Page 15 - Grapevine July-August 2019

In The Winery

point where it actually becomes “operationalized”
into your day-to-day activities. Outlined below you
will find some of the ways we have found to be
very effective to visibly demonstrate your support
of your safety program.

Effective Ways to Promote a
Safety Program at a Winery

Safety Policy and Program

1. Draft a safety policy statement and sign it, bet-
ter yet, have all of your supervisors sign it too.
2. Make sure that your workers receive this policy
statement either through an employee hand-
book, an employee bulletin board posting or
through new employee orientations and meet-
ings.
3. Safety responsibilities should be formally
assigned to a single individual to coordinate
safety compliance efforts, accident investiga-
tion, and emergency procedures.
4. Verify that appropriate safety responsibilities
are also defined for everyone else.
5. Work with either your insurance carrier or your
insurance broker to establish an internal claims
cost containment or return to work policy to
reduce post-accident injury expenses.
6. Hold supervisors accountable in annual perfor-
mance reviews in part for safety objectives and/
or the accident results of their workers.

Safety Rules and Standards

1. Workers need to know how to safely do their
job by having general work procedures and
safety rules developed for your winery opera-
tion. High risk procedures like confined space
entry, lockout / tagout, any work at heights,
etc., need to be in writing.
2. Safety rules are as important as any other part
of your business. Write them so they are simple
and easy to understand. Distribute them to all
workers and have them sign an acknowledg-
ment of understanding. Also post them in a
common area as a reminder to everyone.
3. Have a disciplinary system in place to deal with
any safety rule violations.
4. Develop a plan for winery emergencies like

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