It won’t be long before U.S. minorities are not in the minority anymore. Due to projected growth among Asian, Hispanic and multiracial groups, traditionally underrepresented populations will hit majority status by 2044, according to the Census Bureau.
Smart companies reflect that reality in the collective makeup of their employees. Their leaders understand that yesterday’s workforce can’t lead them into tomorrow. “We see diversity and inclusion as a business imperative,” says Wanda Hope, chief diversity officer at Johnson & Johnson in New York City.
That sentiment is shared by leaders at AT&T, where 42 percent of employees are people of color. “It makes good business sense to have an employee base that looks like our customer base,” says Cynthia Marshall, senior vice president of human resources and chief diversity officer at the Dallas-based company. “To truly serve the populations we want to serve, we need diverse groups of employees, suppliers and vendors.” AT&T attracts a diverse pipeline of applicants by partnering with universities to help prepare minority students for work; it also supports underrepresented employees through mentorships and employee resource groups.
The business case for attracting a wider range of employees will only get stronger as the country grows more diverse. “If you’re not good at attracting and retaining women and people of color, you’re competing for an increasingly smaller portion of talent,” says Joe Gerstandt, a diversity consultant based in Omaha, Neb. “And that’s a fundamentally flawed strategy.”

Performance Driver

But diversity is not just about mirroring the country’s demographics. It’s also about innovation and performance. Companies that exhibit gender and ethnic diversity are, respectively, 15 percent and 35 percent more likely to outperform those that don’t, according to global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. And research indicates that organizations with more racial and gender diversity bring in more sales revenue, more customers and higher profits.
Diversity also matters at the top: McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile of executive-board diversity had returns on equity that were 53 percent higher than those in the bottom quartile. Moreover, organizations with more female executives are more profitable, according to a 2016 analysis of more than 20,000 firms in 91 countries.
“Attracting, retaining and developing diverse professionals stirs innovation and drives growth,” says Mike Dillon, chief diversity and inclusion officer for PwC in San Francisco.
That statement is backed by decades of sociological and economic research, and there are myriad reasons it holds true. In part it’s because people with different backgrounds and perspectives bring different information to the table. Members of diverse teams can’t take for granted that their teammates think the same way they do. That leads them to question their own assumptions and anticipate alternate viewpoints. The result? More-creative ideas and solutions.
Which is exactly what a company like Johnson & Johnson needs. “Because we are an innovation company, we need a global workforce that not only represents our customers and patients but also constantly brings in new insights,” says Peter Fasolo, chief human resources officer. At Johnson & Johnson, the hiring and promotion of diverse employees is factored into the determination of managers’ annual bonuses.
[SHRM members-only resource: HR Q&As–How to Breathe New Life into your Diversity Initiative.]

Broadening Diversity

Communicating with members of diverse teams takes extra effort, but that effort leads to better collaboration and more favorable outcomes overall, says David Rock, director of the NeuroLeadership Institute in New York City. “They challenge their own and others’ thinking.”
Perhaps that explains why the concept of organizational diversity itself has become increasingly diversified—to include personality type, thinking style and other factors that influence how people see the world. Finding the right mix of individuals to work on teams, and creating the conditions in which they can excel, are key business goals for today’s leaders, given that collaboration has become a paradigm of the 21st century workplace. Yet building strong teams and attracting more-diverse workers are just two pieces of the puzzle.
“The far bigger issue is how people interact with each other once they’re on the job,” says Howard J. Ross, founder and chief learning officer at the diversity consultancy Cook Ross in Silver Spring, Md. He cites an oft-quoted maxim: “Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”
“Diversity is about the ingredients, the mix of people and perspectives,” Gerstandt says. “Inclusion is about the container—the place that allows employees to feel they belong, to feel both accepted and different. You need a group of people who think differently—in a container that’s safe to share those differences.”

Getting There

Make no mistake: Achieving a truly diverse and inclusive workplace is a lot of work. Among the hardest things to combat are the biases people embrace on an unconscious level—deep prejudices or stereotypes imparted by upbringing, culture and mass media that influence our perceptions about others.
Making employees aware of unconscious bias, which research has shown everyone has, is not sufficient; HR and business leaders must develop practices to mitigate it. “Education is only the beginning of the conversation,” Ross says. “It’s like joining the gym—you still have to exercise.”
Fortunately, there are many new ways that companies can get that workout. Tech tools and companies are sprouting up all over the place to help leaders hire, manage and retain a vital and diverse workforce. And an emerging crop of innovators, including those highlighted here, are thinking about diversity and inclusion in new and exciting ways that seem to represent a win-win for employees and company leaders.
“It’s beyond the right thing to do,” Marshall says.
ARTICLE SOURCE: Society for Human Resource Management
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Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Gets Innovative

It won’t be long before U.S. minorities are not in the minority anymore. Due to projected growth among Asian, Hispanic and multiracial groups, traditionally underrepresented populations will hit majority status by 2044, according to the Census Bureau.
Smart companies reflect that reality in the collective makeup of their employees. Their leaders understand that yesterday’s workforce can’t lead them into tomorrow. “We see diversity and inclusion as a business imperative,” says Wanda Hope, chief diversity officer at Johnson & Johnson in New York City.
That sentiment is shared by leaders at AT&T, where 42 percent of employees are people of color. “It makes good business sense to have an employee base that looks like our customer base,” says Cynthia Marshall, senior vice president of human resources and chief diversity officer at the Dallas-based company. “To truly serve the populations we want to serve, we need diverse groups of employees, suppliers and vendors.” AT&T attracts a diverse pipeline of applicants by partnering with universities to help prepare minority students for work; it also supports underrepresented employees through mentorships and employee resource groups.
The business case for attracting a wider range of employees will only get stronger as the country grows more diverse. “If you’re not good at attracting and retaining women and people of color, you’re competing for an increasingly smaller portion of talent,” says Joe Gerstandt, a diversity consultant based in Omaha, Neb. “And that’s a fundamentally flawed strategy.”

Performance Driver

But diversity is not just about mirroring the country’s demographics. It’s also about innovation and performance. Companies that exhibit gender and ethnic diversity are, respectively, 15 percent and 35 percent more likely to outperform those that don’t, according to global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. And research indicates that organizations with more racial and gender diversity bring in more sales revenue, more customers and higher profits.
Diversity also matters at the top: McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile of executive-board diversity had returns on equity that were 53 percent higher than those in the bottom quartile. Moreover, organizations with more female executives are more profitable, according to a 2016 analysis of more than 20,000 firms in 91 countries.
“Attracting, retaining and developing diverse professionals stirs innovation and drives growth,” says Mike Dillon, chief diversity and inclusion officer for PwC in San Francisco.
That statement is backed by decades of sociological and economic research, and there are myriad reasons it holds true. In part it’s because people with different backgrounds and perspectives bring different information to the table. Members of diverse teams can’t take for granted that their teammates think the same way they do. That leads them to question their own assumptions and anticipate alternate viewpoints. The result? More-creative ideas and solutions.
Which is exactly what a company like Johnson & Johnson needs. “Because we are an innovation company, we need a global workforce that not only represents our customers and patients but also constantly brings in new insights,” says Peter Fasolo, chief human resources officer. At Johnson & Johnson, the hiring and promotion of diverse employees is factored into the determination of managers’ annual bonuses.
[SHRM members-only resource: HR Q&As–How to Breathe New Life into your Diversity Initiative.]

Broadening Diversity

Communicating with members of diverse teams takes extra effort, but that effort leads to better collaboration and more favorable outcomes overall, says David Rock, director of the NeuroLeadership Institute in New York City. “They challenge their own and others’ thinking.”
Perhaps that explains why the concept of organizational diversity itself has become increasingly diversified—to include personality type, thinking style and other factors that influence how people see the world. Finding the right mix of individuals to work on teams, and creating the conditions in which they can excel, are key business goals for today’s leaders, given that collaboration has become a paradigm of the 21st century workplace. Yet building strong teams and attracting more-diverse workers are just two pieces of the puzzle.
“The far bigger issue is how people interact with each other once they’re on the job,” says Howard J. Ross, founder and chief learning officer at the diversity consultancy Cook Ross in Silver Spring, Md. He cites an oft-quoted maxim: “Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”
“Diversity is about the ingredients, the mix of people and perspectives,” Gerstandt says. “Inclusion is about the container—the place that allows employees to feel they belong, to feel both accepted and different. You need a group of people who think differently—in a container that’s safe to share those differences.”

Getting There

Make no mistake: Achieving a truly diverse and inclusive workplace is a lot of work. Among the hardest things to combat are the biases people embrace on an unconscious level—deep prejudices or stereotypes imparted by upbringing, culture and mass media that influence our perceptions about others.
Making employees aware of unconscious bias, which research has shown everyone has, is not sufficient; HR and business leaders must develop practices to mitigate it. “Education is only the beginning of the conversation,” Ross says. “It’s like joining the gym—you still have to exercise.”
Fortunately, there are many new ways that companies can get that workout. Tech tools and companies are sprouting up all over the place to help leaders hire, manage and retain a vital and diverse workforce. And an emerging crop of innovators, including those highlighted here, are thinking about diversity and inclusion in new and exciting ways that seem to represent a win-win for employees and company leaders.
“It’s beyond the right thing to do,” Marshall says.

2017 Recruiting Trends Point To Technology Driving Change

As the labor market tightens, talent acquisition professionals in 2017 will be asked to fill more positions offering alternative work arrangements and to begin to use emerging technologies to find the right workers for their organizations.
Employers will staff on-demand and gig positions, utilize data analytics and artificial intelligence tools, emphasize skills over formal education to increase diversity, and target passive candidates through hyper-personalization.
According to Byrne Mulrooney, CEO of Los Angeles-based Futurestep, a Korn Ferry company specializing in recruitment process outsourcing, technology will tie all these trends together. “It doesn’t matter what industry our clients are in—everything from manufacturing to professional services and retail—every company can now be classified as a technology company,” he said. “This has forever changed the way talent acquisition experts do their jobs, and what candidates have come to expect.”
More important than the buzz over 2017 trends, however, is the need for employers to keep their focus on maturing practices like continuing to strategically use recruitment marketing and employer branding; measure quality of hire; improve the candidate experience; and shift to mobile search functionality.
“Without an embedded commitment to mobile, candidate experience and branding, your recruiting team is likely losing candidates you don’t even know about,” said Lars Schmidt, the founder of Amplify Talent, a recruiting and branding agency in Tysons, Va.

Mastery of Data Will Be Game-Changing

Industry thought leader John Sullivan says 2017 is “the year of the algorithm.” Sullivan asserts that the recruiting function will finally “begin the shift away from a decision model based on past practices and intuition and toward data-driven decision-making.”
Sales and marketing teams have relied on big data, analytics and predictive models for years to optimize and personalize the process of converting prospects into applicants, according to Jon Bischke, CEO of Entelo, a social sourcing and talent analytics software company in San Francisco. “Talent teams are finally catching up to their colleagues,” he said. “In 2016, we saw recruiters … adopting technologies to automate aspects of their daily workload and leveraging the rich data stores they’ve amassed to create meaningful and actionable recruitment plans.”
Organizations that take a data-driven approach to talent acquisition will find a competitive advantage in 2017, Bischke added. “Not only will they know for certain which sources lead to new hires, they’ll also be able to identify and surface ideal talent profiles, and automatically seek out both active and passive job seekers who fit the mold. They will have a clearer picture of the talent population that exists and will be able to focus their efforts on the candidates who are the most receptive to new opportunities.”
Using data to predict behavior will become increasingly important as technology continues to advance, said Brendan Browne, vice president of global talent acquisition at LinkedIn.
“Sourcing systems are becoming much more intuitive and can pick up on certain cues that will give employers a whole new level of insight,” agreed Eric Presley, chief technology officer at CareerBuilder, an HR solutions firm based in Chicago.
Elaine Orler, CEO of San Diego-based recruitment consulting firm Talent Function, said that predictive modeling—either robust succession planning or recruiting trend and analysis tools—will play a larger role in defining recruiting needs, position requirements and, ultimately, determining which talent is the right fit for the job.
Smarter use of talent data will expand recruiting metrics beyond the hire itself, from time-to-hire and cost-per-hire to longer-term metrics that measure tenure, performance, fit and retention. Data tools will help match a candidate to the position that best fits his or her skills and background; assess a candidate’s personality, values and interests; rank the priority of jobs for workforce planners; and arguably, root out hiring bias.
With opportunities, though, come challenges. Kevin Wheeler, founder and president of the Future of Talent Institute, a San Francisco-area think tank, is as enamored by the exciting developments in predictive data analytics as anyone in the industry, but he doesn’t want employers to become complacent to the troubling aspects of the technology—such as being able to find out too much information.
“A recruiter can go out and scrape someone’s online profile and find out that he or she poses a potential health risk because of a mention on Facebook about diabetes,” he said. “That’s the big danger… [making observations and assumptions about] their personality, their reputation, their creditworthiness, and doing it without any candidate awareness.”
Another danger is trusting these tools without knowing the validation criteria, Wheeler said. “Are they really predicting what they say they are predicting? I think it’s really shaky today and it’s totally unregulated, leaving a lot of potential for really negative consequences.”

Tools Will Get More Intelligent

HR and talent acquisition practitioners will hear a lot about artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and bots in 2017. The Harvey Nash Human Resources 2017 Survey found that 15 percent of HR leaders polled from 40 countries said artificial intelligence and automation are already impacting their workplace plans. Another 40 percent said they expect AI and automation to affect their plans within two to five years.
But how this evolving technology impacts HR and recruiting isn’t completely clear, as the technology is at an early stage, currently focusing on process automation and efficiency.
“The way we interact with AI right now is really simplistic,” said William Tincup, SHRM-SCP, an expert on recruiting technology and president of recruitment media company RecruitingDaily. “It’s like going from paper to digital. You used to write things down on a Post-It note to remind you to do something. Now you have a program where you type those things in and it reminds you,” he said. Essentially, at this early stage, AI is automating manual tasks.
Tincup sees AI and bots in particular improving one of the biggest gripes about the recruiting process: communicating with candidates. “Recruiters are horrible at letting candidates know where they are in the recruiting process,” he said. “AI will make it so that feedback is consistently given.”
Communication and connectivity should also be improved as chatbots and other voice recognition apps allow recruiters to carry out relatively complex tasks simply by speaking, Wheeler said.
Sourcers also are starting to use AI. “We are moving away from a world where candidates seek a job to one where the job finds the candidate,” said Steve Goodman, CEO of Restless Bandit, a workforce analytics and talent matching company based in San Francisco. “AI can analyze a job description, compare it to a resume, and then reach out to candidates via e-mail to request they apply. Machine learning and matching-algorithm intelligence is turning the process upside down.”
It’s important to note that the future of AI is based on the tool getting smarter over time as more people interact with it. “The first years will not be that great,” Tincup said. “But it will get smarter via the users’ behavior. There is no ceiling for knowledge. The technology will take data, put it together and keep learning. But it will not displace recruiters.”
Experts assert that the technology will instead elevate HR to become more strategic. “Humans will still need to do the qualitative stuff,” Tincup said. “The technology will free recruiters to spend more qualitative time with candidates and hiring managers. Robots will not strategize, not for a long time.”

The On-Demand Workforce Will Grow

Some researchers estimate that by 2020 as much as 40 percent of the American workforce will be made up of contingent workers, which includes temporary employees, independent contractors and project-based on-demand workers.
Josh Wright, chief economist for recruitment software company iCIMS, based in Matawan, N.J., said that while the pursuit of short-term, project-based freelance work is not new, the ability to centralize this type of work and give freelancers access to potential clients through online apps has led to an explosion of the practice.
According to Mulrooney, the two key drivers responsible for the rise of the on-demand workforce are workers’ demand for diversity and flexibility in their roles and a shift in organizational strategy from needing to hire a person to needing to complete a task.
Wheeler explained that, historically, recruiting focused on full-time regular hires or temporary hires. Gig hiring—such as when retailers ramped up headcount during the annual holiday season—fell under purchasing or procurement. “TA was unaware that those people even existed,” he said. “The TA function had been insular, focused on growth or replacement. Many colleagues in TA have told me they are now looking at taking over gig workforce hiring as a part of their responsibilities.”
Determining the optimal workforce composition will be a core competency for HR and TA functions going forward, Wheeler said. “HR will be asked to help determine which positions should be full time and which should be done by contractors, or staffed by third-party agencies. We’ll see a shift to contracting with more niche expertise workers as needed instead of hiring full-time generalists to all-purpose roles.”
The growth in recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) firms will also continue. “Agencies will have to include RPO or they will not survive, except a small sliver of executive search firms,” Wheeler said.
But Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist for employer review website Glassdoor, is pushing back on speculation about the growth of the gig workforce. “Without a doubt, there has been massive growth in the gig economy in recent years. But growth in gig work will likely trail off in 2017 and beyond as reality sets in about the actual pros and cons of contract work—both for workers and employers,” he said.
Chamberlain explained that using contract or gig workers allows for flexibility for workers and cuts overhead costs for employers, but “it only works for relatively simple jobs that are easy to measure.”
He said that skilled work in professional services, technology and finance increasingly require deep institutional knowledge, trust, reputation and personal relationships inside the organization. “These jobs have many intangible attributes that are hard to measure, making it hard to carve them up in pieces, each with their own contract written to specify exactly what will be delivered. For that reason, the gig economy is likely to remain a small, although important part of the U.S. labor market.”

‘Skills over Schools’ Movement Will Diversify Hiring

By 2020, estimates the McKinsey consulting firm, there will be a global shortfall of approximately 85 million qualified workers.
There is a “critical need for organizations to broaden their views to source and hire talent with diversity being a crucial consideration,” Mulrooney said. “By diversifying their workforce, businesses can utilize a currently untapped pool of talent to help plug the skills gap.”
One trend gathering followers is the “skills over schools” methodology.
“In the past, recruiters and hiring managers looked at resumes and put too much stock into where a candidate previously worked or went to school, rather than the specific skillsets they possess,” said Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer for iCIMS. “Recently, they have been shifting the focus to hiring driven candidates who have the determination to learn the skills they need for the job and who share the same competencies of the organization.”
Hiring based on academic pedigree is becoming a thing of the past, Schmidt said, though many hiring managers still have this mindset. “This creates opportunities for savvy recruiters more focused on experience, skills and potential to find true high-potential candidates,” he added. Industry leaders like Deloitte, Google and LinkedIn have announced efforts to hire for skill over alma mater.
Many employers have long complained that universities don’t provide graduates with the skills competitive businesses need today, Vitale said. “Online education courses are on the rise, allowing people to learn coding and other skills that allow them to earn full-time or on-demand work in highly sought-after areas. These learning opportunities are more accessible to a wide variety of individuals, which in turn should make the pool of talent more diverse for hiring organizations.”

Recruiting Will Get Hyper-Personal

With the talent market becoming more competitive, companies are switching focus from what employees need to what employees want, Browne said.
“Today’s candidates require a consumer-quality experience, similar to what they receive when shopping online,” said Roopesh Nair, president and CEO of Symphony Talent, a leading recruitment marketing company based in New York City. “Personalization is the key to capturing their attention. Thanks to omnichannel solutions and artificial intelligence, data is getting more precise than ever and can be gathered from every point of contact with a candidate to provide a more relevant, consistent and personalized experience.”
Personalizing careers sites and recruitment marketing will significantly impact not only the quality of candidates companies can reach and attract but also the number of relevant applications. “Data can be used by recruiters to create persona-based content to reach higher quality candidates, while at the same time relieving them of mundane tasks so they can refocus on their actual job—recruiting,” Nair said.
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7 common workplace safety hazards

The National Safety Council has a team of consultants who travel across the country – and the world – to visit worksites and conduct safety audits. But no matter where each team member is, chances are good that he or she will spot one or more of seven common safety hazards. Here, NSC consultants JoAnn Dankert, Namir George and Rachel Harrington identify for Safety+Health the workplace hazards they see over and over again.

1. Working at height

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Dankert, Harrington and George frequently spot hazards associated with working at height. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that falls to a lower level accounted for 14 percent of all fatalities in 2014, and OSHA standards related to scaffolding and ladders are regularly among the most frequently cited violations.
Dankert, an NSC senior consultant based in Arizona, said hazards associated with working at height can originate from a lack of understanding. Employers may not know they have to provide fall protection, or the fall protection gear may not be worn properly or not hooked up to anything. Some employers don’t even have a written fall protection procedure or process.
Employers need to identify all locations where fall protection is necessary – as well as where the engineered anchor points are – and train employees and regularly audit the fall protection program, she said.
Watch an interview with National Safety Council Senior Consultant JoAnn Dankert about common safety hazards she finds on jobsites.
Some of those locations may be surprising. Dankert recently visited a manufacturing facility that was expanding and had added to its roof a new 12-foot-tall chiller next to three existing ones. But something was missing. The old equipment had proper fall protection, including swing gates and a railing for when maintenance work is needed, but the new chiller didn’t.
“The fall hazard was not about doing work and falling off the roof – it was the equipment on top of that roof,” Dankert said. “These are hidden places you don’t go to very often, and you just don’t think about it.”
Dankert cites this case as an example of the need for safety professionals to have a seat at the table when decisions on design or purchases are made. Their input, she said, can save employers time and money.
More advice: Buy the correct-sized gear for workers, and keep in mind that although some work environments may have anchor points readily available, other locations may need an engineer to install them. Remind employees to hook to the anchor point when working at height, and keep a close eye on how well personal protective equipment is holding up. Environments with sharp edges, chemicals or welding, for example, can weaken a harness. Regularly inspect gear, and remove damaged PPE from service.
“Fall protection is like other PPE – it’s not good forever and ever,” Dankert said.
In some situations, it may be beneficial to forgo using personal fall protection equipment and instead build a platform with standard railings and a swing gate in front of a fixed ladder. Although such a platform costs money, Dankert said, it may be less costly than creating a fall protection plan, buying the PPE, and training and re-training employees.

2. Poor housekeeping

Clutter blocking fire exits, aisles and emergency exits is a housekeeping problem that George, who is based in the United Kingdom as NSC’s manager of international consulting services, sees often.
Another common hazard? Over-stacking loads on racks in a warehouse that bring them too close to a sprinkler head, which can limit the sprinkler’s efficiency in an emergency. Clutter, leaks or standing water also can contribute to slips, trips and falls.
Workers shouldn’t wait for housekeeping or sanitation crews to take care of these issues, Dankert said. Instead, they should clean as they go. “Just because it’s a dirty process doesn’t mean you shouldn’t clean up spills,” she said.
If the clutter or spill requires specialized training to clean up, then employees need to alert their supervisor, who can send in the appropriate staff. Additionally, Dankert recommends setting aside a few minutes at the end of each shift, or on a Friday afternoon, to clean up before leaving for the day.
When it comes to storage, employers need to make sure appropriate areas are made available, notes Harrington, an NSC senior consultant based in Illinois. Harrington said she often sees electrical rooms used inappropriately for storage, with supplies blocking electrical installations.
Even if clearance between the stored supplies and the circuit breakers is appropriate, Harrington pointed out, employers need to consider situations that could arise in which someone would need easy access to that room.
“Think about an emergency where lights are out, something has gone wrong, and it’s full of chairs,” she said. “I wouldn’t recommend storing anything in an electrical room beyond what’s in the use of that room. I wouldn’t recommend it at all.”
JoAnn DankertNamir GeorgeRachel Harrington

3. Electrical – Extension cords

Blocked breakers aren’t the only electrical hazard NSC consultants frequently see. Many electrical hazards spotted are related to inappropriate use of extension cords.
Dankert often witnesses “daisy-chaining” – using multiple extension cords or power strips for a device. At one manufacturing facility Dankert visited, she saw as many as five extension cords chained together.
“It was almost like Christmas tree lights,” she said. “All you really saw were all these electrical cords everywhere.”
Because the employer is a developer of prototype equipment, the layout of the manufacturing floor was regularly being changed. And in most other aspects, the employer was conscientious about safety – the extension cords being used were new and heavy-gauge, and the facility was very clean.
“They were trying to do the right thing, but it also made me think it’s not really temporary,” Dankert said.
And that’s the point: Although extension cords can be useful for temporarily supplying power for certain operations, the key word is “temporarily.” When a cord is used for several weeks or months, Dankert said, OSHA doesn’t consider the use temporary. This opens the door for a violation.
Beyond that, extension cords lying on the ground for extended periods of time are a trip hazard. They also can be subject to traffic abuse if run over by forklifts or feet, which can wear down insulation and create shock hazards. When cords are daisy-chained, they can easily overdraw electricity from the circuits, causing the wires to heat up and potentially result in a fire.
Employers should assess whether extension cords are truly being used for temporary measures – perhaps to power a fan on an especially hot day. In such an event, Dankert said, the cord should be gathered up at the end of the shift and stored. She recommends establishing a system to periodically inspect extension cords, and training employees on that system to ensure the cords stay in good working condition and worn-out cords are placed out of service.
Workers need to ensure they’re using the right extension cord for the job. Typically, a more expensive cord has a heavier gauge, which allows it to take more power without getting hot. The same applies for using a single power strip to plug in several different devices – the power strip may not be rated for the combined wattage needed for all the high-draw appliances being plugged in.
If the extension cords are not being used for a temporary fix, employers should consider bringing in an electrician to drop in a line and outlet.

4. Forklifts

What’s a leading cause of forklift-related hazards in the workplace? In George’s experience, it’s when workers feel compelled to work quickly.
“What dictates their activity is production,” he said. “They’re all under pressure, and when you’re under pressure, they start taking shortcuts.”
Shortcuts include driving with too large of a load or driving distracted. The end result may be hitting a rack, damaging a wall or product, or even injuring a co-worker.
How employers react to these occurrences is critical, but their responses often miss the mark, NSC consultants say. George said a common attitude after an incident is to blame the individual and instill discipline. The forklift driver is re-trained, re-tested and then put back into the system. But employers fail to identify the root cause, which often is not enough staff or trucks to manage the current workload.
Compounding these problems is a lack of maintenance and daily checks of trucks, and failing to segregate vehicles from pedestrians, George said. Trucks should be regularly inspected to ensure they are in proper working order, and employers should create designated walkways.

5. Lockout/tagout

Proper lockout/tagout procedures can help prevent serious injuries, but only if those procedures are followed.
“A lot of organizations, they’ve got the best procedures in place, but it’s the implementation of the procedures that fails,” George said.
Some examples:
  • One employee may go home for the day with his lock on, and the next worker on duty cuts the lock.
  • Workers may simply use a label on older equipment for which secure lockout is more difficult.
  • Instead of installing a chain to lock a valve in place, a wire that can easily be cut may be used.
Even if all lockout/tagout steps are followed, faulty equipment can still lead to failures. George recalled a case in which an electrician doing rewiring work was shocked. The equipment was locked out, but the instruments he was using to check the system were tampered with and failed to read that the system was live and not isolated. The worker touched a live cable, causing a third-degree burn.
Violation of lockout/tagout procedures often boils down to three reasons:
  • Complacency
  • A rush to finish the work
  • Being unfamiliar with the equipment
Employers need to train employees on lockout/tagout and ensure they’re qualified to carry out the procedures, George stressed.

6. Chemicals

Chemicals can be expensive, and workers in some industries may never know when they’ll need to use a certain chemical again in the future. But according to Harrington, this kind of thinking can lead to serious hazards.
“Before you know it, you have all these chemicals no one wants or needs,” she said. “There’ll be literally hundreds of chemicals on the shelves.”
She added that although it may be easy to overlook a small, 5-gram bottle, those 5 grams can become unstable over time. For example, after a year or so, ether can degrade into explosive peroxide.
When an organization purchases and uses chemicals, it needs to have a control system, Harrington said. It needs to know what the chemicals are for and why they were ordered.
OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard requires facilities to keep an inventory of all products. Mark down the chemical’s expiration date, and use the chemical by that date or dispose of it properly. This is more than just a safety issue, Harrington said – stockpiling a huge cache of unwanted chemicals can be illegal. It also can be very expensive to dispose of large quantities of expired chemicals.
Another potential hazard is transferring chemicals from one container to another. Even if employees feel comfortable around the chemicals and have worked with them for years, the containers must be labeled as required under the hazcom standard.

7. Confined spaces

Confined spaces can present a number of hazards. George said many tragedies involving confined spaces have occurred because an employer didn’t issue a permit or failed to carry out a risk assessment.
In one scenario George encountered, a confined space’s hazardous atmosphere wasn’t assessed properly because the equipment being used was out of date. A fire broke out.
“I’ve seen people go inside drains without a permit, and didn’t even know it was a confined space,” he said. “Someone’s gone inside to pick up something and he collapses because the standby person was distracted.”
If the risk assessment and permit process are done correctly, and all steps are followed, employers won’t have a problem, George said. “Everything is all planned,” he added. “If you don’t plan it correctly, you plan for a disaster.”

Focus on prevention

The seven hazards presented are by no means an exhaustive list – many other hazards may exist at your worksite, and spotting them requires vigilance. To help identify workplace hazards, NSC consultants recommend focusing on the following areas:
Training – Workers won’t inherently know they have to do something a certain way, Dankert said. It’s up to each organization to appropriately train employees on safety protocols. This training begins upon hiring the new worker, when an employer provides an introduction to occupational safety and health, including hazard recognition. The training should continue under the specific department in which the new employee will work. Afterward, regular refresher training is necessary.
Know the purpose of the training, and ensure the appropriate training is given for each individual worker based on his or her needs. After the training, monitor and supervise the workers to check whether they’re applying it appropriately.
“ Spending a little bit of money up front on prevention can save you money on the back end ”
JOANN DANKERT
SENIOR CONSULTANT
NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL
Personal protective equipment – “The use of PPE falls squarely on the role of employers to determine, to provide and to ensure people are wearing it,” Dankert said.
If employers determine PPE is necessary, they need to select the right sizes and a variety of choices for their staff – and train workers on how to properly put on, wear and take off the gear. Supervisors on the floor should model the behavior they expect from employees by wearing all required PPE. If employees aren’t wearing PPE, Dankert said, employers need to find out why – the gear may be uncomfortable or not performing correctly.
But providing the right safety equipment isn’t enough. The devices can be misused or neglected. “People are pretty cavalier with their PPE,” Harrington said, adding that employers should ensure gear is placed in its appropriate container and not simply slung over a hook.
Clearly communicate and reinforce the need for workers to wear PPE by stressing that the equipment protects them from injuries and illnesses, such as losing an eye or developing a respiratory disease. In short, George said, teach “what’s in it for me.”
Resources – Quite often, small businesses simply don’t have the resources to adequately check their systems for safety. And in many situations, Dankert added, employers may not know what encompasses a safe procedure.
These employers should reach out and access available resources, many of which are free. Several fire insurance and workers’ compensation insurance carriers offer complimentary inspection programs. OSHA does too, and says employers won’t be penalized if violations are found during a consultation visit. (For more on OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program, see p. 76)
Some equipment vendors also may be willing to conduct certain audits, according to Dankert, so ask. Check out free resources on the web – including those from OSHA and the National Safety Council – and search for free, local training. OSHA’s Susan Harwood Training Grant Program routinely provides training in a variety of areas, and its website has free resource materials.
However, not all resources are free, and employers must be willing to make an investment in certain training or PPE if they want to keep workers safe. “Spending a little bit of money up front on prevention can save you money on the back end,” Dankert said.
Culture – Many worksites have a “monkey see, monkey do” mentality, according to Harrington. If a supervisor or manager does something in an unsafe manner, other workers will follow suit.
Instead, organizations should establish a culture in which safety becomes everyone’s responsibility and workers feel comfortable reporting hazardous processes. Leadership sets the tone.
“If management is committed, and they send a signal to employees about the management of safety to the shop floor or the bottom end of the tree, it cascades that responsibility,” George said.

8 Steps to Keep Workers Safe in the Heat

Forecasters are calling for above-average temperatures across much of the country this summer. Are you prepared to beat the heat? Every year, thousands of workers become ill from working in the heat, and some even die. Construction workers make up about one-third of heat-related worker deaths, but outdoor workers in every industry – particularly agriculture, landscaping, transportation, and oil and gas operations − are at risk when temperatures go up. Heat-related illnesses and deaths can be prevented. Employers and supervisors can save the lives of workers in hot environments by following these eight simple steps:
  • Institute a heat acclimatization plan and medical monitoring program. Closely supervise new employees for the first 14 days or until they are fully acclimatized. Most heat-related worker deaths occur in the first 3 days on the job and more than a third occur on the very first day. New and temporary workers are disproportionately affected. If someone has not worked in hot weather for at least a week, their body needs time to adjust.
  • Encourage workers to drink about 1 cup of water every 15-20 minutes. During prolonged sweating lasting several hours, they should drink sports beverages containing balanced electrolytes.
  • Provide shaded or air-conditioned rest areas for cooling down, and empower workers to use them.
  • Provide workers with protective equipment and clothing (such as water-cooled garments, air-cooled garments, hats, ice-packet vests, wetted over-garments, and heat-reflective aprons or suits).
  • Be familiar with heat illness signs and symptoms, and make sure your employees are, too. Some heat exhaustion signs are dizziness, headaches, cramps, sweaty skin, nausea and vomiting, weakness and a fast heartbeat. Heat stroke symptoms include red, hot, dry skin; convulsions; fainting; and confusion. In general, fainting and confusion represent an emergency and should trigger the call for professional evaluation.
  • Encourage workers to recognize heat illness symptoms and notify a supervisor or medical professional if they or other coworkers are showing signs. Implement a buddy system where workers observe each other for early signs and symptoms of heat intolerance.
  • Download OSHA’s Heat Safety Tool on your iPhone or Android device to help calculate the heat index, a measurement of how it feels when considering humidity. The app provides specific recommendations for preventing heat illness based on the estimated risk level where you are working.
  • Know what to do in an emergency. Employees should call a supervisor for help. If a supervisor is not available, call 911. Have someone stay with the worker until help arrives.
More resources are available on OSHA’s website in English and Spanish. Remember: “Water. Rest. Shade.” can prevent heat illness and save lives.
Mandy Edens is the director of OSHA’s Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management. Follow OSHA on Twitter as @OSHA_DOL.

Us Temp Jobs Up By 13,400 In Second-highest Gain In Two Years

Temporary help jobs rose by 13,400 in June from May and the temp penetration rate reached an all-time high for the third month in a row, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today’s revised data also increased May’s previously reported gain of 12,900 US temp jobs to a gain of 16,800.
In addition, the year-over-year growth rate in temp jobs was 4.74% in June, down from 4.94% in May but still the largest second-largest year-over-year growth rate since June 2015.
The temp penetration rate — temp jobs as a percent of total employment — rose to a record-high 2.070% in June from 2.064% in May.
“Despite being in the latter stages of an economic expansion, the temporary penetration rate continues to reach new heights,” said Tony Gregoire, director of research, the Americas, at Staffing Industry Analysts.
Total nonfarm jobs rose by 222,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% in June from 4.3% in May. The college-level unemployment rate — which can serve as a proxy for professional employment — edged up to 2.4% in June from 2.3% in May.
Bloomberg reports that while payroll gains were broad-based and boosted by the biggest jump in government jobs in almost a year, wages were below forecasts, even with the jobless rate close to the lowest since 2001.
The Conference Board noted the strong job growth in June and the upward revisions for May and April suggest that the concerns about a major slowdown in job growth were premature.
“If monthly employment growth remains at the 150,000-200,000 range, the labor market will continue to rapidly tighten, given the slow growth in labor supply,” The Conference Board stated. “Wage growth may resume accelerating later in the year.”
Solid employment growth and a tightening labor market are likely to support household spending moving forward, according to The Conference Board. In such an environment, the Fed is unlikely to have second thoughts about normalizing interest rates and two additional rate hikes in 2017 are not out of the question.
“The report shows a small uptick in the labor force participation rate, a welcome development for the economy,” according to Express Employment Professionals CEO Bob Funk.
“It’s good to see even this small increase in the labor force participation rate,” Funk said. “Businesses are having a hard time finding workers. It’s important for people to get off the sidelines and into the workforce.”
“Today’s jobs report shows the significant pressure that companies are under to attract, acquire and retain skilled employees,” Randstad Sourceright CEO Rebecca Henderson said in a statement. “It is this growing talent gap that is bolstering the use of contingent labor, which almost half of the human capital leaders we recently surveyed said accounts for as much as 40% of the total workforce.”
Henderson also noted the BLS’ next survey of contingent and alternative employment arrangements in the US workforce — expected to be released later this year — is likely to indicate a dramatic shift to a more flexible workforce in the US and demonstrate how companies are able to keep growing despite low unemployment figures.
ARTICLE SOURCE: Staffing Industry