Recyclers across the country demonstrated their commitment to safety as a core value Wednesday, June 24, 2015, as part of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) Safety Stand-Down Day. The association says participating companies shut down their operations for at least one hour on every shift to engage in safety awareness training, which ranged from employee training to a management walk-around.
“Last year we created an industrywide Safety Stand-Down Day to address growing concern over workplace fatalities and injuries,” says Robin Wiener, president of ISRI, headquartered in Washington. “Since that time last October, we have made great strides, but every time a worker does not come home to his or her family it is one time too many. That is why this year we focused on the theme, ‘Be Safe to Be There.’ We want every worker to be safe so they are there for family holidays, birthdays, fishing trips, graduations, just relaxing in front of the television or any other activity. By focusing on safety as a core value, we encourage safe practices in the workplace,” she added.
Throughout the weeks leading up to the stand-down, ISRI provided its members with a series of Safety Training Guides, each focused on a significant safety risk: lockout/tagout, mobile equipment, confined spaces, fall protection and machine guarding. Each set of materials included handouts and teaching aids such as videos, PowerPoint presentations and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) fact sheets.
“Through a dedicated effort by every recycling company, we can become a leading example to other industries that it is possible to improve a safety record,” Wiener says.
More information about Safety Stand-Down Day, including all of the Safety Training Guides, information on industry fatalities and ISRI’s Safety Outreach program is available here.