C'mon Folks, Safety Is Your Number One Shop Priority

There is nothing that destroys shop productivity, moral and company profits more than a serious injury to a worker in your shop. 

That's it.  A very strong statement that is absolutely true.  No middle ground on this one. Wherever you are in this crazy economy: busy, slow or in between, you will be impacted by an accident.

Three things you can do:

1. Work to prevent accidents
2. Lessen the injury when an incident occurs
3. Work to reduce the impact  to your company after an accident occurs

This week, let's work on prevention, and in the next couple of weeks we will hit the other topics.

So, let's prevent accidents--

• Accept that all accidents are preventable.  They are.  If you say that accidents are inevitable in our industry, you will have more accidents and more headaches in your shop.  This will bury you. 
• Start by taking all clutter out of your shop.  Remove every trip hazard on the floors.  Ensure that the shop stays clean.  Reduce your inventory to give yourself more maneuvering room in your shop.  In today's economic times, distributors will bring you stock in a flash.  You don't need to save every cutoff for a a year hoping you will use it. 
• Make sure all of your equipment works properly.  Saws should be clean to prevent kickback.  Class cutting tables should be flat and true to prevent improper break outs.  Trucks should be inspected daily, making sure all safety equipment is in place and being used...such as seat belts.
• All personnel, including you, should be drug and alcohol tested on employment and randomly. 
• All flammables should be kept in approved areas, areas that will reduce explosion risks or damage. 
• Extension cords should not be used for heavy shop equipment.  Make sure all cords are intact and have no nicks in them.  Don't overload your circuits.
• Set the tone of the shop.  Comment on each and every situation that is unsafe and follow-up that it is taken care of.
• Call your worker's comp or liability insurance company.  Most will have a safety expert that will walk through your shop and point out details that you will have overlooked.
• Some states offer free safety inspections, through their state managed OSHA programs.  These are not recorded on your safety record and can be very helpful.  Check first for your state's status (if inviting them in can cause citations) before you invite the team in.
• Give your employees safety gear and make sure they wear and use the gear.  Set the example.  When you go in the shop, wear your safety glasses and hard hat.  When you drive, wear your seat belt.
• Don't allow talking on cell phones in the shop.  They distract all workers.  No headphones playing music should be allowed. They cause distraction and prevent people from hearing safety shout-outs.  Don't allow horseplay or practical jokes on the shop floor.
• Have plenty of light in your shop.  What you can't see in a dark corner is a hazard for cuts and tripping.
• Have your dumpsters emptied regularly.  An overflowing dumpster is a major cause of accidents.
• Have as few chemicals in your shop as possible.  Where you do, make sure they are labeled and everyone knows how to use them, and how to clean them after a spill.
• Train your people properly.  Most accidents occur with the youngest seniority employees.  Also, don't let your senior people take shortcuts because they "know it all".
• Have fire extinguishers, eye wash stations, first aid kits and any other safety gear checked and cleaned annually.  Train all employees on proper use.
• Designate a first-responder in your company.  Train him or her in first aid and blood-borne pathogen procedures  The Red Cross is a perfect organization to go to for help on these.
• Make sure every foreman and supervisor has medical gloves and that gloves are in a plastic bag and hung on every column in your building. 
• Don't handle glass too big for your shop.  If your doors are 84" high, it is unsafe to bring in a 96" lite tipped on an angle.

Now for the big ending...the best accident prevention tool is:  Common Sense.  Don't do what looks dangerous.  Don't take safety short cuts.  Don't let people work above their skill level.  Don't say, you'll only do this once and tomorrow you will do it in a safer way.
Do be conscious of safety every moment you are at work.  Train your workers to work safely.  Investing in safety is as important as investing in any other part of your operation.

The Top Ten Ways To Guarantee Losing A Sale

Or, to put it another way, if you don't do any of these, you have a chance to earn a sale based on the pricing, quality and reliability of your service.  Keep these in mind during your next visit with a customer!

10.  Show up late for your initial appointment or walk-thru.

9.  Answer your customer's questions with made up answers, hoping they will never check up on you.

8.  Forget to put your phone on vibrate or answering your phone while talking with a potential client.

7. Walk into a client meeting with a cigarette lit, or eating something.

6.  Tell a potential client they "are wrong" instead of suggesting alternatives positively.

5.  Brag about your grandchildren instead of your key employees who will work on the job!

4. While you are trying to sound like a big firm, tell the customer you are so busy you don't know when you can get to the work.

3. Talk up your political point of view on your first visit.

2. Tell an off-color or insensitive joke.

1.  Bad-mouth your competitors.

So it is easy---follow Paul's ten easy rules to lose a sale and you don't have to worry about hiring people, buying inventory or worry about scheduling. 

Leave Your Troubles At Home

Yep, we all have problems at home.  Older parents, kids growing older quicker than you comprehend, illnesses, financial or community problems.  We all have them, you and your employees and staff.  It is just that you can't show or share your problems.

I wonder who first said, "It is lonely at the top."  They were correct.

When your staff has a problem, you should be aware of it, encouraging people in the company to come to you explaining what is happening in their lives. In many cases you can help...a change of a schedule, a shift in duties or a small loan may give you an opportunity to help.  If an employee has a real crisis happening, their work output will suffer and while their minds are preoccupied, accidents occur!

You may have to suggest they take a day or a week off.  If there is a serious illness involved, they may need more time, and the earlier you know of this, the better you can react to keep your company production on schedule.  The federal FMLA law may come into play here, and this will be discussed in an upcoming blog.

The concept for today is that while you want to know about your people, you can't share your woes with them.  Most employees think you've got it made already, and they are working to make you money, so your problems are not as bad as theirs.  Yes, this is a cynical point of view.  If you have a problem that hurts the business, you are potentially hurting their livelihoods.  If you solve personal problems while at work, then why can't they?

Sure, on most days you are the first in and the last out, but that doesn't count on the day you ask an employee not to spend so much time on the phone, when you have done the same thing.

Not fair.  Right.  But being in business is not about being fair.  After all, in a good year you make a few more pennies than the others.  (No excuses about not having a good year in the glass business recently.)  You have to be the leader, and, leaders are supposed to be invincible. 

With obvious situations, like an illness of your family member, you have to take the time and not care about the repurcussions.  What I am talking about are the family squabbles, the refinance of your home(s), getting your boat in the water, and the things that say I have something that you don't.  You have to do this away from the office.  I am not saying you shouldn't have these things in your life.  Just that the way to keep company peace is not to handle them in front of others who just might resent your taking care of them on business time when you should be managing the growth or reducing the problems of your company.

The Customer Credit Application--Your Most Important Form

Pretty brash statement...that the credit app is your most important form.  Most people would say it is a customer order, or a customer invoice, or a customer payment!  After all, there is nothing better than money in the bank.  But, there is nothing worse than no money in the bank.

Orders don't count.  Invoices don't matter--if you are not going to get paid what is due you.  In fact, if you don't get paid, that customer order actually hurts you.  You would have been better off without it!

Benny Bigshot walks in to your office and gives you an order that you have been wishing for.  You have quoted this order three times, each successively lower, and now you have it.  Benny asks how soon you can get started.  You reply, "Right Away, Benny".  He's happy and leaves.

Do you really know Benny?  Of course you do...he has a nice office in the center of town, has put up a couple of buildings and they always seem rented.  You took this job low to finally get into Benny's speed dial list, and you hope to get more work from him.  Benny has tried three different glaziers on his last three jobs, and tells you that you could be the one to get his future work.

More than likely, Benny's payment patterns will force you to close your doors and give up everything you have worked for.

DO NOT TRUST ANY NEW ACCOUNT UNTIL YOU VERIFY THEIR CREDIT HISTORY WITH OTHER SOURCES.  If they are a Fortune 500 company, OK, everyone else gets checked.

Your credit application should include:

• Complete name, address, phone, fax, email and web site info
• Complete bank name, branch address, checking acct number, local officer they deal with at the bank, and a short form that gives the bank authorization to release credit info.  Most banks will not release info without this.
• Four vendors they have dealt with, in the last year, and in amounts similar to what you are expecting to grant credit for.  I remember one glass shop that applied to me for credit, and gave a hardware store where they spent $40 a year as a credit reference, but wouldn't give me a glass or metal vendor.  This is a sure sign of hiding relevant information.
• Ask for a personal guarantee on the credit line.  Many people will not do this, but you can't get hurt by asking. 

Now, you have this information.  Do something with it.  Call Benny's bank and ask how many NSF checks he had last year.  Ask what is his approximate balance over the year.  Check with the vendors listed.  Most people will only give you vendors they have a good record with, but even so, you will get insight into Benny's payment habits.  Look at Benny's web site.  Has it been updated recently?  Google Benny and you will can see a history of articles about disputes or problems. 

There is a ton of information about everyone on the web.  Use this tool wisely to help you grant credit. 

The single most important credit granting tool is:  Your gut.  If you think giving Benny credit will keep you up at night until you get paid, then don't do it.  Ask for a significant deposit.  If you gut says don't do it, but you know you could use the business, follow your instincts.  A glass business with low volume is better than a glass business with a high accounts receivable and no cash.