Academic literature on the topic 'Workers' Compensation Act 1987'

In 1982, amendments to the Michigan Worker’s Disability Compensation Act mandated a substantial increase in the maximum weekly benefit rate to injured workers (from the 1981 maximum of $210 per week to $307 per week). This rate increase became a focus for cost containment by many state employers. One such employer, Motor Wheel Corporation-Lansing Plant, decided to utilize external rehabilitation consultants to facilitate a higher return to work rate of injured workers to lessen compensation expenditures. This article describes the development and preliminary evaluation of the rehabilitation process within Motor Wheel-Lansing Plant.

The U.S. Supreme Court held, in American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co. v. Sullivan, 119 S. Ct. 988 (1999), that state workers’ compensation system insurers cannot be sued for withholding health care benefits for work-related injuries while they decide whether the treatment is “reasonable” and “necessary.” The respondents, ten employees and two organizations representing employees who received medical benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against state officials, the Pennsylvania State Workers’ Insurance Fund, private insurers, and the school district, alleging that their due process rights were violated by provisions of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (Act), 77 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 1 et seq. (West 1992 & Supp. 1998). The Act permits suspension of benefits without notice or opportunity to be heard pursuant to a “utilization review” process.To control costs, Pennsylvania amended its workers’ compensation system in 1993. Under the Act, an employer or its insurer must pay for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment.

Abstract The US Congress passed the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) in 1927 to provide coverage to longshore laborers working on navigable waters of the United States when no state workers’ compensation law applied. After amendments that extended and standardized the Act, the Longshore Compensation Act provides more than $670 million in monetary, medical, and vocational rehabilitation benefits to more than 72,000 individuals annually. Under the LHWCA, ratings are performed for “scheduled injuries” (ie, a scheduled member of the body), including upper extremity injuries (excluding the shoulder), lower extremity injuries, and hearing loss. Impairment ratings typically are expressed in terms of whole person permanent impairment, but under the LHWCA impairment is expressed in the smallest applicable body part (eg, an injury of two digits is expressed as a hand rating). Definitions of terms such as injury, disability, and impairment are similar in the LHWCA and the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides). Claims examiners are advised to require any physician selected to evaluate permanent medical impairment to use the AMA Guides, where applicable, to be detailed in their assessment report, and to rate and report permanent impairment according to the AMA Guides. Boxes in the article present portions of the LHWCA that address compensation for disability and the basic elements required to evaluate anatomical impairment.

Abstract The US Congress passed the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) in 1927; it is administered by the US Department of Labor, Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation (DLHWC), and provides medical benefits, compensation for lost wages, and rehabilitation services to longshoremen, harbor workers, and other maritime workers such as pier, wharf, dock, or terminal workers who are injured during employment or suffer diseases caused or worsened by employment conditions. The LHWCA and the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) similarly define many terms (eg, injury, disability, impairment, permanent). Under the LHWCA, impairment ratings are performed for “scheduled injuries,” and disability benefits are determined by multiplying the percentage of “permanent disability” (eg, “permanent impairment”) for a specific body part by a specified number of weeks. For DLHWC impartial medical specialty evaluations, specific steps are taken to avoid prejudgment of a case, and contested cases are heard before administrative law judges. Physicians who perform impairment ratings should understand not only how to fairly rate permanent impairment according to the AMA Guides but also the specific needs of the groups that request these evaluations. Impairment ratings are required for scheduled injuries, hearing loss, and occupational disease cases covered by the LHWCA; physicians must express extremity ratings as the most distal body part applicable, not as a whole person impairment.

Rehabilitation providers were the product of the 1987 Workers' Compensation Act in NSW, Australia. They operate in a complex environment and serve many masters. This paper assesses how rehabilitation providers are faring in the management of workplace injury. Using in depth semi-structured interviews, the self-perceptions of rehabilitation providers are presented. Results indicate that the current practice of rehabilitation providers labours under a heavy load of competing responsibilities, difficult clientele, adversarial stakeholders, economic restraints, and an unwieldy and clumsy workers' compensation system. Specific problems highlighted by rehabilitation providers included the identification of their core business and client group; misconceptions, lack of information and failure of communication among stakeholders; and lack of co-operation and overt and covert obstruction to the rehabilitation process. Rehabilitation providers perceived that they could function most effectively if they developed a genuine, trusting relationship with the injured worker, and educated and supported the treating doctor and employer in the rehabilitation and return to work process. Rehabilitation providers linked employer support of the injured worker to their willingness to provide suitable duties. Early referral was also considered an essential element in successful return to work. It was argued that rehabilitation providers should conceptualise themselves asadvocates for the rehabilitation processrather than for any stakeholder group. This conceptualisation allows the provider to move comfortably between groups of stakeholders, addressing their diverse needs while maintaining their focus on their core business.

Abstract The aim of this paper is to give some general views on international labour standards, regarding equality of opportunity and treatment. It is important to mention that respecting freedom from discrimination, as a fundamental human right, places a great importance in guaranteeing other rights for workers. Equality standards applied by ILO provide methods which aim to fight against discrimination in society and in the workplace of the employers. One part of this paper is focused in analyzing the term “discrimination”, focusing in different forms that can occur at work, the target group which it can affect and measures that can be taken in order to provide equality at work. This paper analyses the scope and the obligations under ILO instruments, such as three fundamental conventions. One of the most important conventions is the convention concerning discrimination regarding occupation and employment, “Discrimination Employment and Occupation” Convention nr. 111. This fundamental convention represents discrimination as every different treatment which has effect on equality of creating same possibilities for everyone in occupation or employment. According to this legal act, it is mandatory the implementation of a national legislation which promotes equality of treatment and opportunity, regarding occupation and employment in general, designed to eliminate all types of different treatment in these fields. This paper is focused especially on analyzing the “Workers with Family Responsibilities” Convention, 1981, which refers to standards on equal treatment and opportunities for both women and men workers. “Workers with Family Responsibilities” Convention, applies to workers with such responsibilities, which restrict their possibilities to involve in an economic activity. The purpose is to provide an effective implementation of standards related to equality of treatment and opportunity for both women and men workers, in order to guarantee free choice of employment to help workers which have family responsibilities and to take into consideration their needs. Furthermore in this paper will be identified the methods that governments should apply, which aim to provide the application of the standard of equal compensation for workers, according to “Equal Remuneration” Convention, 1951 (No. 100).

A relatively new and potentially important administrative forum for interpreting the concept of reasonable accommodation has been created by the Ontario Workers' Compensation Act as amended in 1989. The reuised act contained provisions requiring employers to reemploy, and where necessary make reasonable accommodations for, workers following an injury. Though representing an important reformation for the workers' compensation system, accommodation requirements are present in other labour market policy initiatives. This paper discusses the accommodation requirements in other legislation and jurisprudence in Canada, describes the recent reforms to the Ontario Workers' Compensation Act in which accommodation represents an integral component, and outlines the new and emerging jurisprudence under the revised act.

Abstract Although several states use the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) when they evaluate individuals with impairments and disabilities, various disability systems exist in the United States. Disability and compensation systems have arisen to ensure that disadvantaged members of society with a medically determinable impairment, which may lead to a disability, have recourse to compensation from various sources, including state and federal workers’ compensation laws, veterans’ benefits, social welfare programs, and legal avenues. Each of these has differing definitions of disability, entitlement, benefits, procedures of claims application, adjudication, and the roles and relative weights assigned to medical vs administrative deliberations. Workers’ compensation statutes were enacted because of inadequacies of recovery from claims for injured workers under common law. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system adopted to resolve the dilemmas of tort claims by providing automatic coverage to employees injured during the course of employment; in exchange for coverage, employees forego the right to sue the employer except for wanton neglect. Other workers’ compensation programs in the United States include the Federal Employees Compensation Act; the Federal Employers Liability Act (railroads); the Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act); the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act; the Department of Veterans Affairs; Social Security; and private, long-term disability insurance.

In mid-1987, the existing workers’ compensation system in New South Wales was replaced by a new Scheme, called ‘WorkCover’. While WorkCover solved a number of the financial problems that had plagued its predecessor, its enactment created other issues. Furthermore, WorkCover has failed to deal with a number of gaps in providing compensation for occupational injuries, most notably those suffered by independent contractors. By combining a study of aspects of industrial law and industrial relations, this thesis will examine some of those problems and gaps, in particular: (a) Should WorkCover be amended to enable independent contractors to come within its ambit? (b) Should there be additional insurance cover available (known as ‘top-up’ insurance) to insure those parts of workers’ wages presently left unprotected by WorkCover? (c) Should workers be permitted to take out another form of ‘top-up’ insurance to increase the quantum of death cover presently provided by the Scheme? (d) Should independent contractors who arc permitted to enter WorkCover also be permitted to obtain the extended cover set out in (b) and (c) above? Where appropriate, the thesis compares WorkCover to the workers’ compensation schemes in other Australian jurisdictions. It develops each of the matters referred to above by referring to the results of the writer’s survey of members of the Institution of Engineers (NSW Branch) which was conducted in May and June 1991.

During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars the U.S. government has relied heavily on military contracting companies and their employees to carry out military missions in Middle East. Since 2001, high salaries and the call to serve the country have persuaded many people to take the risk of working in war zones. Yet the many individuals who have been injured while performing such duties now find themselves caught between their insurance companies and the U.S. Department of Labor, as they fight for the workers’ compensation and healthcare coverage they were promised.
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Workers’ compensation originated internationally because of the need to address the plight of workers and communities left destitute due to occupationally sustained disabilities or death. This study examines how the right to no-fault compensation developed in South Africa in comparison to the comparable law in Canada and Australia. Specific limitations regarding the right to workers' compensation pursuant to the South African compensatory laws were identified. Limitations identified include the persons falling within the ambit of the law, circumstances creating a right to compensation, the right to claims for increased compensation uniquely provided for in South African compensatory law and founded in the negligent conduct of employers as well as common law redress for damages. The background of the administrative remedy in the form of the right to compensation for occupational injuries and diseases ought to be seen in the light of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996.
Mercantile Law
LL.M.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Local Government.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2012.
The point of departure of this study is to evaluate service delivery in the Office of the Compensation Fund. The year 1994 ushered in a new era for South Africa. Since then, the South African Public Service has gone through a process of transformation. The introduction of new legislation regarding service delivery and transformation changed the manner in which the South African Public Service functioned. The main task of those in power is to transform the lives of all South Africans and this could be achieved by improving service delivery. Service delivery improvements have characterised government institutions and have not left the Compensation Fund behind. The primary objective of this research is to suggest ways of evaluating improved service delivery in the Office of the Compensation Fund.

The aim of the study was to determine the causes of IODs in the workplace and to identify possible preventative measures to reduce IODs. A literature review was conducted as part of the study, involving assessment of all related articles and books on the subject of IODs in the workplace. A qualitative research methodology was utilised to conduct the study. The main research instruments were four focus group interviews and eight individual interviews. The study concluded that employees experienced IODs in different ways, with most participants describing negative experiences such as physical pain, undue financial hardship, psychological trauma and lack of support from the employer. A minor percentage experienced IODs in a positive sense in that there is heightened safety awareness in the workplace after an IOD has occurred, and the adoption of a more cautious approach by employees when performing their duties. From a practical and organisational/managerial perspective, the adoption of effective training of security officers and adherence to organisational standard operating procedures will assist in reducing IODs in the workplace. Limitations of the study included the small sample size from the research population, perceived language barriers during the interview processes and non-participation and inputs from managers at the organisation. However, it is hoped that the study will form the basis for further research to broaden the field to include parastatal or public-service entities
Human Resource Management
M. Com. (Human Resource Management)

This chapter examines the reasons for the changes in Parliament's use of language. It begins by elaborating on the meaning of legislative indeterminacy, focusing on four parts of speech that are significant to the determinacy of a text and their policy benefits: noun/verb qualifers, conjunctions, modal auxiliary verbs and enabling verbs. It then traces the historic patterns in the use of legislative language since 1900 and presents three case studies that illustrate how and why choices were made to change the language of the law: the cases of Anisminic Ltd v Foreign Compensation Commission (1969) and Franklin and Others v The Minister of Town and Country Planning (1947), and the Immigration Act 1971. The chapter shows that enactment of indeterminate legislation increased substantially since 1900, in part due to choices taken by post-war governments to ‘roll back the state’ and allow policy to adapt to changeable market conditions.

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. Manufacturers and producers are liable for personal injury or damage to property caused by a defective product. The claimant will not only recover in contract for personal injury and property damage caused by the defective product, but he will also be compensated for the cost of replacing the product itself. The Consumer Protection Act 1987 involves a strict liability regime for defective products on a variety of potential defendants. This discusses the limitations of the tort system in providing compensation to a victim of harm caused by a defective product, and analyses the scope and limitations of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. Manufacturers and producers are liable for personal injury or damage to property caused by a defective product. The claimant will not only recover in contract for personal injury and property damage caused by the defective product, but he will also be compensated for the cost of replacing the product itself. The Consumer Protection Act 1987 of the UK involves a strict liability regime for defective products on a variety of potential defendants. This discusses the limitations of the tort system in providing compensation to a victim of harm caused by a defective product, and analyses the scope and limitations of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. Manufacturers and producers are liable for personal injury or damage to property caused by a defective product. The claimant will not only recover in contract for personal injury and property damage caused by the defective product, but he will also be compensated for the cost of replacing the product itself. The Consumer Protection Act 1987 of the UK involves a strict liability regime for defective products on a variety of potential defendants. This discusses the limitations of the tort system in providing compensation to a victim of harm caused by a defective product, and analyses the scope and limitations of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

The adoption of the strict liability scheme for defective products by the European Union Product Liability Directive, and its subsequent transposition through Pt 1 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987, changed the basis on which actions for compensation for damage caused by defective products had been brought for over fifty years. In essence, the change was from a system which required proof of negligence to one in which liability was dependent on proving that a defective product had caused damage. While we shall see that many academics and commentators had originally assumed a critical view of the strict liability regime, considering that in practice liability would be no wider than under negligence, it is now clearly established that, in respect of products supplied on or after 1 March 1988, strict liability under the 1987 Act is the primary cause of action in product liability litigation in the United Kingdom. In many Member States, the effects of the new regime have been very significant indeed.

This chapter focuses on a growing sense of victimization among Tamils. It addresses how a sense of community, nostalgically formed in the shadow of the Other and framed in the terms of victimhood, seeks to reconstitute itself through a struggle for compensation. Methods of civil disobedience, aided by NGO activists and legal counsel, are witnessed in some cases. However, given the choice of employment elsewhere, cash, and/or the preservation of “community” through collective relocation, groups and individuals will be seen to often act against utilitarian interests. The chapter then looks at the case of a Tamil “mystic” in a plantation, seeing through his story of spiritual transcendence the gradual interpolation of ethnic politics into the lives of plantation workers, as well as the important role that religion plays in mediating politics.

Soils developed from serpentine (ultramafic) substrates are noted for their meager and strange biomass. The chemical infertility is the main controlling factor in the development of plants in serpentine soils (Proctor and Woodell 1975, Kruckeberg 1984, Brooks 1987). Botanists have recognized the unusual nature of the endemic plants and this has led to preserving serpentine tracts that contain rare plant species. The evolution of plant species that are restricted to serpentine has produced remarkable adaptations to survival on serpentine substrates. Kruckeberg (1984) pointed out that the long-term habitat attrition on these rare natural serpentine ecosystems requires conservation initiatives to insure their preservation. In California, private and public land managers are required to develop environmental impact studies before disturbing tracts containing serpentine bedrock and its overlying soils (Clinkenbeard et al. 2003). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS 1998) carried out a recovery plan for 28 species of plants and animals that occur exclusively or primarily on serpentine soils and grasslands in the San Francisco Bay area. The strategy was to provide detailed actions needed to achieve self-sustaining populations of endangered species so they will no longer require protection under the Endangered Species Act. Serpentine land tracts within metropolitan areas have come under closer regulation, as there is concern of releasing naturally occurring asbestos during construction disturbances. Typical examples of disturbance would be construction sites, new road construction, and quarry excavation. Of particular concern are the large amounts of dust produced in quarry operations or unpaved gravel roads consisting of crushed serpentine rock. The dust from such sites may contain airborne asbestos fibers released from the serpentine. This asbestos-bearing dust may pose a toxic threat to the construction workers and to later occupants of homes, schools, and office buildings occupying serpentine tracts. Asbestos is the blanket term for a group of naturally occurring silicate minerals that can be separated into fibers. The fibers are strong, durable, and resistant to extreme heat. Because of these qualities, asbestos has been used in industrial, maritime, automotive, scientific, and building products.

Attention to safety and health are of ever-increasing priority to industrial organizations. Good Safety is demanded by stockholders, employees, and the community while increasing injury costs provide additional motivation for safety and health excellence. Safety has always been a strong corporate value of DuPont and a vital part of its culture. As a result, DuPont has become a benchmark in safety and health performance. Since 1990, DuPont has re-engineered itself to meet global competition and address future vision. In the new re-engineered organizational structures, DuPont has also had to re-engineer its safety management systems. A special Discovery Team was chartered by DuPont senior management to determine the “best practices’ for safety and health being used in DuPont best-performing sites. A summary of the findings is presented, and five of the practices are discussed. Excellence in safety and health management is more important today than ever. Public awareness, federal and state regulations, and enlightened management have resulted in a widespread conviction that all employees have the right to work in an environment that will not adversely affect their safety and health. In DuPont, we believe that excellence in safety and health is necessary to achieve global competitiveness, maintain employee loyalty, and be an accepted member of the communities in which we make, handle, use, and transport products. Safety can also be the “catalyst” to achieving excellence in other important business parameters. The organizational and communication skills developed by management, individuals, and teams in safety can be directly applied to other company initiatives. As we look into the 21st Century, we must also recognize that new organizational structures (flatter with empowered teams) will require new safety management techniques and systems in order to maintain continuous improvement in safety performance. Injury costs, which have risen dramatically in the past twenty years, provide another incentive for safety and health excellence. Shown in the Figure 1, injury costs have increased even after correcting for inflation. Many companies have found these costs to be an “invisible drain” on earnings and profitability. In some organizations, significant initiatives have been launched to better manage the workers’ compensation systems. We have found that the ultimate solution is to prevent injuries and incidents before they occur. A globally-respected company, DuPont is regarded as a well-managed, extremely ethical firm that is the benchmark in industrial safety performance. Like many other companies, DuPont has re-engineered itself and downsized its operations since 1985. Through these changes, we have maintained dedication to our principles and developed new techniques to manage in these organizational environments. As a diversified company, our operations involve chemical process facilities, production line operations, field activities, and sales and distribution of materials. Our customer base is almost entirely industrial and yet we still maintain a high level of consumer awareness and positive perception. The DuPont concern for safety dates back to the early 1800s and the first days of the company. In 1802 E.I. DuPont, a Frenchman, began manufacturing quality grade explosives to fill America’s growing need to build roads, clear fields, increase mining output, and protect its recently won independence. Because explosives production is such a hazardous industry, DuPont recognized and accepted the need for an effective safety effort. The building walls of the first powder mill near Wilmington, Delaware, were built three stones thick on three sides. The back remained open to the Brandywine River to direct any explosive forces away from other buildings and employees. To set the safety example, DuPont also built his home and the homes of his managers next to the powder yard. An effective safety program was a necessity. It represented the first defense against instant corporate liquidation. Safety needs more than a well-designed plant, however. In 1811, work rules were posted in the mill to guide employee work habits. Though not nearly as sophisticated as the safety standards of today, they did introduce an important basic concept — that safety must be a line management responsibility. Later, DuPont introduced an employee health program and hired a company doctor. An early step taken in 1912 was the keeping of safety statistics, approximately 60 years before the federal requirement to do so. We had a visible measure of our safety performance and were determined that we were going to improve it. When the nation entered World War I, the DuPont Company supplied 40 percent of the explosives used by the Allied Forces, more than 1.5 billion pounds. To accomplish this task, over 30,000 new employees were hired and trained to build and operate many plants. Among these facilities was the largest smokeless powder plant the world had ever seen. The new plant was producing granulated powder in a record 116 days after ground breaking. The trends on the safety performance chart reflect the problems that a large new work force can pose until the employees fully accept the company’s safety philosophy. The first arrow reflects the World War I scale-up, and the second arrow represents rapid diversification into new businesses during the 1920s. These instances of significant deterioration in safety performance reinforced DuPont’s commitment to reduce the unsafe acts that were causing 96 percent of our injuries. Only 4 percent of injuries result from unsafe conditions or equipment — the remainder result from the unsafe acts of people. This is an important concept if we are to focus our attention on reducing injuries and incidents within the work environment. World War II brought on a similar set of demands. The story was similar to World War I but the numbers were even more astonishing: one billion dollars in capital expenditures, 54 new plants, 75,000 additional employees, and 4.5 billion pounds of explosives produced — 20 percent of the volume used by the Allied Forces. Yet, the performance during the war years showed no significant deviation from the pre-war years. In 1941, the DuPont Company was 10 times safer than all industry and 9 times safer than the Chemical Industry. Management and the line organization were finally working as they should to control the real causes of injuries. Today, DuPont is about 50 times safer than US industrial safety performance averages. Comparing performance to other industries, it is interesting to note that seemingly “hazard-free” industries seem to have extraordinarily high injury rates. This is because, as DuPont has found out, performance is a function of injury prevention and safety management systems, not hazard exposure. Our success in safety results from a sound safety management philosophy. Each of the 125 DuPont facilities is responsible for its own safety program, progress, and performance. However, management at each of these facilities approaches safety from the same fundamental and sound philosophy. This philosophy can be expressed in eleven straightforward principles. The first principle is that all injuries can be prevented. That statement may seem a bit optimistic. In fact, we believe that this is a realistic goal and not just a theoretical objective. Our safety performance proves that the objective is achievable. We have plants with over 2,000 employees that have operated for over 10 years without a lost time injury. As injuries and incidents are investigated, we can always identify actions that could have prevented that incident. If we manage safety in a proactive — rather than reactive — manner, we will eliminate injuries by reducing the acts and conditions that cause them. The second principle is that management, which includes all levels through first-line supervisors, is responsible and accountable for preventing injuries. Only when senior management exerts sustained and consistent leadership in establishing safety goals, demanding accountability for safety performance and providing the necessary resources, can a safety program be effective in an industrial environment. The third principle states that, while recognizing management responsibility, it takes the combined energy of the entire organization to reach sustained, continuous improvement in safety and health performance. Creating an environment in which employees feel ownership for the safety effort and make significant contributions is an essential task for management, and one that needs deliberate and ongoing attention. The fourth principle is a corollary to the first principle that all injuries are preventable. It holds that all operating exposures that may result in injuries or illnesses can be controlled. No matter what the exposure, an effective safeguard can be provided. It is preferable, of course, to eliminate sources of danger, but when this is not reasonable or practical, supervision must specify measures such as special training, safety devices, and protective clothing. Our fifth safety principle states that safety is a condition of employment. Conscientious assumption of safety responsibility is required from all employees from their first day on the job. Each employee must be convinced that he or she has a responsibility for working safely. The sixth safety principle: Employees must be trained to work safely. We have found that an awareness for safety does not come naturally and that people have to be trained to work safely. With effective training programs to teach, motivate, and sustain safety knowledge, all injuries and illnesses can be eliminated. Our seventh principle holds that management must audit performance on the workplace to assess safety program success. Comprehensive inspections of both facilities and programs not only confirm their effectiveness in achieving the desired performance, but also detect specific problems and help to identify weaknesses in the safety effort. The Company’s eighth principle states that all deficiencies must be corrected promptly. Without prompt action, risk of injuries will increase and, even more important, the credibility of management’s safety efforts will suffer. Our ninth principle is a statement that off-the-job safety is an important part of the overall safety effort. We do not expect nor want employees to “turn safety on” as they come to work and “turn it off” when they go home. The company safety culture truly becomes of the individual employee’s way of thinking. The tenth principle recognizes that it’s good business to prevent injuries. Injuries cost money. However, hidden or indirect costs usually exceed the direct cost. Our last principle is the most important. Safety must be integrated as core business and personal value. There are two reasons for this. First, we’ve learned from almost 200 years of experience that 96 percent of safety incidents are directly caused by the action of people, not by faulty equipment or inadequate safety standards. But conversely, it is our people who provide the solutions to our safety problems. They are the one essential ingredient in the recipe for a safe workplace. Intelligent, trained, and motivated employees are any company’s greatest resource. Our success in safety depends upon the men and women in our plants following procedures, participating actively in training, and identifying and alerting each other and management to potential hazards. By demonstrating a real concern for each employee, management helps establish a mutual respect, and the foundation is laid for a solid safety program. This, of course, is also the foundation for good employee relations. An important lesson learned in DuPont is that the majority of injuries are caused by unsafe acts and at-risk behaviors rather than unsafe equipment or conditions. In fact, in several DuPont studies it was estimated that 96 percent of injuries are caused by unsafe acts. This was particularly revealing when considering safety audits — if audits were only focused on conditions, at best we could only prevent four percent of our injuries. By establishing management systems for safety auditing that focus on people, including audit training, techniques, and plans, all incidents are preventable. Of course, employee contribution and involvement in auditing leads to sustainability through stakeholdership in the system. Management safety audits help to make manage the “behavioral balance.” Every job and task performed at a site can do be done at-risk or safely. The essence of a good safety system ensures that safe behavior is the accepted norm amongst employees, and that it is the expected and respected way of doing things. Shifting employees norms contributes mightily to changing culture. The management safety audit provides a way to quantify these norms. DuPont safety performance has continued to improve since we began keeping records in 1911 until about 1990. In the 1990–1994 time frame, performance deteriorated as shown in the chart that follows: This increase in injuries caused great concern to senior DuPont management as well as employees. It occurred while the corporation was undergoing changes in organization. In order to sustain our technological, competitive, and business leadership positions, DuPont began re-engineering itself beginning in about 1990. New streamlined organizational structures and collaborative work processes eliminated many positions and levels of management and supervision. The total employment of the company was reduced about 25 percent during these four years. In our traditional hierarchical organization structures, every level of supervision and management knew exactly what they were expected to do with safety, and all had important roles. As many of these levels were eliminated, new systems needed to be identified for these new organizations. In early 1995, Edgar S. Woolard, DuPont Chairman, chartered a Corporate Discovery Team to look for processes that will put DuPont on a consistent path toward a goal of zero injuries and occupational illnesses. The cross-functional team used a mode of “discovery through learning” from as many DuPont employees and sites around the world. The Discovery Team fostered the rapid sharing and leveraging of “best practices” and innovative approaches being pursued at DuPont’s plants, field sites, laboratories, and office locations. In short, the team examined the company’s current state, described the future state, identified barriers between the two, and recommended key ways to overcome these barriers. After reporting back to executive management in April, 1995, the Discovery Team was realigned to help organizations implement their recommendations. The Discovery Team reconfirmed key values in DuPont — in short, that all injuries, incidents, and occupational illnesses are preventable and that safety is a source of competitive advantage. As such, the steps taken to improve safety performance also improve overall competitiveness. Senior management made this belief clear: “We will strengthen our business by making safety excellence an integral part of all business activities.” One of the key findings of the Discovery Team was the identification of the best practices used within the company, which are listed below: ▪ Felt Leadership – Management Commitment ▪ Business Integration ▪ Responsibility and Accountability ▪ Individual/Team Involvement and Influence ▪ Contractor Safety ▪ Metrics and Measurements ▪ Communications ▪ Rewards and Recognition ▪ Caring Interdependent Culture; Team-Based Work Process and Systems ▪ Performance Standards and Operating Discipline ▪ Training/Capability ▪ Technology ▪ Safety and Health Resources ▪ Management and Team Audits ▪ Deviation Investigation ▪ Risk Management and Emergency Response ▪ Process Safety ▪ Off-the-Job Safety and Health Education Attention to each of these best practices is essential to achieve sustained improvements in safety and health. The Discovery Implementation in conjunction with DuPont Safety and Environmental Management Services has developed a Safety Self-Assessment around these systems. In this presentation, we will discuss a few of these practices and learn what they mean. Paper published with permission.