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say, if it’s implicit in the standard. For example, if using a piece of ANSI-compliant equipment would have eliminated the fatality or reduced the severity of an injury, then that would fall under the OSHA General Duty Clause. So, in many cases, although ANSI is considered a recommended best practice, the employer is inherently taking on more liability if it fails to observe ANSI, because you can always argue that following ANSI would have potentially eliminated or reduced the severity of an injury. I think it’s always in the users’ and the company’s best interest to align themselves with best practices. That’s what we try to do. And the other thing is, we talked before about the user’s comfort, and a more comfortable employee is typically a safer employee. So, if you are producing safety equipment that people perceive as a nuisance and uncomfortable, they’re less likely to use it and use it consistently. If you’re really focused on the user experience, and you’re making sure that people are comfortable in what they do, they’re much more likely to use the product consistently. OH&S Magazine: In talking about standards, we mentioned compliance and best practices. How does an organization make that shift from simply being in compliance to fostering a proactive culture of safety? Tavis: In my experience, I think a lot of that happens when you connect the profit motive to the safety culture. I think that a lot of times, organizations perceive safety as a cost center of the business. But the larger the organization gets, the more risks only increase. So, if you focus on managing your experience modification rate, reducing incidents, and focusing on safety, it ultimately saves the company money. I have numerous instances of customers that we consult with on a regular basis where we show them how to implement safer procedures, safer practices and how, if they’re able to reduce their incident rates, they can save their company millions of dollars. As we know, their mod rate determines what they’re going pay in insurance, and if you look at it very precisely, that is essentially a measure of risk. So, if you are looking at safety from the standpoint of managing risk, and you’re able to manage risk to the point where you have a really competitive mod rate, then you will quite literally save money. It will also let you bid on projects that you might otherwise not be eligible for if your mod rate was in excess of whatever the threshold might be. Connecting that safety culture to the bottom line of the organization is key to making sure that you have a safety culture. OH&S Magazine: Going back to ANSI standards, are there any updates to the ANSI standards that safety professionals who need to watch out for fall protection should be aware of? Tavis: I think the latest iteration of the .14 standard; the Z359.14-2021 standard. The “2021” refers to the latest iteration of the dot 14 device standard. There have been some pretty significant changes to the testing and design requirements of the .14 device standard, and that is going to have a pretty big impact in the fall protection space for sure. The legacy standard categorized devices as Class A and Class B SRDs, Go beyond basic fire extinguisher training with the BullsEyeTM Digital Fire Extinguisher Training System and R.A.C.E.TM Station. WWW.LIONPROTECTS.COM/WORKPLACE-FIRE-SAFETY-DIGITAL www.ohsonline.com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 | Occupational Health & Safety 37