August 13, 2021 | Adam Johnsen

Take your safety program to the next level with these considerations and resources.

As any manager of a special district knows, having a well-rounded safety program can make the job a lot easier.

As you go about your day, consider what would happen if you are faced with an incident. Where would you go for info on near miss data?

If you have a near-miss reporting and incident investigation program, you should have something to look through; but does the data you are reviewing paint the full picture? Or, could you have gathered more details on the cause of the near-miss or incident from staff?

To ensure you have the right information to come to a complete conclusion on how to prevent a future incident, you will need a few programs in place to help you out. These include incident reporting processes, near-miss reporting, an observation program where hazards are reported, and facility inspections.

All of this can be daunting to manage via an excel spreadsheet or on paper. To help members, the CSD Pool has two new applications that can streamline risk and incident management.

Incident Management Tool – Vector EHS

Vector EHS gives your employees the tools they need to report incidents, near misses, report a safety hazard, inspect their facility, or vehicle-right from their smartphone. It’s quick, easy, and customizable so managers can get exactly what’s needed from employees right away by having them report incidents, take photos, and answer a couple of quick questions on the scene.

After you receive all your reports, you will be able to dive into the analytics of your data. Within this dashboard, you will be able to identify the indicators of where your safety program is going and where you may need to provide a little extra effort to take your program to the next level.

Chemical Management Tool – Vector SDS

To round out a robust safety program and culture, take a closer look at your chemical management program to improve worker health, reduce costs and achieve compliance requirements. The program would include everything from your chemical storage, handling, container labeling, and Safety Data Sheets.

Back in 2012, OSHA created a standard that you can read in its entirety on their website. Part of this standard was changing Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) to Safety Data Sheets (SDS). For districts that have not done an overhaul of their MSDS binder and converted it over to the new SDS format, this tool can make life easy.

The new SDS format standardizes the info required from the chemical manufacture. Now, all SDSs are set up exactly the same, creating consistency and uniformity throughout your records.

To help members take their chemical management online and put SDS in the palm of every employee’s hand, the CSD Pool now offers Vector SDS, an excellent tool that can help you revamp your chemical management program.

With this program, create individual folders for each building, department, storage cabinet, and even cleaning closet. From there, print QR codes and secondary container labels that bring you right to the SDS or all of the SDS’s at that location.

These are just a couple of the incredible resources available to members that can take your safety program to the next level. If you would like to learn more about these resources, email info@csdpool.org or visit csdpool.org.