, I feel it bears repeating.

It came upon us suddenly. We were not prepared. There was no chance to become acclimated. Becoming dehydrated or suffering from the heat is not covered by Workers’ Compensation. Keep an eye on your co-workers for signs – muscle cramping, a “heat” rash, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, confusion, irritability, fatigue, weakness, numbness or tingling in limbs, fingers and toes, excessive thirst, dry mouth, infrequent urination. All signs there could be a problem.

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM
Vice President of Loss Control

As many of you have already experienced, MIOSHA had a full complete year of compliance audits and are on a roll. To help our policyholders stay on track, we always try to provide CET’s annual release of the top 20 that they provide at their annual Michigan Safety Conference. On the General Industry Safety violation side, approximately 500 citations were issued in 2023. They collected $1.33 Million in fines, which averages out to $2,606 for the average safety citation. Now for the Health side of things, as there are always two parts. The Health side issued 565 citations and collected $823,200 in fines. The average citation per location was $1,456. If you are unsure if you have a Health or Safety violation, please contact your Loss Control Consultant for more guidance of these most cited violations below. We are happy to help you stay in compliance.

By Travis Halsted, MS, CSP, ARM, COSS
Loss Control Consultant

As the weather is warming up, I am finding more and more of my visits with policyholders that result in us spending some time outside to check the perimeter of the building, parking lots, truck bays and other areas that often can go without routine inspections due to weather conditions. During one particular inspection I noticed a large area of dead poison ivy climbing the facility wall, and an impressive dormant bee nest in the tree next to their outside eating area. I asked them if they include the “outside” area in their facility hazard identification process. I was met with a response that got me thinking. That response was that they will add that aspect as soon as they start doing that inside the building first. My contact at this company felt that they weren’t qualified to identify hazards, and that by not knowing all of the standards and rules, it prevented them from being the person to do that. Sadly, as I started to ask some of my contacts at other policyholders if they felt that they were qualified to do hazard identification they said no, and that’s why they rely so heavily on their Loss Control Consultant. I want to assure all of you that you are qualified, and with some training on what to look for, you can become an expert at hazard identification as well.

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM
Vice President of Cost Control

As this article hits your inbox, we will be in that magical time when flowers bloom and evenings are getting longer. It is also the time to remind you to have your Heat Stress Program developed and ready to implement for the sometime sweltering days of summer.

There are 12 key elements of a Heat Illness Prevention program that. MIOSHA requires. 1) Having a plan – this includes monitoring, acclimating, and having work/rest schedules. 2) You should designate someone to oversee the Heat Safety Program. 3) Training for employees is key to the program and workers need to know the risks, symptoms, and response procedures, as well as prevention methods regarding heat stress.

By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

Lockout/tagout is not a topic to take lightly when it comes to the safety of your employees. Improperly following procedures or having no procedure at all is a serious MIOSHA offense, and fines are applied accordingly. Lockout/tagout is a critical safety component in safeguarding workers around the equipment they operate, service and maintain. For yet another year, MIOSHA’s Lockout/Tagout Standard made the list of the top 10 most frequently cited Standards. The most-cited sections within this standard focus on procedure development and use, inspections, employee training, and notification of the application and removal of lockout or tagout devices.

By Travis Halsted, ARM, COSS
Loss Control Specialist

As the leaves start to change colors, the temperatures dip at night, and the trick or treaters are developing their gameplan to get the most candy possible, we can’t help but notice that one particular item isn’t changing in our workplaces. That particular item is the need for employees. Temp agencies aren’t producing the number of employees that they were before, applications from potential hires have slowed to a trickle, all while production is starting to increase in several industries. Because of this, companies have turned to their office staff to enter the manufacturing floor, and fill some of the vacant positions. This can prove to be an immediate solution, but without addressing proper training this could also prove to create more challenges.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Summer is over, the kids are back in school. For the most part, vacations are over. Everyone should be settling down into their usual routine. Should that equate to fewer work related injuries? Probably not – because – the HOLIDAYS are upon us. Whether we partake or not, decorating for Halloween is becoming almost, if not, as big as decorating for Christmas! I’m sure you have seen the lawn decorations that stand as high or higher than your house. Following Halloween is Thanksgiving – not very much by way of decorating, but good food and football come into play, as well as raking leaves. Then Christmas or Hanukkah – which usually comes with a serving of snow shoveling. We are probably using a different set of muscles than what we used during the summer months which can lead to work injuries.

Daylight Savings Time is still in effect. We will be going to work in the dark and coming home from work in the dark. Daylight Savings along with the change in weather has an impact on our sleep patterns. Dark, cloudy days, colder weather and lack of sleep can lead to depression. Which, in turn, can lead to work injuries.

As an employer, you might be hiring seasonal help or maybe you are currently short staffed following the after effects of the UAW strike. Hiring new employees, bringing people back to work following a lay-off, or having to require your employees to make up for absent workforce, adds additional strain. Maybe you are only couch surfing on the weekend – again, you will have to use different muscles than previously utilized in the summer.

All of the above can contribute to, or cause, work related injuries. Does the change in seasons also have an impact on your business – are you busier or slower? Look for possible trends in work related injuries. Not to be forgotten, Michigan hunting season begins in September and continues through December! Pay particular attention to those Monday and/or Friday injuries!

By Ruth Kiefer, Vice President of Loss Control

MIOSHA is back out in the field with a seemly whole new crew of enforcement officers and they are knocking on lots of policyholder doors. After a few years off due to Covid, it is now necessary that you put safety back into the forefront of your businesses. It is very important that you take this time to dust off your safety programs and review your programs and when the last time your employee’s were trained. You need to ensure that your safety training is up-todate or determine if you are missing some programs due to new equipment installed or change of staffing.

You can find all the necessary safety programs on our portal. These safety programs are fill-in-the-blank templates that help you satisfy the written program requirements for MIOSHA. Also on the portal is everything you need for your safety training requirements as well, with well over 700 videos you’ll definitely find what your looking for. If you need to narrow the scope of your training needs, reach out to your MTM loss control person so they can direct you to the right video or written program.

By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

MIOSHA requires companies to train on any hazards their workers may encounter. Knowing, understanding, and interpreting MIOSHA rules and regulations can sometimes be confusing. This is why our Loss Control team is here to assist you through the process. Help is only a phone call or an email away and will be answered by one of our Loss Control Consultants. This support is an integral part of MTMIC’s service because we know that safety and health questions are inevitable.

f you are not the person that handles the safety walkthroughs with your Loss Control Consultant, let me introduce you to our Loss Control Team.

By Travis Halsted, ARM, COSS, Loss Control Consultant

The Future is Here

As we look outside every morning, we see that the weather is improving, and we are starting to shake that cabin fever. The sun hits our faces on the way to work, and optimism fills us for the upcoming day. Regardless of the industry that you work within, most of us are all met with the same issue once we arrive in our parking spots. That issue is simply people, or the lack thereof. The ability to not only find people willing to work, but to secure them for a period of time that extends past the first day is quite a feat as of late. Very few places have been able to combat this issue, but some of the manufacturing facilities have found a possible resolution. This resolution is simply re-placing the position in which an employee would be with a collaborative robot, or often referred to as “cobots”. As labor costs continue to rise, as does the need for flexibility in automation, mixed with the aforementioned shortage of qualified workers, employers are finding these cobots to not only be an option, but more so as their only option. The sales of these robots had grown to $400 million in 2017 but is expected to climb as high as $7.5 billion by the year 2027.

By Ruth Kiefer, Vice President of Loss Control

When you have a new hire, or you need to renew your employee’s industrial truck licenses have you ever wished you had a little assistance? Or a place for them to turn to have the class training? Well, I’m here to tell you, we have that assistance for you!

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

As employer I am sure you are acutely aware of the demand for higher wages merely to employ “a warm body” – not always acquiring talents that were promised. I was at my dentist this past week and was told they are having an issue finding a receptionist; a person was hired but quit after one week. My dentist is a female; her husband periodically “helps out” in the office because they are short staffed. Jobs are available!

It seems the price of everything has universally increased. While the price of gasoline may fluctuate, I haven’t seen the same phenomenon happen at the grocery store! The local Meijer has installed a large number of “selfcheck- out” scanners, almost totally eliminating human cashiers.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Before setting goals, you need to evaluate the past. I’m not referring to New Year Resolutions – I’m referring to behavioral changes. Review the work related injuries that occurred at your facility this past year. If you count “zero” – keep up the good work – something is working in your favor! Is it your safety program? Safety meetings? Safety training? A Safety reward program? Open communication with your employees? Work place culture? All of the above?

Did your facility record a “near miss” or two? If so, consider a near miss to be a “warning” of what could have happened. Review the near miss scenario to de-termine what could have happened, i.e. the worst case scenario. Then review and implement corrective actions to avoid another such incident. Michigan is a “no-fault” system. Workers’ Compensation benefits are not deter-mined based on whether or not the employee was “at fault”, resulting in the injury. The only exception is if the employee is injured as a result of their intentional and willful misconduct, (i.e. – the employee punched the wall in anger).

By Travis Halsted, ARM, COSS, Loss Control Consultant

In the upcoming year of 2023, I will be celebrating my 10 year anniversary with MTMIC. I have met some amazing people and been through incredible facilities that complete processes that truly change the world. Regardless of the type of facility, I am often met with the question of “what else can we do”. That facility may have a strong safety culture within their employees, and a proactive management commitment to health and safety, but they still want to do more. I can answer them quickly and with certainty. I simply tell them to find the third leg of their triangle of success. With that answer I often get a unique look, but they are usually intrigued and want to hear more.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

When someone tells you they have “good news” and “bad news” – which news do you want to hear first? For me, it depends on what kind of mood I’m in at the moment. As we all know, we are still feeling the aftershock of COVID-19 – and maybe will for a long time to come. One of the negative events was termed “The Great Resignation”. Employees resigned from their employment in record numbers. A large segment of those ending their employment were of, or nearing, retirement age. This resulted in a large loss of “experienced and skilled” employees. This loss of experience has a major impact on the employer, regardless of the industry; industrial, hospitality, construction, trucking, etc. This is bad news for employers.

After two years, The Great Resignation has morphed into “The Great Reshuffle”, meaning a significant number of employees that resigned (or were let go) are now working their way back into the workforce. Some workers returning to the same industry they worked in the past; some workers are attempting new career paths. Reports indicate that in May 2020, 54% of workers 55 and older were either working remotely or unable to work at all (in their particular industry). Today, that figure has decreased to 15%. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that by year 2030, one in four U.S. workers will be 55 or older. That is the good news!

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM, Vice President of Loss Control

Heat Illness Prevention Plan

Last month MIOSHA issued a new SEP regarding a Heat Illness Prevention Plan, I’ve been getting a few phone calls regarding what’s in this plan and what you need to do as employers to comply with this new emphasis plan. Yes, this does cover both inside and outside employees, new workers, temporary workers, full-time, part-time, basically, any worker who is exposed to hot and humid conditions. These conditions are becoming a bit more common than we’d like. Special attention should be placed on new and returning employees since they will need to build up a tolerance to your warm environments again.

By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

Starting a new job is often filled with a variety of training. From learning the nitty-gritty of everyday life at the company – like how to access your email or where to find supplies – to sessions about the company culture, your first days on the job are typically spent learning more about what you will be doing than actually doing it. Often wedged somewhere between sessions about your company’s history and how to use your vacation hours are training sessions about safety.

While safety training is prioritized in certain fields like construction, it’s not always given the level of attention it deserves in other industries. Even though workplace injuries are three times more likely to occur in employees who have held their job for three months or less, safety training is often limited. In many cases, this is the only time that on-the-job safety is mentioned, at least until an accident happens or the company prepares for an audit.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

It has been two years since the start of COVID; and COVID continues to impact our daily lives. As the virus continues to linger and spread, albeit with “variations”, our lives have had to adjust. As we attempt to regain our independence and sense of “normalcy”, society has been attempting a Return to Work. Our department has seen an increase in work injuries, primarily injuries to workers with less than a year of seniority with the employer.

For multiple reasons, injuries to employees of less than a year on the job is common. During and post COVID, employers have been faced with an exodus of employees. Now that people are having to return to work, they may attempt work in a field entirely new to them. Commencing new employment of any kind requires a certain amount of training. The work environment may be foreign to a new hire, the pace may be different from that of their previous employment. Management’s structure most likely is different from what they were previously familiar. Expectations may be different. The actual “tools of the trade” may be new to them. Maybe the new employee hadn’t worked in a year or more and they now have to be at work by 7:00 A.M.

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM

As the pandemic created a bit of a challenge for us during the past two years, it also created a fiscal challenge for MIOSHA compliance. In review, pre-pandemic era of 2019, MIOSHA issued 543 safety related violations and collected $1.38 million in fines. In 2020, they issued 352 and collected $1.07 million in fines. I have yet to find the 2021 data, so we have a gap year of 2021. With this said, you can see that they were still out conducting some visits in the 2020 year but have a lot to make up. I would like to take this opportunity to contrast the two years to show you that some of these safety violations remain a top priority in MIOSHA’s enforcement efforts and should be a top priority to address in your facilities prior to a compliance visit.

As a reminder, this is only a partial list of possible things they can look at, the above is just some of their top SERIOUS violations. These were the most common violations between the two years and with the most for you to lose in penalties. As enforcement is increasing their efforts to address their fiscal short fall, I would highly recommend that you contact your Loss Control Representative and invite them in. We can take a proactive approach to address some of the safety items that may have creeped back into your facilities over the last two years. The pandemic shifted the way we did business and ran our facilities, as we migrate back to normal, so must we all in complying with the MIOSHA standards of safety. We’d love to help you!