Is OSHA’s proposal for E-Reporting going too far?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has put forth a proposed rule that will require many employers to track injuries and illnesses electronically on a new system. If approved, the rule will require this type of reporting take place at least every quarter. For employers with 250+ employees, the website where the data will be sent…

Tony Ferraro | December 19, 2013 | Continuous Improvement | 3 min read

2014 Regularity Priorities from OSHA Announced

Each year the US department of Labor, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announces a list of their priorities for the following year. In fact, they often release updates throughout the year, but the one that comes out at this time of the year typically gets the most attention. All companies would be wise to…

Tony Ferraro | December 16, 2013 | Continuous Improvement | 3 min read

How Unified Communications and Collaboration can Improve Your Business

A unified communications and collaboration system can help improve just about every type of business in a variety of important ways. Before getting into the specifics of how this type of system can help, it is important to understand what is meant by a unified communications and collaboration program. This type of system will vary…

Tony Ferraro | December 6, 2013 | Continuous Improvement | 3 min read

Are Workplace Homicides Growing?

Violence, or even homicides, in the workplace are something we all hear about from time to time, but never really think it could happen to us. The violence is sometimes directed at an individual (such as an overbearing boss or abusive co-worker) but sometimes it seems random. As much as we’d all like to think otherwise,…

Tony Ferraro | December 1, 2013 | Safety | 3 min read

Importance of Proper Respiratory Protection in the Workplace

Everyone knows that when working directly with toxic chemicals or other hazardous materials, it is essential to wear proper respiratory protection. What most people don’t realize, however, is that in many different environments, this same type of protection is still a good idea. In many different work environments, there is often dust, vapors, mist, fumes,…

Tony Ferraro | November 26, 2013 | Safety | 3 min read

How to Hire a Safety Consultant

Hiring a safety consultant is an important task for any growing organization. Whether the position is being opened up because of specific safety concerns, or strictly as a preventative measure, it is important to take the time to make sure you’re hiring the right person for the job. While there are many things that need…

Tony Ferraro | November 25, 2013 | Safety | 3 min read

How do you make a Factory Culture Embrace Lean?

Several years ago, I was working as a project manager for a local manufacturing company. The owner asked me how much I knew about lean, and I told them I had about three years experience working on a lean transformation in upstate New York in which we had to completely change the factory climate from…

Tony Ferraro | November 17, 2013 | Lean | 2 min read

Lean Is More Than Its Tools

I talked with a guy yesterday about 5S and how well it would work at his office.  I asked him what the problem was, and he said, “Oh, you know, it’s messy and I want people to be tidier.” I didn’t laugh or anything, but I let him know that 5S, under the larger lean…

Tony Ferraro | November 3, 2013 | Lean | 1 min read

OSHA and Continuous Improvement

Any organization doing business in the United States should be familiar with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, or OSHA. They are a branch of the US Department of Labor and are tasked with helping to ensure all working environments are safe and healthy for those working in them. They were established in 1970, and have…

Tony Ferraro | October 25, 2013 | Continuous Improvement | 2 min read

Practice Running Projects

Projects are a big part of almost every type of business. Most organizations break up different types of work into projects to help ensure they get done in the most efficient and economical way possible. A project is a set of tasks that is interconnected and designed to help achieve a specific goal. Projects should…

Tony Ferraro | October 24, 2013 | Continuous Improvement | 2 min read