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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ FEBRUARY 2015
Workplace SAFETY TIPS for PBA members
All employers in the Garden State have a duty
to keep their workers safe. Typically, if there’s a
leak or a spill on the floor of an office building,
it’s promptly rectified and a “Caution” sign
placed in the area so that no one slips.
Construction workers use hard hats and harnesses to reduce injuries and falls. ManufacturJAMES
ing companies provide extensive machinery
CLANCY
training and often require employees to wear
protective clothing and goggles. But unlike
workers in office buildings or factories, police officers and other
first responders face vastly different on-the-job safety issues.
In addition to the obvious risks, law enforcement employees
also face exposure to communicable diseases, respiratory hazards, falling objects, burns and increased risk of injury relating
to automobile accidents.
Protecting against these hazards is essential to municipalities
and government bodies that oversee New Jersey’s police departments.
According to one law enforcement agency leader, some of the
safety measures adopted include the officers’ use of ballistic and
traffic vests, regular firearm inspections by trained armorers
and weekly police vehicle inspections by qualified technicians.
Additionally, officers are required to take—and offered incentives to pass—twice-yearly physical fitness tests. An officer wellness campaign encourages the use of the department gym
during lunch breaks as time permits.
As the largest workers’ compensation insurer in the state,
NJM Insurance Company regularly conducts safety inspections
of clients’ workplaces and offers suggestions to improve
working conditions and lessen the risk of employee injury. The
following safety tips may also prove useful in safeguarding your
force:
• Make sure everyone is on the safety bandwagon. Try to
instill a culture of safety among all officers and civilian
employees. Make sure everyone is trained to recognize and
feel comfortable reporting unsafe situations to their superiors.
• Analyze current safety initiatives. Consider the things that
work well. Maybe your department has the safest drivers or
fewest injuries. Once you are able to document what you’re
doing well, you can then dedicate training to weaker areas.
• Create a safety plan. Many departments have safety plans.
Does yours?
• Do you have periodic training, such as refreshers on safe
driving, lifting, handling waste, and reducing slips and
falls?
• Are police cruisers, firearms, uniforms, vests, masks and
other protective gear in good working condition?
• If required by your municipality, are officers up to date on
fitness tests, physicals and/or vaccinations? According to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
required immunizations for first responders are Tetanus
and Hepatitis B.
• Monitor and revise safety plans. Initial training is crucial,
but so is continuing to educate employees. Ideally, strive
for annual safety refreshers, and regularly update safety
plans, as circumstances can easily change. Several years
ago, for example, officers directing traffic didn’t have to
worry about distracted drivers using smart phones and the
potential injury risks that can pose. Today, this is a major
concern.
• Ask for help. It’s also a good idea to consult with professionals from other fields, including insurance personnel,
industrial hygienists, doctors and others. You may find that
many are willing to give free advice to departments looking
for assistance with their safety programs.
Remember to ask for input from everyone – the ideas and
direction provided by top management sets the example, but
the thoughts and insights of the front-line officers are essential
in knowing what risks they face on a day-to-day basis and how
they may have changed since the last analysis. d
James A. Clancy is a manager with New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Group, who has been employed by NJM for
more than 18 years. He received his Master’s in Industrial
Hygiene from Temple University. He is a certified industrial
hygienist from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene. He
is also a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and a member of the
New Jersey State Industrial Safety Committee.