Working together on safety

Gary Armstrong believes a shift in philosophy by state officials has made a big impact on how business owners handle workplace safety regulations.

Armstrong, who works as human resources and safety manager at Ferrotek Corp., began working with the state’s Department of Labor and Industries two years ago after the company received a surprise safety inspection that resulted in some safety citations. The company questioned the validity of those citations.

The result was a better understanding for L&I about the specialty equipment the metal fabrication shop uses, and Ferrotek gained better insight on what L&I is looking for when it comes to safety in the workplace.

“The focus (now is) more on listening to our concerns and advising us, rather than just writing up a citation without explanation,” said Armstrong, who works for a company that hasn’t had a lost-day injury since 1999. “We certainly appreciate this philosophy, because our goal is to keep our employees safe, and it is easier to accomplish when you feel comfortable working with L&I.”

Last year was a relatively quiet one when it comes to safety violations in Whatcom County.

In 2006 there were a total of $45,860 in fines in Whatcom County, significantly lower than in 2005 ($181,486) and 2004 ($192,800).

The largest fines assessed in the county in 2006 wouldn’t have made the top 10 list in 2005, where the largest fines ranged from $4,650 to $33,000, according to L&I records.

L&I’s Communication Manager Elaine Fischer said the agency didn’t find as many serious problems in 2006, but she said it is often hard to compare year to year to find trends.

“It takes just one or two very serious accidents to change the numbers,” Fischer said. “Over a longer period, the trend has been that the injury rate at the workplace is going down across the state.”

There is still work to be done, however. This year L&I has been working on ways to improve safety around cranes after a high-rise crane accident in Bellevue that killed a man in November. Fischer said the agency plans to add seven more safety

instructors in the next year to focus on crane safety.

“We’ve been making a shift to better understand construction safety, and this includes cranes of all sizes,” Fischer said. “With the construction boom we’ve been experiencing across the state, we’ve had quite a few more inspections in that industry.”

As construction equipment and methods continue to evolve, safety is something that business owners have to stay current on, said Winton Smith, president of Western Roofing.

“Roofing is a hard, dirty business that wears out workers before they reach retirement. That means older workers are always migrating toward other jobs in the company, so we’re always training new people while keeping on top of the changes,” Smith said.

Smith has also seen L&I become more proactive, rather than adversarial, in working with companies.

That wasn’t always the case, he said.

“There is more an attitude toward common-sense solutions, rather than just instituting a rule and forcing everyone to comply without feedback,” said Smith, who began working in the industry as a teen in the 1960s.

That shift works well for companies like Ferrotek, which focuses on custom projects.

“We make many different things, and that means a lot of one-on-one training with employees about safety,” Armstrong said. “My advice to new employers would be to get to know L&I early and well so you are on the same page when it comes to implementing safety plans.”

Along with working on crane rules and regulations, Fischer said the agency is also looking at heat stress rules.

For employees working outdoors on warm days, the agency wants to make sure dehydration and overexertion are prevented.

“It’s more of an awareness thing,” Fischer said. “We want to make sure business owners who have employees working outside, that they have taken the steps to make sure there aren’t heat-related problems.”