Day 2, Locate and begin reviewing the safety files and reference materials

You’ve got to get a feel for what the history of the office has been.  You may have to retrieve files from storage, go through piles of files – they could be anywhere and in any shape depending on how new or how long the position has been open.   I have helped setup safety offices on a number of occasions.  I guess it’s a form of entropy or chaos theory or something.  Office files seem to implode. During one project, a client and I got a hand truck and a large box. We went around an office and building retrieving bits and pieces of programs. Another time, I inherited an office that had an empty bookcase, 6 months of subscriptions to a weekly safety newsletter (about a three foot stack) and a file cabinet that had no rhyme or reason for the order folders were filed! Develop a Filing Process Use the 5S process to begin cleaning up if your area shows limited or no organization. Determined if the company already has a procedure to establish and maintain files – both hardcopy and electronic. Review files for condition, logical organization, completeness, and consistency. Is the company protocol for hardcopy and electronic files being used? If no process is in place, begin your own structure. The filing also should apply to references, books, and other materials needed for the safety process. Two books that give insight on filing and paper management are “File, Don’t Pile”, Pat Dorff and “Taming the Paper Tiger”, Barbara Hemphill Day 2 Summary Begin organizing and cleaning up your assigned office and areas. If you aren’t organized, how can you ask others to keep “good housekeeping”?