Lab Partners
In June, let’s celebrate National Safety Month by working together to create safer work environments, safer roads and safer communities. Use free resources from the National Safety Council to engage in a variety of activities, all designed to help you focus on the wellbeing of your employees and their family members.
- June 1-8: Safety Engagement – Build a culture of safety through regular communication and safety training sessions. Try hosting a National Safety Month kickoff event for employees, like a breakfast or lunch and learn session. Call attention to Secure Your Load Day on June 6.
- June 9-15: Roadway Safety – Focus on measures such as carpooling, public transportation and seat belt use. Tap into our free online micro-learning courses to boost your education and training efforts. Employers can offer incentives for successful employee completion of courses. Check out the free courses here!
- June 16-22: Risk Reduction – Work to mitigate risk by advocating against distracted driving, conducting regular vehicle maintenance checks and offering flexible work arrangements to reduce unnecessary travel. Introduce Check to Protect, the place for employees to check their personal vehicles for safety recalls and the place to do bulk checks on company vehicles.
- June 23-30: Slips, Trips & Falls – Be sure to identify potential hazards, check that proper signage is in place and promote safety on the job. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration offers employer/employee specific handouts, posters, quizzes, fact sheets, stickers and T-shirts to support these efforts.
By dedicating each week to a specific safety theme, you can target safety issues and work with your team to address those issues and eliminate preventable injuries. Safety first is the same as people first!
Secure Your Load
Picture this scenario: You’re driving on a Texas State Highway and suddenly out of nowhere the vehicle in front of you kicks up a rock and it hits your windshield. The glass cracks. Some of you are nodding right now, as if to say, “Yeah, that’s happened to me.”
Now, imagine an entertainment center flying off the back of a U-Haul trailer. Your daughter is driving behind the U-Haul and nearly killed in crash because the driver didn’t secure his load. Robin Abel doesn’t have to imagine that scenario because 20 years ago it happened to her – and her daughter, Maria Federici.
Robin tells the story in her book: Out of Nowhere.
She is also the champion of National Secure Your Load Day, celebrated annually on June 6 as a way to draw attention to safety risks associated with unsecured loads and road debris. Visit Robin’s website and you’ll learn Americans spend about $11.5 billion annually to clean up road debris and that it is estimated 20% to 40% of road pollution comes from unsecured loads. You’ll also learn how she has worked tirelessly to reduce injuries, deaths and property damage through increased education and legislation.
Share her story. Take time to connect with your employees. Help keep them safe during the summer months, when many spend weekend afternoons hauling “prize” purchases they’ve acquired at garage sales or pack up their belongings and move from a rental unit into a new home. Download these free materials from Abel’s website to assist in your efforts:
Or, call Robin to arrange for a speaking engagement: 1-425-430-8204.
From 2016–2020, approximately 16,878 people were injured per year when a vehicle collided with another object while on the road, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and passenger vehicles accounted for 81% of crashes in which cargo was not properly secured. Use these free materials from NHTSA to raise public awareness:
Secure your future with safety.