O/E to Present at the Michigan Safety Conference
Following up with successes at Williams International, Henry Ford Health System, Thomas Built Buses, and Daimler Truck North America, the Troy-based company will present Selling Safety in Tough Economic Times.
Troy, MI (Vocus) April 1, 2009
O/E will be represented at the conference by Phil La Duke, Director of the Performance Improvement Division. La Duke will present Selling Safety in Tough Economic Times. The presentation will focus on how safety professionals can gain support for internal safety initiatives when most companies are slashing safety and training budgets.
“Garnering support for a safety initiative can be tough,” says La Duke, “and in an environment where every dollar spent is scrutinized and debated, safety managers have to get creative; I’m confident that this presentation will provide managers with important tools that will help them get projects approved.”
This is the third consecutive trip to the podium for La Duke; last year, La Duke presented Six Secrets of the Worlds’ Safest Companies: What They Know and You Should Too to a standing room only crowd, and in 2007 he co-presented the successes that Williams International realized from implementing SafetyIMPACT! at the aerospace company’s facilities in Ogden, Utah and Walled Lake, Michigan. Williams has since deployed SafetyIMPACT! at its Guaymas, Mexico facility and a Lean Manufacturing school in Ogden.
“Last year we focused on showcasing the values that the world’s safest companies share, and how any company can create an environment that fosters these values. These values are more than a statement pinned to a bulletin board; the world’s safest companies use these values to guide their basic business systems. This year we wanted to focus on a more specific topic, but one from which professionals from all verticals could benefit,” explains La Duke.
The recent economic upheavals have led many business leaders to reevaluate the effectiveness of safety efforts that do little to reduce injuries and the cost of treating them. “Executives are more and more interested in what we’re doing with SafetyIMPACT!,” mentions Rick Vlasic, CEO of O/E. “We see a lot more traffic on the SafetyIMPACT! Web site (www. safety-impact. com), and get a tremendous amount of interest in having us present at professional conferences—both domestically and internationally. I like to think that we’re making a difference not only in the boardroom, but on the shop floors and hospital wards. We make the workplace safer which protects individuals, and we lower the cost of doing business which protects their jobs.”
The Michigan Safety Conference is April 7–8, 2009 in Grand Rapids MI and Selling Safety in Hard Economic Times will be presented on April 8 from noon–1:30 p. m.
SafetyIMPACT!
SafetyIMPACT! is a culture-based safety system designed to reduce worker injuries and lower costs through the implementation of six values and four practices common to the world’s safest companies. Central to this system is a proprietary database that records hazards, identifies the root causes of these hazards, and tracks them to correction. The philosophy that is the foundation of SafetyIMPACT! is that all injuries can be prevented by identifying and removing the hazards before workers are injured.
O/E Learning, Inc.
Established in 1984, O/E Learning designs and develops new training and performance improvement programs, as well as converts existing programs to different forms of delivery including Web-based, instructor-led, virtual classroom, CD/DVD, and mobile devices. O/E’s diverse services range from organizational development initiatives to professional certifications in safety, quality, and employee involvement. The privately held company is headquartered in Troy, MI. Leverage Life, a wholly owned subsidiary, is headquartered in Pleasanton, CA and focuses on providing corporate Concierge, Wellness, and Work/Life programs. Learn more about O/E at: www. oe. com.
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