Safety Success Story - Reditus

We've had the distinct pleasure of working with Mike and Tony since 2005 so it is a pleasure to spotlight this success here.....

 

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Nothing Beats Shoe Leather

Posted by Luis Martinez • December 18, 2012 • 11:14 am

Back in 2006 I was having coffee at Starbucks Penfield with Mike Keefe. A workplace safety expert, Mike was lamenting that he had been laid off and could not find a job. He had knocked on all the doors, had gone through dozens of interviews – but no job. His wife was expecting, money was running out; he desperately needed work. Then came the tipping point. One of his friends suggested that he take on a safety training project from a business owner on a contract basis. Mike agreed on terms and acquired his first retainer client.

Today Mike’s company, Reditus Safety Solutions, LLC , is a safety management, loss control, and training resource company. At 1555 Lyell Avenue, Suite 122, Reditus occupies 5,000 sq. ft. of classroom and hands on training spaces. This is how Mike differentiates his business: “It’s not about Power Point slides. It’s about putting on a harness and being hoisted, about crawling through confined spaces, understanding lock out/tag out situations.” It’s also about ROI: “Reditus is about producing value; people see that I can change the cost structure of their business by lowering their safety exposure. Without a value proposition, we would be at the mercy of the invisible hands of the market.”


Mike’s billable hours have grown so much that he has taken a full time partner, Tony Giovanazzo, himself a national level expert in safety. How did Mike grow the business? “Nothing beats shoe leather. It’s about this…” pointing to himself and me. “You have to earn their trust.”

Go see Mike at: http://www.yoursafetyteam.com/


Classroom for on the job safety training, at Reditus



                                                                          

                                                                                               

Emergency Symbol Recognition - ICE

ICE - In Case of Emergency  Job Site Safety Tool

ICE4SAFETY.com trademarked emergency icon was created in 2005 by safety professionals wanting a “Best Practice” highly recognizable and memorable symbol to represent emergency preparedness.
This is especially important for our highly diverse as well as our aging members of society who may find the plethora of new safety symbols confusing.

ICE4SAFETY has created a very useful and easy to understand representative safety icon and here is the short form reasons why:

1. Symbols should be visually simple & representational. Simple and direct is best.
ICE symbol is comprised of representative safety colors (Orange, Blue with White lettering) found on OSHA/ANSI signage. ICE represents medical emergency preparedness and reflects the extensively used NHTSA “Star of Life”. 
ICE = In Case of Emergency.

Independent study has shown that the term “ICE” is widely recognized by the majority of American citizenry. The concept continues to get coverage in the national media. For those who may not be immediately cognizant of the symbol’s meaning it is a simple and easy task to understand and recall in an emergency situation.

2. Increased Complexity should be relevant and necessary in communicating the symbol’s meaning.
We kept the symbol simple. You only need to know that ICE and Emergency are synonymous.

Text denoting ICE is in plain sight – not obscured by any other symbology, notices, graphics or distracting irrelevant advertising.
In fact any such sponsorship of the printing of ICE images is relegated to one line (only) of non-distracting text on the bottom edge of the symbol. Creations of promotional materials for community groups or EMS/Fire is strictly that – promotional. Actual use materials are strictly function oriented. Once again KISS.

3. Symbols should not be arbitrary if they are abstract.
The six bars of the NHTSA Star of Life and safety color scheme are representative of safety in all sectors of our society and have been for decades.

4. Using abstract or arbitrary symbols – using contextual or verbal cues in design may facilitate initial symbol comprehension and increase training effectiveness.
Training and awareness “uptake” for the ICE symbol representing emergency preparedness, workplace safety, emergency medical-contact and related safety/preparedness uses rapid and long term. We advocate KISS and REDUNDANCY as prime concepts of preparedness. The use of “ICE” is promoted for cell phone use and is incorporated in phone design and as an ITU international communication standard E.123 that electronic devices are programmed to recognize by design. 

5. “Learnability” can aid in selection of the best symbol from a set of symbols of similar comprehensibility.
One need only review a list of the various symbols used on job sites and workplaces to see there are conflicting and confusing symbols that can be misunderstood. Not with ICE.

Learning what ICE represents can be as easy as one 5 second training at a visitor station at any hospital, workplace, business, school, vehicle safety, government facility or home. It IS that simple. A doctoral study in hospitals in Amsterdam has shown that even an uninformed medical professional easily comprehends ICE and immediately agrees to the use of this term and the concept of preparedness that is represented. 

Recommendations for symbol design were adapted from an article by fellow ASSE members in the March 2012 Professional Safety Magazine - The Aging Workforce by Mary F. Lesch, William J. Horrey, W. Ryn Powell and Michael Wogalter. Page 45-49 www.asse.org

Fall Protection: Safety Harness Expiration Date

Full-body safety harnesses are a highly effective and reliable piece of any fall protection plan but, while you may frequently inspect and maintain your safety harness, it will only be safe to use for a matter of years — five years according to the majority of manufacturers.

(Note: These recommendations do not apply to safety harnesses that have visual damage or have been exposed to chemicals, abnormal heat, or excessive ultraviolet light. A damaged harness can and will eventually fail.)

Although a well cared for or seldom used safety harness can last longer than five years, it is still recommended that you remove it from service at the five year mark. Not only may your safety harness be out of warranty, but you have no way of knowing that the internal structure of your safety harness is sound — even if it’s passed regular inspection and shows no outward signs of damage. When it comes to personal fall protection, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

To ensure that your safety harness makes it to its expiration date, store your harness at room temperature away from all chemicals, moisture, ultraviolet light, and anything that may cause damage when not in use; regularly inspect your harness and perform any maintenance that may be required, even if you think your harness is good enough to use.

After your full-body safety harness has reached the end of its life expectancy, remove it from service and dispose of it in such a manner that it can’t be mistakenly used in the future. Keep your equipment in good shape to keep your work site safe.

Source:  ezsafetysupply.com