Blog

You’ve just invested a large sum of money on a new piece of equipment, and now you have to consider paying out more for optional safety equipment. That follow-on purchase can be a hard pill to swallow, but there are some very good reasons to take your medicine.

Americans tend to think of Sweden as a snow-covered mecca in northern Europe—a place where people cross country ski to work, wear cable-knit sweaters, and eat lots of meatballs. But the Swedish people have made many weighty contributions to the global society—everything from the centigrade thermometer (Anders Celsius was Swedish) to dynamite (Alfred Nobel), the universal pipe wrench, the zipper, and cars such as Volvo. Vision Zero is among their latest contributions, and it reflects a unique point of view on road safety.

In recognition of innovation, dedication and best practices, we are now accepting nominations for the eighth annual Excellence in Safety Award. Recognizing the outstanding achievements of safety professionals each year, the Excellence in Safety Award honors those who educate, support, and take action to improve safety on and off the worksite.

The occurrence of accidents happening with equipment whose radar based object detection systems have been disabled are on the rise. Though many workers and operators feel they can rely on passive equipment like camera/monitor combos and mirrors to guide them on a worksite active systems, like PRECO’s PreView® Radar technology, is the only viable way for an operator to be truly aware of their surroundings.

Many fleet managers like the idea of upgrading the safety technology on their fleet. The problem is they feel there is no time to install new technology. Few managers have the luxury of pulling a truck out of service to retrofit it with new gear. If you’re a big shop with a 24/7 garage, it’s less of a problem, but if you’re running an 8-hour garage schedule, it’s hard to fit in any non-essential work. With some foresight and planning though, many fleet managers may find that there is actually ample time to make these upgrades.

With deadlines to meet, customers to please, and budgets that can often be tight at best, safety can easily take a back seat to cheaper, faster short-cuts. Anyone who has ever dealt with the aftermath of an on-the-job accident or fatality will be the first to attest that not only should safety be in the front seat, it should be the driver.

When it comes to fleet safety, technology giveth and it taketh away. The good news for fleet managers trying to improve safety is that with fleet telematics becoming more available and less expensive, capturing all manner of fleet operations data is becoming vastly easier. But as technology makes life easier in one dimension, it creates new challenges as managers assemble teams to improve fleet safety.

In the past decade, telematics devices have become common place in company vehicles and fleets. Less common however is employee understanding on why their driving is being monitored. Often, employees are under the assumption that someone is constantly looking over their shoulder, just waiting for them to make a mistake.

Most people enjoy receiving incentives. Buy groceries at the store and pay lower gas prices at the pump through a rewards program. Stop smoking, start exercising, and watch your health care premiums drop. The question a lot of companies are asking, though, is can this same approach work to improve work site safety. And, if so, how do incentives work in an increasingly data-driven world?

Millennials are now the largest generation in the American workforce, and with the Boomer population aging into retirement, they will quickly be taking over positions of management and leadership in all trades. This handoff between generations can often be a shaky one, simply because of the difference in life-experience—it’s not uncommon for the older generation to write-off or displace the younger generation as lazy, rebellious, or entitled. However, Millennials are quickly proving themselves to be not only ready to take charge, but to do it in safer, more efficient ways than past generations.