4 replies to this topic

[qualityhr]

Hello,

 

I am the QM at a dietary supplement company in the US.

 

The company owner has asked me if we should have an SOP for possible injuries that may occur in the kitchen when team members are using machinery. 

 

My first response is no and that this is not a quality issue. Would this be something to include in the employee handbook or is this considered common knowledge (that depending on injury, use first aid, call ambulance, hospital, etc.)?

 

Additionally, I've been asked this: "Can you host a first aid workshop and write a protocol (SOP) for the whole team? This seems like it should fall under quality."

 

Again, this doesn't strike me as a quality issue and seems more like a safety regulation that would be hosted by human resources.

 

Thanks in advance!

Sam 

[kfromNE]

First aid falls under employee safety/OSHA. That's who I would have do it. 

[jfrey123]

First job, I was able to avoid employee safety falling into my quality department's lap.  I told them it's only a QA issue if they bleed into the product.  Duties fell to the warehouse manager.

 

Current job, CEO doesn't care that our corporate QA team doesn't feel like safety is our responsibility, he threw it onto the VP FSQA's plate anyway.  We ended up hiring a consultant to work with each plant manager, and he worked with them to develop and kick start their new in-house programs.  QA's role now is more reporting on what the plants record themselves.  So it kind of became production's responsibility with QA helping to monitor and ensure it runs on time.

[olenazh]

That is completely Health & Safety dpt responsibility to conduct trainings for this matter.

[Lynx42]

Our company safety committee has Job Hazard Analysis they write up for different functions, and our new hire and monthly warehouse meetings cover reporting injuries, and we have 2+ per site certified in First Aid, CPR, and AED. Our first aid kits have an emergency list posted nearby that includes the names of everyone who is certified in the building.  

I'd push this to the safety committee, or recommend one be created. State law where I live is any site with more than 11 employees on a shift must have a safety committee. Our (non-food) Safety Coordinator recommends against listing out possible injuries because there is no way to get them all (and if you did the list would be too big to be valuable) and while someone may be focusing on the known possible injuries, they may think something else is safe because it's not specifically listed.  His thoughts are if you know there's a risk you'll be careful, but if you only think x and y are a risk you won't notice when z is about to happen.

 

Amy

Edited by afehd, 13 December 2023 - 09:31 PM.