• Personnel with safety and health responsibilities need to be notified ahead of time if there will be significant workplace changes.

It would seem to go without saying that those personnel with safety and health responsibilities need to be notified ahead of time and involved if there are going to be significant workplace changes, but in many companies, there is a disconnect. The operations personnel decide on the change based on operational needs and then safety personnel find out about it later and must adjust — and the result are machines that raise the noise level to the point hearing protection is needed, or dangerous chemicals that could have been substituted. The safety input needs to be considered early on.