West Bend’s Safety Tips

Learn more about the importance of an emergency action plan that’ll help protect your employees, jobsites, vehicles, and equipment and will minimize the impact on your bottom line.

A common approach to improve workplace safety is a safety incentive program that rewards employees for certain outcomes. Learn more by listening to this short podcast. 

Adverse behaviors by residents in caregiving environments such as senior care, traditional nursing homes, and group homes are often a regular occurrence. We discuss several key ways to ensure a successful debrief.

It’s our 100th podcast!  In celebration of 100 podcasts, find out what it takes to give 100% for safety.

This podcast addresses manual distractions as we continue our series on behaviors, controls, practices, and laws to reduce distracted driving.

This podcast addresses visual distractions as we continue our series on behaviors, controls, practices, and laws to reduce distracted driving.

This podcast addresses cognitive distractions as we continue our series on behaviors, controls, practices, and laws to reduce distracted driving.

West Bend understands the significance of distracted driving. We’ve created a series of podcasts to address behaviors, controls, practices and laws to reduce distracted driving. This series is dedicated to ensuring we all play a part in the fight to save lives by ending distracted driving.

Unfortunately, there are thousands of crashes in work zones every construction season. Drivers and passengers – not workers – make up the vast majority of those either hurt or killed. It's in every driver's best interest to stay focused and patient – especially in work zones. This podcast provides information and practices to help you safely operate your vehicle in work zones. 

When we hear the word ergonomics, we usually think of a fixed workstation either in the office or manufacturing facility. Rarely would we think about a moving workstation.  More of us are relying on travel between physical locations. What should you think about before you turn the key in the ignition? Join us to learn about taking ergonomics on the road.

“Lift with your legs” is a common theme when talking about lifting. The problem is we’re not designed to lift other people. Using the proper equipment and eliminating the manual lifts keeps residents, patients, and caregivers safe. Listen to the challenges healthcare workers face and solutions to help keep them injury-free. 

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, lack of effective teamwork and communication between health-care professionals leads to increased medical errors, decreased outcomes in patient care, and decreased staff and resident safety.

According to the CDC, slips, trips, and falls are the third most common type of non-fatal work-related injury in the United States. Injuries from slips, trips, and falls often lead to time off the job for workers. As employers look for ways to reduce injuries and missed time, those turning to slip-resistant shoes quickly see the benefits.

Inclement weather, which is defined by elements like rain, sleet, snow, fog, blowing sand or debris, and slick pavement, cause millions of motor vehicle crashes annually. This podcast provides you with information and practices to operating your vehicle safely in inclement weather.

Our bodies are designed to move. That’s why you may have heard that when it comes to health risks, sitting is the new smoking. In this podcast, learn how short, frequent microbreaks give our bodies the opportunity to reset, renew, and get ready for the next task without any impact on productivity.

As healthcare professionals, we sometimes find ourselves in a situation where a resident is upset and angry. This creates an adverse event. In most circumstances, these events can be avoided by identifying the triggers and responding in the correct manner.

When determining resident transfer status, staff are often able to determine when a patient needs a total body mechanical lift. When choosing a gait belt versus a sit to stand lift transfers, the waters can get muddy.

Controlling exposures of occupational hazards is the fundamental method of protecting workers. The hierarchy of controls is a means of determining the most practical and effective control solutions.  In this podcast, we share possible ergonomic controls and their effectiveness on that hierarchy.

When setting up a workstation, how high or low should the work be positioned? How far away from the body should workers have to frequently reach? What parameters can we use to easily assess if our workstation designs will keep workers productive and safe?  The purpose of this podcast is to introduce the safe work zones concept and explain how it can help answer these questions.

Ergonomic-related injuries account for up to 75% of all workers’ compensation costs nationwide. As an employer, there are tools you can use to determine what’s safe and what’s NOT safe for your workers.