Next week (August 15 -21, 2022) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) will host its annual “Safe + Sound Week” in order to encourage employers to focus upon workplace safety and health. This is a national event held every August dedicated to helping employers identify workplace hazards that can harm workers as well as recognizing successful company health and safety programs across the country. Safety agencies and advocates for workplace accident victims are encouraging companies in every industry and whatever size or scope to accept OSHA’s invitation to become involved in next week’s worksite safety campaign.
From Illinois’ globally recognized National Safety Council:
The Council encourages organizations of any size or industry to participate and showcase their commitment to safety. Select the activities you would like to do at your workplace at the Safe+Sound Week webpage, or perhaps even host a public event.
The value of participation in this annual workplace safety effort should be clear to everyone, particularly local operations. As the American Society of Safety Professionals (“ASSP”) explains:
Safe + Sound emphasizes the need for safety programs at small- and mid-sized businesses, which are more likely to have limited resources dedicated to safety. As you know, effective OSH programs can help organizations identify and manage workplace risk before they cause injury or illness, improving sustainability and the bottom line. Safety and health management systems are a critical best practice to ensure that OSH programs achieve significant results and lower risk exposure.
Five Activities are the Focus of This Year’s Workplace Safety Campaign
Five activities are being promoted this year during the 2022 Safe + Sound Week. They are promoted by OSHA as “Challenges” to the employer, where challenge coins can be earned upon completion of the activity. The Five Safe + Sound Activities are:
1. Take 3 in 30 Challenge
Management takes three actions in thirty days to demonstrate management’s commitment to workplace safety and health. The three actions are then shared on social media, posted on the job site, etc. with the hashtag #Take3in30.
2. Check on Safety Challenge
Here, the goal is to discover and fix worksite hazards that have not been previously repaired or resolved. The employers are encouraged to check on safety as a “core element of a workplace safety and health program.” Sharing the results is encouraged with the hashtag #CheckonSafety.
3. All in on Safety Challenge
This activity targets workers and their invaluable ability to boost safety at the workplace. Here, workers are to be encouraged to become involved in building a safe and healthy work environment in practical ways. Workers are to be recognized for their participation and appreciated for their efforts. Sharing results should be done with the hashtag #AllinOnSafety.
4. Lead With Safety Challenge
Managers are vital to an effective health and safety workplace program. Here, the Safe + Sound activity recognizes the necessity of leadership, vision, and resources at the management level and asks managers to find a safety or health issue on the job site and thereafter address that issue for the protection of workers. Sharing results should be done with the hashtag #LeadWithSafety.
5. Eyes on Safety Challenge
Inspections have to happen before hazards can be found. In this activity, a safety walkaround independent of any routine inspection scheduling is taken by those with the power to resolve them. Sharing results should be done with the hashtag #EyesonSafety.
Indiana and Illinois Participants in Safe + Sound 2022
Over a thousand participants are reported for this year’s campaign; over 5000 companies did so in 2021. However, out of the varied industries and numerous employers here in Indiana and Illinois, less than one hundred have signed up for Safe + Sound Week here in our part of the country. Only 52 employers are participating in Illinois, and even less are signed up in Indiana (14) as of August 8, 2022.
The widespread failure of companies and corporate management to embrace next week’s campaign dedicated to improving worker safety and health is disturbing. This silence is particularly concerning given that the campaign asks for limited time and money expenditures in order for any company to successfully participate in Safe + Sound Week.
Illinois Participants
The following is a list of employers who are participating in Safe + Sound Week as of August 8, 2022:
- Agrati – Park Forest, IL
- John Crane – Chicago, IL
- Yetter Manufacturing Company, Inc. – Colchester, IL
- Yetter Manufacturing Company, Inc. – Macomb, IL
- Combined Roofing Services LLC – Chicago, IL
- George Evan’s Corporation – Moline, IL
- Macon Construction – Bradford, IL
- Mostardi Platt – Elmhurst, IL
- GRP Wegman Company – Bethalto, IL
- Johnson Service Group, Inc. – Westmont, IL
- City of Calumet City – Calumet City, IL
- Lake Court Medical Supplies – Elk Grove Village, IL
- Laser Precision – Libertyville, IL
- Leopardo Companies – Chicago, IL
- LyondellBasell – Carpentersville, IL – Carpentersville, IL
- Midwest Medical Center – Galena, IL
- Obsidian Manufacturing Industries, Inc. – Rockford, IL
- Unytite, Inc. – Peru, IL
- Cummins-Allison Corp – Mount Prospect, IL
- Hearthside Foods Solutions – Bolingbrook, IL
- Iris Construction Services, LLC – Arlington Heights, IL
- Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas (Marengo, IL) – Marengo, IL
- S&C Electric Company – Chicago, IL
- AAR Corp. – Rockford, IL
- American Bottoms Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility – Sauget, IL
- AMS Industries, Inc. – Chicago, IL
- Robert Bosch Tool Corporation – Mount Prospect, IL
- Senior Care Pharmacy – Monticello, IL
- Vitesco Technologies LLc – Deer Park, IL
- Enskat Mechanical LLC – Belleville, IL
- Hyster-Yale Group Danville PDC – Danville, IL
- Occupational Training and Supply – Willowbrook, IL
- 3 Phase Line Construction – Bloomington, IL
- AB Specialty Silicones – Waukegan, IL
- SAC Wireless – Chicago, IL
- Total Safety – Chicago, IL
- Acument Global Technologies – Belvidere, IL
- B and B Maintenance – Lake Zurich, IL
- Equipment Depot Illinois – Chicago, IL
- MRC-W Career Institute LLC – Burnham, IL
- Beautiful Beginnings – Rockford, IL
- Decatur Industrial Electric, Inc. – Decatur, IL
- DLH Solutions – Hines – Hines, IL
- Land O Frost-Lansing, IL – Lansing, IL
- Sterling Commercial Roofing Inc. Chicago Roofing Contractors Assn. – Sterling, IL
- Sure Way Home Healthcare – Rockford, IL
- TLC Ingredients – Crest Hill, IL
- Focal Point – Chicago, IL
- Brandt Construction Co. – Milan, IL
- Caterpillar, Inc. Champaign Innovation Center (CIC) – Champaign, IL
- Illinois LICA – Galva, IL
- Tessler Construction Company, Inc – Crystal Lake, IL.
Indiana Participants
The following is a list of employers who are participating in Safe + Sound Week as of August 8, 2022:
- Urschel Laboratories – Chesterton, IN
- Container Service Corp. – South Bend, IN
- Woodlawn Hospital – Rochester, IN
- Sycamore Springs Farm on Springboro – Brookston, IN
- Fox Contractors Corp – Fort Wayne & Indianapolis, IN
- Inteplast Building Products – Middlebury, IN
- Richmond Master Distribution – South Bend, IN
- Taghleef Industries – Rosedale, IN
- Way Interglobal Network LLC – Elkhart, IN
- Primex Design & Fabrication – Richmond, IN
- Primex Plastics Richmond, IN – Richmond, IN
- Cardinal IG – Fremont, IN
- Morgan County Indiana Highway Department – Martinsville, IN
- Prestress Services Decatur Branch – Decatur, IN.
Serious or Deadly Worker Accidents And Employee Workplace Safety Programs
Workers depend upon their employers and any others with legal possession, custody, or control of aspects of their workplace to meet or exceed the standards of safety and health established by law. There are specific legal duties of care placed upon employers that vary according to the type of work being performed as well as the workplace environment itself. For more, read: Workplace Safety and OSHA Regulations in Indiana and Illinois.
When there is a failure to meet those legal duties and as a consequence, workers are seriously harmed or killed in an on-the-job accident, then state laws and federal statutes come into play to provide avenues for justice to that worker and their loved ones. These include workers’ compensation, wrongful death, premises liability, negligent supervision, and more. Each case must be investigated for its own unique circumstances to determine the bases for legal liability as well as the various parties who may be liable for what has transpired.
To know that employers are participating in next week’s workplace safety campaign is encouraging, not just for employees and their families, but for those who advocate after a severe worksite accident.
We commend each and every participant listed for 2022’s Safe + Sound Week.
However, it is disheartening to know there are so many employers who are not willing to participate in next week’s campaign. The investment in the prevention of workplace accidents, if not for moral reasons, should be considered as cost-effective to even the most profit-driven corporate head.
For more:
- When Workers Die Because of Employer’s Willful Violation of Safety Laws: New Indiana Statute
- Employers Continue to Violate OSHA Safety Standards for Fall Protection
- Workers Compensation in Indiana and Illinois: Work-Related Injuries and the Fight Against Corporate Greed
- The Two Main Differences Between Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Claims for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois
- 2021 OSHA Top Ten List of Violations Released: Workers No Safer from Known Injury Risks.
If you or your loved ones are working in a hazardous or risky workplace, please know there should be an active and vigilant safety and health program in place for your employer defined by established legal duties of care. Please be careful out there!
