GBA Safety Resource Roundup

June marks National Safety Month, organized by the National Safety Council since 1996. GBA has a variety of free resources for members to help them stay safe in their geoprofessional workplace. Not only is safety a top priority for GBA member firms, but also for their clients, who want to avoid work-related injuries or illnesses on their job sites and projects.

Here are valuable resources geoprofessionals can use to strengthen their safety culture, protect their teams, and manage risk:

Safety and Your Geoprofessional Practice
This GBA Best Practices guide provides important information essential to the development of an effective safety program, including:
• The direct and indirect costs of an inadequate safety program, ranging from higher insurance premiums and legal exposures to lost business and lower productivity.
• Key safety metrics
• An array of techniques for developing a “robust, proactive safety program that seeks to eliminate hazards and prevent injuries.”

Establishing a Cell-Phone Safety Policy for Your Firm
Cell phone safety policies can stave off the grave financial consequences of failing to pursue preventatives to cell phone-related incidents. This document cites an array of case histories (some of which occurred because employers assumed hands-free devices are safe) and outlines:
• Cell phone safety policies and techniques for implementing them
• Samples for firms to use to develop policies of their own
• Methods of delivering the policies and supplementing them through presentations
• Talking points for those who resist new policies
• Work-arounds for those who find long-term cell-phone-use addictions tough to break

Working Safely Outdoors in Warm Climates
Working outdoors when it’s hot can create an array of safety challenges that firms and individuals need to be aware of and plan for. This GBA Best Practices guide provides risk management guidance in relation to:
• Sun and UV-ray exposure
• Heat
• Lyme Disease and other tick-borne diseases
• West Nile Virus
• Poison ivy and related plants

Employee Safety Card
“Safety Is Priority One” is the key message of this employee pocket-safety card. Firms can print it as-is or easily customize it to add their own logos or special messages. The front of the card poses a series of brief instructions and questions employees should address before moving forward with a task.

Mine Tailings Dam Safety Materials
GBA has three important mine tailings resources available at NO COST, regardless of GBA membership. These documents guide mine owners, regulators, and practitioners toward a more efficient and safer approach to designing and maintaining mine tailings dams:

Proposed Best Practices for the Engineer of Record for Tailings Dams (Endorsed by the U.S. Society on Dams)
Recommendations from an informed body of geotechnical engineering practitioners for defining the roles and responsibilities of an Engineer of Record for a tailings dam or coal combustion residuals dam to enhance safety, environmental suitability, and social sustainability.

Business Brief: Addressing the Issue of Engineer of Record for Tailings Storage Facilities
Informs and educates engineering firms of the ever-increasing levels of risk associated with tailings-related work.

Important Information About this Tailings Storage Facility Design Report
Prepared in accordance with guidelines developed by GBA and reviewed by other recognized dam and mine safety organizations.

These three materials supplement each other, and you are encouraged to download all of them and begin using them immediately.

GBA Case Histories (search using keyword “safety”)
There are also several GBA Case Histories with important safety lessons including:

Case History #103 – Nuclear Gauge Management
If you own or operate nuclear densometer gauges, you must read this GBA Case History. At one time facing thousands of dollars in penalties and revocation of their license to own and/or operate nuclear gauges, one firm turned it around and developed a compliance program that was hailed as “a model for the industry.”

In addition to safety, GBA members have free access to resources to help their staff improve job performance, produce better results, and deal confidently and effectively with the risks inherent in every project. GBA’s unmatched library contains succinct, targeted resources that meet the unique business needs of geoprofessionals. LEARN HOW TO ACCESS GBA’S ONLINE MATERIALS.