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712 Safety Supervision and Leadership
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Providing Safety Supervision

Introduction

Starting with the basics, if we refer to Webster's Dictionary for the definition of 'supervise,' it is described as 'to look over and direct the work and performance of others.'

First Time Supervisor

In the event of an accident investigation, if OSHA cites an employer for a 'lack of supervision,' it typically implies that one or more individuals representing the employer have not been sufficiently overseeing work being accomplished.

The Key

The key requirement is for supervisors to provide adequate oversight so they can detect and correct hazardous conditions (materials, tools, equipment, environment) and unsafe behaviors before they injure or kill a worker.

Unsafe behaviors, the most common surface cause of most accidents, can be effectively controlled only if the supervisor or other person in charge is out on the production floor, watching work processes.

The Key to Safety Supervision is Super Vision

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

5-1. Adequate oversight is achieved when the supervisor _____ hazards and unsafe behaviors before they cause an accident.